Understanding Metaphors

In our last class we have discussed metaphors.  Thinking about metaphors outside of class, an example I can think of would include how emotions can be expressed as landscapes.  A common example of this would be the phrase, "cry me a river".  Technically, one can not cry out a river, it would be impossible to cry enough water to even fill a creek.  Even if you could literally "cry a river", rivers are naturally formed so it's impossible to make a river.  However, this doesn't stop us from making this analogy.  The fact that a river flows with a lot of water and that tears are also water is enough of a correlation between the two for the saying to make sense to the people around us.

Beyond actual sayings, you can "erupt" from anger or with rage, or your emotions can "explode".  In a literal sense this impossible because people are not an actual volcano.  When we "explode" our bodies don't burn nor do we break into pieces literally in the process.  However, it still makes sense in our society to use these phrases.  In fact, even if you were to say that you burned up or are broken into pieces, people would still understand what you were talking about even if it did not literally happen.  In fact, it not only makes sense to use these phrases, sometimes we use them without even thinking about it.  There is that much of a correlation to us between a literal and an emotional explosion that it gets used like it is an accepted alteration of the standard definition.