Figurative language in English

Many words that denote temperature are used to describe someone's characteristics, such as hot-tempered, a hot body, a burning desire.

Metaphor is a figure of speech used to refer to one thing or phenomenon using the name of another. Some metaphors have become so commonplace and familiar in everyday language that we often no longer think of them as mere figures of speech.

Here are some common metaphors used in English:

Time is likened to money. Therefore, we can save time, reserve time, spend time, waste time, and allocate time. Furthermore, time is considered finite and precious.

- Intelligence is likened to light. With this metaphor, the adjective you use will describe someone's level of intelligence.

For example: She's the brightest student in the class (He is the smartest student in the class) or She's a brilliant scholar in the field (She is a brilliant scholar in her field); We were impressed by the author's shining intellect (We were impressed by the author's shining intellect).

- Debate is likened to war (Argument is war).

With this metaphor, you can say: I'm winning the argument; I have to defend my position; He's trying to attack the weakest points in my argument; I demolished his argument.

Dr. Phung Thuy Linh (right), at Chatham University, USA, March 2023. Photo: Provided by the author. — Dr. Phung Thuy Linh (right), at Chatham University, USA, March 2023. Photo: *Provided by the author* .

- Emotions, personality, and relationships are likened to temperature (Feelings, quality, relationships are heat). Temperature can represent states of cold, cool, warm, and hot.

In this context, "cold" can be used to refer to emotions, personality traits, and relationships, such as: She's a cold-hearted/frigid person (She is a person with a cold heart/frigid); I was greeted with a cold smile (I was greeted with a cold smile).

Another word that can be used to describe this state is icy, for example: His relationship with his wife has turned icy (His relationship with his wife has frozen).

The word "cool" is also used to describe emotions and appearance. For example: I need to cool off/cool down (I need to cool down to calm down); It's nice to just chill by the pool (It's nice to just chill by the pool); Growing up, I never considered myself a cool kid (When I was younger, I never considered myself a cool kid).

Similarly, the word "warm" is used in Vietnamese: I have a warm feeling whenever I think of my grandma; She's a warm-hearted person with warm smiles; I received a warm welcome from my employees.

At a higher level, "hot" and its equivalents are used to describe feelings of anger, someone's popularity or attractiveness, or urgency.

You might see some phrases like: hot-tempered, hot-headed, a hot body, sell like hot cakes, a hot/burning issue, a burning desire.

Linh Phung (Head of the English program for international students, Chatham University, USA)

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