Chapter Eleven
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newsgroup, or unsolicited e-mails sent to multiple recipients, likely to
contain commercial messages, etc.’ (a classic example of food metaphor,^19
strongly embedded in extralinguistic reality). Bug^20 has, slightly
surprisingly, become the term for ‘an error in a computer program which
makes it run incorrectly’ (a case of animal metaphor).^21 Another of the
many examples is disc, i.e. ‘a flat circular plate coated with a substance
that is capable of being magnetized, or etched with a laser beam, for data
recording/storage’ (a metaphor based on an arguably simple case of a
changed “viewing arrangement” – as in Langacker 1999: 88). Notably,
most of the foregoing conceptualizations have become lexicalized not only
in English, but also in other languages (possibly, as loan-translations), as
the cognitive salience of their respective original senses is unquestionable
(possibly, a prominent exception here is culture-specific spam).^22
Solving onomasiological problems by having recourse to figurative
lexical semantic change^23 is a very natural course of action to take in the
light of the Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) well-known claim about the
figurative – predominantly metaphorical – character of language:
“Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act,
is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. Our concepts structure what we
perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other
people. [...] the way we think, what we experience, and what we do every
day is very much a matter of metaphor” (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 3).(^18) Originally, ‘a type of tinned luncheon meat consisting chiefly of pork’ (see the
OED) – hardly anyone’s favourable or welcome type of food.
(^19) It is different from the otherwise popular cases of the so-called foodsemy, i.e.
another type of food metaphor (or metonymy) referring specifically to human
beings (discussed, for example, by Cymbalista 2009).
(^20) Originally, ‘an insect (especially of the beetle kind); also a grub or a larva’ (see
the OED).
(^21) Note that this general type of animal metaphor is different from the human-
specific animal metaphor, the so-called zoosemy (discussed, for example, by
Kieátyka 2008).
(^22) As this conceptualization does not really occur in other languages, the term is
often borrowed – see Dan. spam, Du. spam, Ger. Spam, It. spam, Nor. spam, Pol.
spam (see the PWNO), Port. spam, Russ. ɫɩɚɦ [spam], Sp. spam, Ukr. ɫɩɚɦ
[spam], etc. (see the COLLINS).
(^23) Both the above-quoted authors seem to use the word metaphorical in a generic,
rather than specific sense, whereas figurative would be a more appropriate term.