A study of metaphors in Editorials online from "The New York Times" in 2013

Abstract

The study of Metaphors in the English language has revealed a vacuum regarding newspaper editorials. The present research study reviews the origins and concept of Metaphor as described by different philosophers and linguists, and explores the occurrence of Metaphors and metaphorical expressions in editorials online from The New York Times throughout the period July -December 2013. The definitions provided by Reddy (1979), Lakoff (1980), and Glucksberg & Mc Glone (1997) make up the Theoretical Framework for the study. Editorials dealing with the topics of Politics, Economy, and International Affairs were included in the research. The results showed that, although metaphorical expressions are used in the three topics, the highest number of Metaphors is found in editorials dealing with Politics and political issues. The aim when using metaphorical expressions is to criticize and attack politicians and the government, particularly in the United States. The results from this research will be a contribution both for Teachers of English and Teacher Trainees. The first will be able to count on an additional and reliable resource to teach vocabulary and metaphors which are not culled from literary texts. The latter will benefit from this study by having the possibility to learn metaphors in a new context – journalistic language – and also by being able to analyze and compare the results from this research to their own findings as they read the editorials online.