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Chapter 10. A corpus-based study of ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic comment

  • Elena Semino
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Mixing Metaphor
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Mixing Metaphor

Abstract

This chapter investigates the use of the expression ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic comment in the two-billion-word Oxford English Corpus. I consider the co-text of 141 occurrences of ‘mixed metaphor’ in the corpus, in order to shed light on the kinds of uses of metaphors that writers opt to explicitly draw attention to as involving ‘mixing’. I show how folk understandings of ‘mixed metaphor’ include phenomena that do not correspond to the technical use of the term in the specialist literature, and reflect on the implications of these findings for metaphor theory. Some attention is given to the use of the phrase ‘mixed metaphor’ in different genres, the relevance of grammatical boundaries to perception of ‘mixing’ between metaphors, and the possible pragmatic motivation for using ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic label. The study broadly confirms the prevailing view that the notion of ‘mixed metaphor’ often involves a negative evaluation of a particular stretch of language and of the speaker/writer who produced it. However, in a substantial minority of cases, the phrase is used humorously to point out what are in fact creative, witty and highly effective uses of metaphor.

Abstract

This chapter investigates the use of the expression ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic comment in the two-billion-word Oxford English Corpus. I consider the co-text of 141 occurrences of ‘mixed metaphor’ in the corpus, in order to shed light on the kinds of uses of metaphors that writers opt to explicitly draw attention to as involving ‘mixing’. I show how folk understandings of ‘mixed metaphor’ include phenomena that do not correspond to the technical use of the term in the specialist literature, and reflect on the implications of these findings for metaphor theory. Some attention is given to the use of the phrase ‘mixed metaphor’ in different genres, the relevance of grammatical boundaries to perception of ‘mixing’ between metaphors, and the possible pragmatic motivation for using ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic label. The study broadly confirms the prevailing view that the notion of ‘mixed metaphor’ often involves a negative evaluation of a particular stretch of language and of the speaker/writer who produced it. However, in a substantial minority of cases, the phrase is used humorously to point out what are in fact creative, witty and highly effective uses of metaphor.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. Introduction vii
  5. Part I. Is Mixed Metaphor a Problem?
  6. Chapter 1. A view of “mixed metaphor” within a conceptual metaphor theory framework 3
  7. Chapter 2. Mixed metaphors from a discourse dynamics perspective 17
  8. Chapter 3. Why mixed metaphors make sense 31
  9. Chapter 4. Tackling mixed metaphors in discourse 57
  10. Part II. Reasons for Mixing Metaphor
  11. Chapter 5. Mixed metaphor 75
  12. Chapter 6. Mixed metaphor is a question of deliberateness 113
  13. Chapter 7. When languages and cultures meet 133
  14. Chapter 8. The ‘dull roar’ and the ‘burning barbed wire pantyhose’ 155
  15. Part III. Effects of Mixing Metaphor
  16. Chapter 9. We drink with our eyes first 179
  17. Chapter 10. A corpus-based study of ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic comment 203
  18. Chapter 11. Mixing in pictorial and multimodal metaphors? 223
  19. Chapter 12. Extended metaphor in the web of discourse 241
  20. Index 267
https://doi.org/10.1075/milcc.6.10sem

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. Introduction vii
  5. Part I. Is Mixed Metaphor a Problem?
  6. Chapter 1. A view of “mixed metaphor” within a conceptual metaphor theory framework 3
  7. Chapter 2. Mixed metaphors from a discourse dynamics perspective 17
  8. Chapter 3. Why mixed metaphors make sense 31
  9. Chapter 4. Tackling mixed metaphors in discourse 57
  10. Part II. Reasons for Mixing Metaphor
  11. Chapter 5. Mixed metaphor 75
  12. Chapter 6. Mixed metaphor is a question of deliberateness 113
  13. Chapter 7. When languages and cultures meet 133
  14. Chapter 8. The ‘dull roar’ and the ‘burning barbed wire pantyhose’ 155
  15. Part III. Effects of Mixing Metaphor
  16. Chapter 9. We drink with our eyes first 179
  17. Chapter 10. A corpus-based study of ‘mixed metaphor’ as a metalinguistic comment 203
  18. Chapter 11. Mixing in pictorial and multimodal metaphors? 223
  19. Chapter 12. Extended metaphor in the web of discourse 241
  20. Index 267
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Heruntergeladen am 18.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/milcc.6.10sem/html
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