How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Metaphors and things

Techniques > Use of language > Metaphor > Metaphors and things

Objectification | Personification | See also

Metaphors as things casts concepts into space, where they can be treated as external objects.

Objectification

In 'objectification' we cast a concept as an object, a thing. A thing has a boundary. On one side of the boundary the thing exists, whilst on the other side is not-thing, where it does not exist. If the boundary is not complete, then the thing is a part of another thing. Objectification thus calls a thing into existence. Making a concept a thing makes it accessible, describable, understandable, malleable.

I just want to put my cards on the table.

She was looking for love.

He grasped the idea.

In the psychology of bias, we cast others as objects. Bullies objectify victims as incapable and lower-order animals. Men sometimes cast women as sex objects. One race may frame another as primitives.

He was an animal!

Bitch!

You little wimp.

Personification

Personification is the reverse of objectification, where a thing or concept is given human characteristics.

His anger was consuming him.

He was gripped by fear.

The car was kind to him.

Capitalism has conquered Communism.

The crane groaned as it winched up the car.

Metonymy

In metonymy, a thing is used to represent another thing or person, for example

Part = whole

the monarch in Britain is often referred to as 'the crown'. Metonymy thus often uses a simplified archetypical symbol or part of the to encompass the richness of a perhaps more complex concept.

Check out those wheels, man.

He's the brain around here.

I like football.

Whole = part

The reverse can also happen, where a single thing can be referred to by the group or classification.

It's the police!

Downing Street were visited by the White House today.

I drive a Volvo.

See also

Objectification, Metaphors and space