What is an insignificant-as-little metaphor?

What is an insignificant-as-little metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which a state of unimportance is represented as small size.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	It was only a small crime. That was only a little white lie. His accomplishments tower over those of lesser men.

Generic
	An insignificant-as-little metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for values?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: insignificant-as-little metaphor
In modular book: Metaphors in English, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H. Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Lexicon

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 September 1998