According to conceptual metaphor theory, what does the expression 'I've wasted three hours on this project' reveal about how the speaker conceptualizes time?
AThe speaker is using figurative language as a literary device, departing from literal usage
BThe expression encodes the conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY, mapping economic concepts (waste, spending, investment) onto time
C'Wasted' is a synonym for 'spent,' making this a case of lexical synonymy
DThe sentence contains a metonymy in which the clock stands for the activity being timed
'Wasting' time draws on TIME IS MONEY, a conceptual metaphor that structures many everyday expressions: spending, saving, investing, budgeting, squandering time. This is not a deliberate literary choice — speakers use these expressions automatically without noticing they are metaphorical. The mapping reveals that abstract concepts like time are routinely understood through concrete source domains (economic exchange).
Question 2 True / False
When a journalist writes 'The White House issued a statement,' this is an example of metaphor because the building (White House) is being described as if it were a person capable of speech.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
This is metonymy, not metaphor. In metonymy, one entity stands for a related entity within the same conceptual domain — here, the container/institution (the building) stands for those who occupy and act through it, a container-for-contents contiguity relation. Metaphor involves a cross-domain mapping (understanding one domain in terms of a structurally different domain). The White House is not being conceptualized as a person; it is a conventional label for the executive branch, operating within the same institutional domain.
Question 3 Short Answer
Generate a novel expression that follows the ARGUMENT IS WAR conceptual metaphor but that you are unlikely to have heard before. What does your ability to do this demonstrate about how conceptual metaphors work?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Any novel expression using warfare vocabulary applied to argumentation — such as 'She outflanked every objection' or 'He laid siege to the committee's position' — demonstrates that conceptual metaphors are productive cognitive frameworks, not memorized lists of phrases. Once the ARGUMENT IS WAR mapping is established, speakers can generate and interpret unlimited novel expressions that follow the mapping.
Productivity is a key property that distinguishes conceptual metaphor from fixed idiom. If 'shoot down an idea' were simply a memorized phrase with no underlying structure, novel extensions like 'outflank an objection' would feel random or strange. Instead, the structural mapping licenses new expressions: because argument positions correspond to military positions, any warfare move can be mapped to an argumentative move. This productivity reveals that the metaphor operates at the level of conceptual structure, not just language.