What is a state-as-container metaphor?

What is a state-as-container metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which a state is understood as a container, such that being in or out of the container represents having, or not having, that state.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	He's in love. We're out of trouble now. I'm slowly getting into shape. He fell into a depression.

Generic
	A state-as-container metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for state?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: state-as-container 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