1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Metaphor and the Social World
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Moral metaphor, metonymic causation
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This article explores the double metaphoric and metonymic use of the Danish word (“stain” or “spot”) in discourse about shame and moral judgment. Drawing on Danish corpus data and a close analysis of therapeutic interaction, the study argues that operates not only as a metaphor — grounded in the moral schema of “clean versus dirty” — but also as a metonymy, where a visible stain stands for the social and emotional consequences of past actions. In the corpus data, is used metaphorically to describe both temporary reputational damage (e.g. sports defeats) and more lasting moral stains. In therapy data, however, takes on a deeper, socially embedded function, expressing personal shame and the fear of social exposure. Here, its metonymic structure — as an effect standing for a cause — becomes especially salient. The analysis highlights how metaphor and metonymy work together to construct meaning in social contexts, and how their interplay can be creatively exploited in a therapeutic setting. By externalizing shame onto a physical object (a letter of concern), the therapist helps the client reframe a stigmatizing experience. The findings underline how metaphor and metonymy coalesce in a single expression creating layered meaning in social contexts.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/msw.24029.jen
2025-10-21
2025-11-09

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/msw.24029.jen
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab
    Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab (2003–) Den Danske Ordbog [The Danish Dictionary]. Copenhagen: DSL. RetrievedAugust 30, 2025, fromhttps://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=plet
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Banerjee, P., Chatterjeee, P., & Sinha, J.
    (2012) Is it light or dark? Recalling moral behavior changes perception of brightness. Psychological Science, , –. 10.1177/0956797611432497
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611432497 [Google Scholar]
  3. Benczes, R., Barcelona, A., and Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F. J.
    (Eds.) (2011) Defining metonymy in cognitive linguistics: Towards a consensus view. John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.28
     https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.28 [Google Scholar]
  4. Blitz, K.
    (2012) Dirty hands or deterrence? An experimental examination of the exclusionary rule. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, , –. 10.1111/j.1740‑1461.2011.01250.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-1461.2011.01250.x [Google Scholar]
  5. Burgo, J.
    (2018) Shame: Free Yourself, Find Joy, and Build True Self-Esteem. St. Martin’s Essentials
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Dancygier, B. and Sweetser, E.
    (2014) Figurative Language (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics). Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Deignan, A.
    (2005) Metaphor and Corpus Linguistics. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/celcr.6
     https://doi.org/10.1075/celcr.6 [Google Scholar]
  8. Denroche, C.
    (2018) Text metaphtonymy. The interplay of metonymy and metaphor in discourse. Metaphor and the Social World, (): –. 10.1075/msw.16011.den
     https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.16011.den [Google Scholar]
  9. Ding, F., Tian, X., Wang, X. and Liu, Z.
    (2019) The Consistency Effects of the Clean Metaphor of Moral Concept and Dirty Metaphor of Immoral Concept: An Event-Related Potentials Study. Journal of Psychophysiology. 10.1027/0269‑8803/a000249
     https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000249 [Google Scholar]
  10. Gibbs, R.
    (1999) Speaking and thinking with metonymy. InK.-U. Panther and G. Radden (eds.) Metonymy in Language and Thought (pp.–). John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.4.04gib
     https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.4.04gib [Google Scholar]
  11. Gibbs, R. W.
    (2017) Metaphor Wars. Conceptual metaphors in Human Life. Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Gibbs Jr., R. W.
    (2022) Metaphorical experience: Contiguity or cross-domain mappings?Review of Cognitive Linguistics, (), — . 10.1075/rcl.00099.gib
     https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00099.gib [Google Scholar]
  13. Gibson, J. J.
    (1979) The ecological approach to visual perception: Classic edition. Psychology Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Hildago-Downing, L. and O’Dowd, N.
    (2023) Code Red for Humanity: Multimodal Metaphor and Metonymy in Noncommercial Advertisements on Environmental Awareness and Activism. Metaphor and Symbol, (), –. 10.1080/10926488.2022.2153336
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2022.2153336 [Google Scholar]
  15. Ibáñez, R. D. M. & Galera-Masegosa, A.
    (2011) Going beyond metaphtonymy: Metaphoric and metonymic complexes in phrasal verb interpretation. Language Value, , –. 10.6035/LanguageV.2011.3.2
     https://doi.org/10.6035/LanguageV.2011.3.2 [Google Scholar]
  16. Jensen, T. W.
    (2017) Doing Metaphor: An Ecological Perspective on Metaphoricity on Discourse. InB. Hampe (Ed.). Metaphor: Embodied Cognition and Discourse (pp.–). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108182324.015
     https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182324.015 [Google Scholar]
  17. Jensen, T. W. and Greve, L.
    (2019) Ecological Cognition and Metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol, (), –, 10.1080/10926488.2019.1591720
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2019.1591720 [Google Scholar]
  18. Jensen, T. W.
    (2023) “Må jeg se din plet?”. En undersøgelse af den overførte brug af ordet plet som både metafor og metonymi. Nydanske Sprogstudier NyS, , –. 10.7146/nys.v1i64.141690
     https://doi.org/10.7146/nys.v1i64.141690 [Google Scholar]
  19. (2022) The Indexical Affordance of Metaphor: Stain as a Case Example. Metaphor and Symbol, (), –, 10.1080/10926488.2021.1973869
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2021.1973869 [Google Scholar]
  20. (2024) Metaphoric creativity as embodied performance in social interaction. J. Ball, L. & F. Vallée-Tourangeau (red.). The Routledge International Handbook of Creative Cognition (pp.–) Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Johnson, M.
    (1994) Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Julich-Warpakowski, N. and Jensen, T. W.
    (2023) Zooming in on the notion of metaphoricity. Notions, dimensions, and operationalizations. Metaphor and the Social World, (), –10.1075/msw.00027.jul
     https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.00027.jul [Google Scholar]
  23. Kövecses, Z.
    (2003) Metaphor and Emotion. Language, Culture, and Body in Human Feeling. Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. (2013) The metaphor–metonymy relationship: correlation metaphors are based on metonymy. Metaphor and Symbol, , –. 10.1080/10926488.2013.768498
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2013.768498 [Google Scholar]
  25. Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M.
    (1980) Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. (1999) Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought. Basic Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Littlemore, J.
    (2015) Metonymy: Hidden Shortcuts in Language, Thought and Communication. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781107338814
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107338814 [Google Scholar]
  28. (2017) On the role of embodied cognition in the understanding and use of metonymy. InB. Hampe (Ed.), Metaphor: Embodied cognition and discourse (pp.–). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108182324.010
     https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182324.010 [Google Scholar]
  29. Littlemore, J. and Tagg, C.
    (2018) Metonymy and Text Messaging. A Framework for Understanding Creative Uses of Metonymy, Applied Linguistics, (), –.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Mariau, B.
    (2015) Writing dramas on television news and on the Internet: Evolution of an emotional rhetoric. Journal of Media and Communication Studies, (), –.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Moya Guijarro, J. A. & B. Ruiz Cordero
    (2020) A multimodal cognitive analysis of visual metonymies in picture books featuring same-sex-parent families. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, (), — . 10.1075/rcl.00064.moy
     https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00064.moy [Google Scholar]
  32. Müller, C., and Tag, S.
    (2010) The Dynamics of Metaphor: Foregrounding and Activating Metaphoricity in Conversational Interaction. Cognitive Semiotics, (), –. 10.3726/81610_85
     https://doi.org/10.3726/81610_85 [Google Scholar]
  33. Negro, I.
    (2015) Corruption is Dirt: Metaphors for political corruption in the Spanish press. Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, , –. 10.3828/bhs.2015.15
     https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2015.15 [Google Scholar]
  34. O’Dowd, N. A.
    (2024) The potential of creative uses of metonymy for climate protest, Discourse & Society, –. 10.1177/09579265231222005
     https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265231222005 [Google Scholar]
  35. Peirce, C. S.
    (1931/1974) The icon, index, and symbol. C. Hartshorne & P. Weiss (red.), Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, CP 2.277, EP 2. 274. Harvard University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Radden, G. and Kövesces, Z.
    (1999) Towards a Theory of Metonymy. InK.-U. Panther and G. Radden (eds.) Metonymy in Language and Thought (pp.–). John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.4.03rad
     https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.4.03rad [Google Scholar]
  37. Schnall, S., Benton, J., & Harvey, S.
    (2008) With a clean conscience: Cleanliness reduces the severity of moral judgements. Psychological Science, , –. 10.1111/j.1467‑9280.2008.02227.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02227.x [Google Scholar]
  38. Schnall, S.
    (2011) Clean, proper, and tidy are more than the absence of dirty, disgusting and wrong. Emotion review, , –. 10.1177/1754073911402397
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073911402397 [Google Scholar]
  39. Sobrino, P. P.
    (2017) Multimodal metaphor and metonymy in advertising. John Benjamins. 10.1075/ftl.2
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.2 [Google Scholar]
  40. Stage, C.
    (2019) Skam. Tænkepauser 68. Aarhus University Press. 10.2307/j.ctv34wmq2s
     https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv34wmq2s [Google Scholar]
  41. Stefanowitsch, A.
    (2011) Cognitive linguistics as a cognitive science. InM. Callies, W. R. Keller, & A. Lohöfer (Eds.) Bi-directionality in the cognitive sciences: Avenues, challenges, and limitations (pp.–). John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.30.18ste
     https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.30.18ste [Google Scholar]
  42. Steen, G. J.
    (2015) Developing, testing and interpreting Deliberate Metaphor Theory. Journal of Pragmatics, , –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2015.03.013
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.03.013 [Google Scholar]
  43. Tay, D.
    (2017) An Analysis of Metaphor Hedging in Psychotherapeutic Talk. In: Yamaguchi, M., Tay, D., Blount, B. (eds) Approaches to Language, Culture, and Cognition (pp.–). Palgrave Macmillan, 10.1057/9781137274823_11
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137274823_11 [Google Scholar]
  44. Turner, S., & Littlemore, J.
    (2023) Literal or metaphorical? Conventional or creative? Contested metaphoricity in intense emotional experiences. Metaphor and the Social World:, –. 10.1075/msw.00028.tur
     https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.00028.tur [Google Scholar]
  45. Yu, N., Wang, T. & He, Y.
    (2016) Spatial Subsystem of Moral Metaphors: A Cognitive Semantic Study, Metaphor and Symbol, (). –. 10.1080/10926488.2016.1223470
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2016.1223470 [Google Scholar]
  46. Zhong, C., & Liljenquist, K.
    (2006) Washing away your sins: Threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, , –. 10.1126/science.1130726
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1130726 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/msw.24029.jen
Loading
Moral metaphor, metonymic causation
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.24029.jen
/content/journals/10.1075/msw.24029.jen
/content/journals/10.1075/msw.24029.jen
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: effect for cause ; metaphoricity ; shame ; therapy ; metonymy ; discourse ; metaphor

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error