What is it about?
This chapter explores how metaphor is not just a poetic device but a fundamental tool for expert thinking and communication in specialized fields like science, law, and medicine. It reviews research showing that professionals use metaphors to generate new ideas, develop complex theories, and structure entire domains of knowledge (e.g., conceptualizing the immune system as an “army” or arguments as “buildings”). Beyond its role in discovery, the chapter highlights how metaphor is essential for “knowledge popularization”, translating intricate expert concepts into understandable terms for the general public. Crucially, the analysis moves beyond seeing metaphor as solely rooted in bodily experience and incorporates its socio-cultural dimension, examining how professional communities and cultural contexts shape the metaphors they use. This refines existing theories by showing that metaphor in specialized language is a blend of universal cognitive patterns and culturally-specific professional practices.
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Why is it important?
This work is important because it synthesizes and advances the application of Conceptual Metaphor Theory beyond everyday language into the realm of specialized discourse. By systematically surveying how metaphors function as engines of scientific innovation and bridges for public understanding, it demonstrates their indispensable role in expert communities. Incorporating the socio-cultural dimension is a significant theoretical refinement, acknowledging that while metaphor is cognitively grounded, its specific manifestations are shaped by the needs, practices, and histories of professional fields. This makes the theory more powerful and accurate, capable of accounting for metaphor use across all spheres of communication, from a research lab developing a new concept to a doctor explaining a diagnosis to a patient.
Perspectives
Co-authoring this chapter allowed us to showcase the remarkable versatility and power of conceptual metaphor. It was fascinating to compile evidence demonstrating that the same cognitive mechanism that produces everyday expressions like “wasting time” is also at the heart of groundbreaking scientific discovery and effective science communication. We were particularly keen to push the theory forward by integrating the socio-cultural aspect, which is often overlooked in purely cognitive approaches. This creates a more complete picture: metaphors are born from embodied experience but are refined and deployed within the specific cultural ecosystems of professional disciplines. This work underscores that metaphor is not a linguistic flourish but a foundational element of how we construct, elaborate, and share knowledge at every level.
Professor Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza
University of La Rioja
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This page is a summary of: Conceptual metaphors, June 2022, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/tlrp.23.17gom.
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