ABSTRACT
Conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) started with George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s book Metaphors We Live By (1980). The theory goes back a long way and builds on centuries of scholarship that takes metaphor not simply as an ornamental device in language but as a conceptual tool for structuring, restructuring and even creating reality. Notable philosophers in this history include, for instance, Friedrich Nietzsche and, more recently, Max Black. A recent overview of theories of metaphor can be found in Gibbs (2008), and one of CMT in particular in Kövecses (2010a).
