Metaphor and metonymy are figures of speech used in analogy. Metaphors show similarity between two things while metonyms refer to a thing with an associated word. Metonymy is used frequently in writing and can be conventional or unconventional. Metaphors are based on similarity while metonyms are based on contiguity. The connection between metaphor and metonymy can be complicated.
Both metaphor and metonymy are figures of speech used in analogy. A metaphor is considered a substitution of one concept for another while a metonym associates one concept with another. Metaphors are expressions that show the similarity between two things and metonyms are figures of speech that refer to a thing not with the name but with an associated word. It is a relationship based on continuity. While a metaphor is a conceptual view that presents ideas as objects, a metonym presents a salient connection between two concepts.
Metonymy is used frequently in writing. A common example is when a building is used metonymically to represent the people who work there. “The White House is concerned about…”. It’s not the building that cares about anything, it’s the people who are in it. This is an example of a conventional type of metonymy whose meaning can be easily understood. Unconventional metonymies are usually more obscure and can only be understood with reference to context. “Steam irons never have a problem finding roommates” was written by Erma Bombeck and means that the type of person who owns a steam iron will always be in demand as a roommate. In one definition, a metonym is an aspect of something that represents or comes to represent that thing as a whole.
Metaphors are examples of inter-domain mind mapping versus intra-domain thinking involved in creating metonyms. A metaphor is an expression based on similarity that can be used to define the relationship and the transference of that relationship between one thing, or set of things, to another. It is widely believed that the most common metaphors have their basis in a physical experience of the world. This experiential basis indicates an overlap with metonymy. Having “cold feet” when used to mean losing courage and failing to get something done is an indicative metaphor of intra-domain mapping and thus could be said to be metonymically based. However, it is not entirely metonymic, as in the example referred to the White House.
The connection between metaphor and metonymy can be complicated as they can interact in different ways such as in metonymy within metaphor and metonymy metaphor. In summary, there are four key differences between metaphor and metonymy. Metaphorical substitutes and metonymic associates. The first can be taken to mean condensation and the second displacement. Metaphor and metonymy suppress and combine ideas respectively and the former is based on similarity while the latter is based on contiguity.
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