Metaphors We Live By
...arch Associate. In my attempt to be philosophical about the whole situation, I turned to metaphors to describe my feelings about “losing” my job and the prospect of “starting over”. We don’t realize how often we use metaphors when referring to our careers (or the lack thereof) to describe our workplace beliefs, actions, and relationships. THE RAT RACE Upon learning that I was going to “lose” my job, I initially was worried but since have become quite used to the idea of “dropping out” of the “Rat Race”. Lakoff and Johnson claim that, “The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect. They also govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities. If we are right in suggesting that our conceptual system is largely metaphorical, then the way we think, what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson). Restated, they are saying that we use metaphor to describe and qualify our life experiences. By referring to our career quest as the “Rat Race” we metaphorically qualify work as something that is exhausting, dirty and unpleasant albeit necessary. By “dropping out” of this “Rat Race” I have attributed a sense of righteousness to the concept of being unemployed. This is a perfect example of how our, “ conceptual system plays a central role in defining our everyday realities.” ( Lakoff and Johnson). THE BOARDROOM IS A BATTLEFIELD Our authors use the example that, “argument is war”. I would suggest that war and more specifically military metaphors are often applied to workplace situations as well. For example, many companies have a structured “ chain of command” that outlines the hierarchy of the company. The executive members of our companies are often referred to as, “ the brass”. The terms “White Collar” and “Blue Collar” which normally are military colors used to distinguish between officers and enlis...