What is a vitality-as-substance metaphor?

What is a vitality-as-substance metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which liveliness is represented as a substance contained by the body, such that the amount of the substance represents the amount of energy.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	She's brimming with vim and vigor. She's overflowing with vitality. I'm drained. That took a lot out of me.

Generic
	A vitality-as-substance metaphor is a kind of
	Conventional metaphors in English

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: vitality-as-substance 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