What is an idea-as-plant metaphor?

What is an idea-as-plant metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which an idea is thought of as a plant in comparisons such as the following:
	the stages of growth and fruition of the plant represent the stages of development of an idea the branches represent related disciplines

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	His ideas have finally come to fruition. That idea died on the vine. He views chemistry as a mere offshoot of physics. She has a fertile imagination.

Generic
	An idea-as-plant metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for rational processes?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: idea-as-plant 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

© 1999 SIL International