ABSTRACT
In this chapter we’re going to look at the distinction between literal language use and metaphorical language use. Our general conclusion will be that the distinction is often a matter of degree, and that literal language processing depends on, and has built into it, the same kinds of mental processes that we associate with metaphor. Metaphoricity has a number of dimensions, such as contradictoriness, inexplicitness of comparison, conventionality and distance of transfer, and this chapter concentrates on the last two.
