What is a place-for-institution metonymy?

What is a place-for-institution metonymy?

Definition
	A conventional metonymy in which reference to the place at which an institution is located is used to stand for the institution itself.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	The White House isn't saying anything. Paris is introducing longer skirts this season. Hollywood isn't what it used to be. Wall Street is in a panic.

Generic
	A place-for-institution metonymy is a kind of
	Conventional metonymies in English

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: place-for-institution metonymy
In modular book: Metonymies 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: 2 July 1998