What is a bad-as-down metaphor?

What is a bad-as-down metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which a bad state is represented as a low position.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	It's been downhill ever since. Things are at an all-time low.

Generic
	A bad-as-down metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for values?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: bad-as-down 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