About a month ago, I blogged about metaphors we die by (and for). That blog entry barely scratched the surface of the subject (metaphorically speaking). One of the subjects that has been in the news a lot lately is the growing problem of obesity. Have you ever thought about the way language contributes to the size of that problem? The most obvious example is, perhaps, the now-defunct option at McDonalds, which invited customers to say, “Supersize me.”
That is just one example. For one reason or another, one of the meanings of the word “healthy” is “big” or “generous.” What does taking a “healthy piece” of pie mean to you? Perhaps you were among those whose parents encouraged you to clean your plate to avoid letting the food “go to waste.” They may have even used a negative command,, “Don’t let your food go to waste….” That, of course, is like telling someone, “Don’t look now….” The negative command practically guarantees that the person will look. When it comes to not letting food go to waste, what seems guaranteed is that the food will go to waist. What is the unconscious mind to do with the combined commands of “cleaning the plate” and letting the food go to waste/waist? We live in a time when even pizza can have a cheese explosion, no matter how you slice it.
Metaphors that may encourage overeating are just one example of food metaphors. You probably want to feed your mind good ideas. That’s probably one area it’s good to make a pig of yourself. You probably wouldn’t want to be among those who need to be spoon fed when it comes to learning new things. We may, in fact, have a perfect storm of food and dining metaphors, which could lead to another media feeding frenzy. That is, of course, only for those eating high on the hog. Whether these metaphors get stuck in your throat and leave you feeling your oats and full of beans, probably depends on the degree to which you are aware of their metaphorical nature.
One of the best ways to improve your understanding of how language works both in consciousness and at levels below (or outside of) conscious awareness is to look for the possible meanings of expressions. If you stop to think about what McDonalds is saying when it asks whether you want to be “supersized” or what a well-meaning parent or blogger means when suggesting that you eat a “healthy” meal, you may discover that what lies beneath the surface is more important than the surface meaning. Meanings outside of conscious awareness are often accepted without the critical evaluation typically afforded surface meanings.
As you increase your awareness of metaphorical implications, you may want to start with the most obvious: If a politician refers to an opponent as a “dirty rat,” he or she probably has a sewer rat in mind, so the meaning of the statement is fairly close to the surface. We all (with the possible exception of Rep. Weiner), know what it means to “go off half-cocked,” but only those familiar with the history of firearms know that the “half-cock” position on flintlock weapons was the equivalent of having the “safety” on. The weapon wouldn’t fire until it was fully cocked. At some point in history, everyone knew exactly what “half-cocked” meant, even when the expression was used metaphorically. The metaphor, however, “hangs on” even though most are unaware of the source, or original meaning. The technical term for this kind of metaphor is itself a metaphor: it’s a dead metaphor. Metaphors “die” when the original meaning is lost, if you can grasp that concept. The main thing to note is that dead metaphors, including most clichés, go, if not unnoticed, unexamined.
A metaphor basically says, “This is like that.” A politician who says that an opponent is a rat is saying that his or her opponent is “like” a rat in some significant way. A recent online news headline was, “Eight-alarm blaze guts historic Rhode Island mill.” We all know what that means, and the verb “guts” may be close enough to the surface that we also know that the expression comes from what hunters and fishermen and women do to fish and game in the process of turning them into food. When you begin chewing on the ideas behind the metaphors, however, you may find that some of them are not so easy to digest and become fed up with those who use them. That may, of course, not be any skin off your backside, which could be a problem if you are thin skinned. On the other hand, this may be a subject you can really sink your teeth into.
With a little practice, you will soon be noticing the metaphorical implications and multiple meanings that lie beneath the surface. The moral of the story is that you need to understand what’s below the surface if you are going to be successful in swimming with the sharks. You may find that thinking about this subject will kick start an increased interest in how language works to communicate more than is actually said.
