showed that people were not faster in responding toheatwhen they readblow
the stackin a literal context.
Thesefindingsprovidesomeinitialevidencethatpeoplenormallyaccessthe
underlying conceptual metaphors for idioms when they process these phrases.
Follow-up experiments will investigate other aspects of the hypothesis that
people automatically access metaphorical knowledge during their immediate,
online processing of idioms. One important aim of this work is to acknowledge
explicitly that linguistic understanding encompasses many different levels
ranging from quick, unconscious mental processes up to more conscious, re-
flective analysis of meaning (Gibbs 1994, 1996). Each of these different kinds of
understanding requires different methodological tools to fully analyze it, and
this is why the study of idiomaticity demands the expertise of linguists, psy-
chologists, and computer scientists. We should be careful to recognize that how
people make sense of why idioms mean what they do provides different in-
sights into idiom interpretation than do studies on the immediate comprehen-
sion of idioms. For instance, it might very well be the case that with additional
research, little evidence will support the idea that people automatically access
conceptual metaphors during idiom understanding (see Glucksberg, Brown, &
McGlone 1993) even though there are plenty of data to suggest that people
have some sense of why idioms mean what they do because of underlying
conceptual metaphors. The conceptual view of idiomaticity emphasized here
does not necessarily predict that conceptual metaphors influence all aspects of
idiom understanding. As with many issues, the ultimate answer to the ques-
tion of conceptual metaphors’ role in idiom interpretation will be an empirical
matter.
Idioms and Metonymy
Most of the focus on the conceptual basis of idiomaticity has been on the role
that metaphor plays in motivating what idioms mean figuratively. However,
other figurative schemes of thought also give rise to different idioms and help
motivate idiom meaning for contemporary speakers. For example, metonymy
is a fundamental part of our conceptual system whereby people take one well-
understood or easily perceived aspect of something to represent or stand for
the thing as a whole.
Various metonymic models in our conceptual system underlie the use of
many kinds of figurative and conventional expressions. As with metaphor, this
is best illustrated by considering the similarity between different metonymic
expressions that reflect, for instance, the metonymic mappings of OBJECT
USED FOR USER (e.g.,Thebusesareonstrike,Oursaxhastheflutoday,Weneeda
new glove at third base), CONTROLLER FOR CONTROLLED (e.g.,Nixon bombed
Hanoi, A BMW rear-ended me, Napoleon lost at Waterloo), and THE PLACE FOR
THE EVENT (e.g.,Wall Street is in a panic, Hollywood is putting out terrible movies
this year, Paris has dropped hemlines this year).
Manythousandsofidiomsreflectmetonymicmodesofthought.Eachofthese
expressions reflects some salient aspect of an object, idea, or event and then
stands for or represents the object, idea, or event as a whole. For instance,bite
the dust(meaning ‘to die’),throw in the towel(meaning ‘to give up on some
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