frozen metaphor
Noun: A frozen metaphor is a metaphorical expression that has been used so frequently and for so long that its original figurative meaning is no longer consciously recognized by speakers. It has become a standard, literal meaning of a word or phrase. The metaphor is considered "dead" or "frozen" because its imaginative spark has faded through common use.
This term is used in linguistics and literary analysis to describe idioms and common phrases whose metaphorical origins are often overlooked. * It is typically used as a countable noun (e.g., "a frozen metaphor," "several frozen metaphors"). * It describes the state of a linguistic expression, not an active creative process.
- The phrase "the leg of a table" is a frozen metaphor; we no longer think of furniture as having biological limbs.
- In the sentence "She grasped the concept," the verb "grasp" contains a frozen metaphor comparing understanding to physical holding.
- Linguists study how frozen metaphors evolve into standard vocabulary.
- Conceptual Metaphor Theory: Frozen metaphors are often cited as evidence for underlying conceptual metaphors (e.g., ARGUMENT IS WAR) that structure language, even when individual expressions (like "defend your position") become frozen.
- Etymology vs. Current Meaning: Analyzing a frozen metaphor involves uncovering its etymological roots to understand how meaning has shifted and solidified over time.
- Dead Metaphor: A nearly synonymous term. Some scholars distinguish them, suggesting a "dead metaphor" is entirely literal, while a "frozen metaphor" retains a trace of its original image.
- Conventional Metaphor: A metaphor that is standard and commonly used within a language community.
- Idiom: Many idioms are frozen metaphors (e.g., "kick the bucket," "spill the beans"), where the phrase's meaning is not composed from the literal meanings of its words.
- Dead metaphor
- Lexicalized metaphor
- Conventionalized metaphor
- Live metaphor (or novel metaphor): A fresh, creative metaphor where the comparison is actively perceived by the listener or reader (e.g., "Time is a thief").
The term frozen metaphor has a single, specific meaning within the study of figurative language. It does not refer to a metaphor about cold temperatures or ice.
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a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., `he is a snake' may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word `snake')
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