What is an argument-as-building metaphor?

What is an argument-as-building metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which a rational argument is represented as a building having parts and degrees of sturdiness.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	We've got the framework for a solid argument. If you don't support your argument with solid facts, the whole thing will collapse. He is trying to buttress his argument with a lot of irrelevant facts, but it is still so shaky that it will easily fall apart under criticism.

Generic
	An argument-as-building metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for argument?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: argument-as-building metaphor
In modular book: Metaphors in English, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H. Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Lexicon

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 September 1998