Categories: Site glossary
an expression which was originally mooted as a metaphor, but has become so familiar it has become accepted and its metaphoric origins have been forgotten (e.g., a covalent bond involves electron sharing)
Example:
"…the reference to there being a 'genetic code' is so well established as part of everyday language, that the metaphor may readily be missed…for the physics teacher, resistance may simply be a way of labelling how much p.d. is required to produce a certain amount of current flow, rather than having potential implications of being an active opposition to that flow" (Taber, 2013, p.1379)
[Please be aware that a word may have different nuances, or even a different meaning, according to context.]« Back to Index
