What is a controller-for-controlled metonymy?

What is a controller-for-controlled metonymy?

Definition
	A conventional metonymy in which reference to the controller of a controlled entity, such as an organization or tool, is used to stand for the controlled entity.

Examples

Here are some examples in English:

Napoleon lost at Waterloo.

Note:
Napoleon stands for the French army.
A Mercedes rear-ended me.

Note:
The speaker stands for the speaker's rear-ended car.

Generic
	A controller-for-controlled metonymy is a kind of
	Conventional metonymies in English

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: controller-for-controlled 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