If one states the terms being compared, is that not more like an allegory? Plato's allegory of the cave places our experience of knowing and ignorance side by side with an image that is meant to correspond with it. — Paine

I believe I may have read that an allegory is a subtype of metaphor, although generally the two are distinguished (merely) on the basis of an allegory being an extended piece of literature/narrative, where there may be personification, metonym, etc etc, and a metaphor is a short expression.
But certainly, that allegory cannot be condensed into a metaphor, "Life is a shadow", or something like that...

I don't think any of these words, with the exception of "shit," is a metaphor. There has to be a comparison for it to be a metaphor. To say "She is a trailblazer" is a metaphor. Just "trailblazer" by itself is not. I think "shit," as an exclamation is a metaphor, because it represents "This situation is shit," which is a comparison. — T Clark

yes, I agree. although with the word "shit" with the exclamation mark, it is certainly a figure of speech and can be unpacked to be a metaphor, but as "shit!", it may have some other technical name.

Watch short documentaries about: Metaphor and Linguistic Diversity, Metaphor and Emotion, Metaphor and Communication, and Metaphor and Creativity.

I've watched two of the videos. The first and this one on metaphor and communication:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnwKZAOulLk

[ Filmed at The Creative Power of Metaphor conference held at Worcester College, Oxford on 29-30 March 2019. The conference was organised by Creative Multilingualism]

It held my attention with different speakers/researchers.
A focus on imagery, ads, politics, street art e.g. see Banksy used in a Greek political image - original here : https://www.banksyshop.net/banksy-girl-with-balloon-meaning/

Interesting research re levels of understanding depending on ambiguous nature of the metaphor.
Also, how metaphor shapes thought and vice versa as it is framed in a single image.
Directionality and Association.

--------

...so with "Geworfenheit" there is merely a tenor. there can be no mapping. Although it is understandable why one would think it is a metaphor, it seems technically not to be. — jancanc

If ever I'm hung up on a problem, sometimes I need to loosen up...swing a little.
Be easy...work out how much it really matters...and then move on.

Thanks for further explanation and starting this enjoyable thread :smile:
I'm sure I have more to learn - given my fascination with the subject and now Ancient Greek !
Resisting the temptation to say, "It's all Greek to me !"

Lumen naturale: Light is a metaphor for clarity, reason, sound judgment, knowledge, truth, etc.

I don't think any of these words, with the exception of "shit," is a metaphor. There has to be a comparison for it to be a metaphor. — T Clark

yes, I agree. — jancanc

A metaphor is not a comparison. A metaphor is a meaning attributed figuratively to a parallel literal meaning.
An example for you:

Light is a metaphor for clarity, reason, sound judgment, knowledge, truth, etc. — Agent Smith

Can a Metaphor be a single word?

This is fussy and probably tangential, but 'yes, if the other word is implicit'. If my boss walks in the room and I cry out in a buttlicking way 'Lion!' Well, that's a metaphor or I'm deluded. Hopefully the latter.

Also the problem isn't whether there is one word, but whether there is the presence of just the vehicle, even if there are several words.

I don't think these are metaphors. — T Clark

Which particularly? (I can't handle "these" ...)
I assume you mean all of them. Anyway, it depends on how one defines the word "metaphor". I use the definition from Oxford LEXICO: "A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable."

'Literary Devices' defines it as "a word or phrase that is used to make a comparison between two things.". And it offers a lot of examples. I list some of them that apply to "my case":
- Battle of egos: The word "battle" is used figuratively (metaforically)
- Better half: The word "half" is used with a different meaning than its basic one
- Early bird: The word "early" is used with a aspecial meaning, other than its basic one

In my example "he holds a chair in physics" the word "chair" is used figuratively. It fits the scheme used by 'Literary Devices'. At least this is how I see it.

The example used py the poster himself --"she has a heart of gold"-- also fits to the abobe scheme, only that in this case both words are used metaforically (figuratively). We could change it to "a person of gold", in which s single word is used metaforically, "gold". The scheme is always the same.

Anyway, the topic asks for single-word metaphors. And the above examples fit the case. If, however, the topic asks for striclly single words, i.e. creating a metaphor by uttering a single word, then the words "scapegoat" and "portmanteau", which I also mentioned, and similar ones, is the best one could do. And, like early bird, mentioned above, we can mention "mockingbird", which is mimicking the songs of other birds and which is another example of a single-word metaphor.
(Yet, note that these too consist of two words, only that they are blended together! :smile:)

Found this but haven't read it through properly
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-conceptual-metaphor-1689899 — Amity

:up: Nice! It gives examples of single-word metaphors (emphasizing the word that is used metaphorically), as I did too.

it is splitting hairs, right!?
I word agree "Lion!" in an utterance is an implicit metaphor..the comparison is implicit.... But on the written page I do not think it-- the single word with exclamation mark- would qualify as a metaphor.

therein lies my problem with saying a mere word (in isolation) is a metaphor. — jancanc

What about two words blended into a single one (scapegoat, portemanteau, mockingbird, ...) ? :smile:

it is splitting hairs, right!? — jancanc

as I said....

This is fussy and probably tangential, but 'yes, — Bylaw

In a philosophical text the single word, if implicitly referring to something else without it being mentioned, then it could be a metaphor. But then we need examples.

:up: :clap: :100:

But then we need examples. — Bylaw

People, I decided to repeat my posts when necessery, to alleviate the fact that almost nobody reads through the entire text of all posts. I do this to show that what you have asked for has been done.

This is not a "blaming" or "shaming", it is simply an acknowledgement that hardly anyone reads through the entire thread.

By "you" I did not mean you, Bylaw; I meant general you.

Some one-word metaphors:
Enlightenment
Deadly
Levity
Pissed (drunken)
Pissed (angry)
Pissed (dissed)
Shit (too many figurative meanings to mention)
Brownies (girl guides)
Trailblazer
Cowboy
Ironic
Wordy
Wooden
Etc — god must be atheist

What about two words blended into a single one (scapegoat, portemanteau, mockingbird, ...) ? :smile: — Alkis Piskas

nice point! But I would say these are only one word (compound nouns)...denoting the existence of only one entity!

A metaphor is not a comparison. A metaphor is a meaning attributed figuratively to a parallel literal meaning. — god must be atheist

We seem to be running across the question of what a metaphor is and isn't. Seems like a good time to define the word. Here are several definitions from the web:

• A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles”
• A figure of speech by which, from some supposed resemblance or analogy, a name, an attribute, or an action belonging to or characteristic of one object is assigned to another to which it is not literally applicable; the figurative transfer of a descriptive or affirmative word or phrase from one thing to another; implied comparison by transference of terms: as, the ship spread its wings to the breeze; “Judah is a lion's whelp,”
• A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money)
• A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another.

I think it is reasonable to say that a metaphor is a comparison, but whether or not we do, it clearly requires two elements. This from Wikipedia:

The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1937) by rhetorician I. A. Richards describes a metaphor as having two parts: the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed.

A single word does not provide both parts unless it is somehow implied. If I say "A**hole!" the "You are an..." is implied.

So anyway, what does it matter if metaphor can be a single word or not? So it's established that metaphor cannot be a single word. Great. What now?

So it's established that metaphor cannot be a single word. Great. What now? — emancipate

As far as I can tell, all that has been established is that a metaphor cannot be a single word without context, which, however, has no bearing on the OP.

I assume you mean all of them. — Alkis Piskas

Yes.

The example used py the poster himself --"she has a heart of gold"-- also fits to the abobe scheme, — Alkis Piskas

I agree, this is a metaphor.

In my example "he holds a chair in physics" the word "chair" is used figuratively. — Alkis Piskas

I'm not sure about this. Technically, I think it is what's called a metonymy. From the web:

In rhetoric, change of name; a trope or figure of speech that consists in substituting the name of one thing for that of another to which the former bears a known and close relation.

Maybe it can be both.

If, however, the topic asks for striclly single words, i.e. creating a metaphor by uttering a single word, — Alkis Piskas

This is how I interpreted the OP. As I noted in my previous response to @god must be atheist, it is my understanding that a metaphor is made up of two parts. In a one word metaphor, the second part has to be implied.

Recently I heard a philosopher speaking about a certain term Heidegger used as being a "description" or "predication"...yet, is not a description or predication a comparison between a minimum of 2 terms, concepts, etc?
For example, a description is "she has a heart of gold".....we have here the adjective or predicate ("Gold") and the tenor or subject of the description... ("heart"). But neither "heart" nor "gold", when taken alone, constitute a description. (Literal or metaphorical.)

So anyway, what does it matter if metaphor can be a single word or not? So it's established that metaphor cannot be a single word. Great. What now? — emancipate

It hasn't been established. It's a claim I've made, but I don't think everyone agrees.

As far as I can tell, all that has been established is that a metaphor cannot be a single word without context, which, however, has no bearing on the OP. — jamalrob

Here is the OP:

Recently I heard a philosopher speaking about a certain term Heidegger used as being a 'metaphor"....yet, is not a metaphor a comparison between a minimum of 2 terms, concepts, etc. For example, a metaphor is "she has a heart of gold".....we have here the metaphorical vehicle ("Gold") and the tenor or subject of the metaphor... ("heart"). But neither "heart" nor "gold", when taken alone, constitute a metaphor. — jancanc

Why doesn't it have any bearing?

I would say these are only one word (compound nouns)...denoting the existence of only one entity! — jancanc

You are right. That's why I said, "it's the best one could do", i.e. the nearest to single-word metaphors one can get.

@jancanc In fact, a complete metaphor cannot be formulated by a single word, and this is I think the answer to the topic.

Sorry. Let me clarify. Assume that is is established. Hypothetically, what then?

Sorry. Let me clarify. Assume that is is established. Hypothetically, what then? — emancipate

We're all done (brushes dust from hands). We congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

Technically, I think it is what's called a metonymy — T Clark

Thanks! I got richer today by one literary term! :grin:

Wikipedia describes the differencr bewteen "metonomy" and "metaphor":
"Metonymy works by the contiguity (association) between two concepts, whereas the term 'metaphor' is based upon their analogous similarity. When people use metonymy, they do not typically wish to transfer qualities from one referent to another as they do with metaphor. There is nothing press-like about reporters or crown-like about a monarch, but 'the press' and 'the crown' are both common metonyms."

Well, that's enough for me for one day as far as literature is concerned! :grin:

Great. Another mystery solved. This calls for a hypothetical drink. *Hypothetical guzzle ensues*

Why doesn't it have any bearing? — T Clark

I shall attempt a clarification. There appears in jancanc's posts to be a conflation of two things: first, a metaphor as a term with no (implied) connection to, or context of, the thing or concept represented; and second, a metaphor as a single word. The OP uncritically takes the latter to entail the former.

When I said that "all that has been established is that a metaphor cannot be a single word without context, which, however, has no bearing on the OP", I was wrong, or at least imprecise. I was just trying to say that Heidegger's use of a metaphor (if that's what it is) doesn't require that he use more than one word. Or I could say that more than one word is always required to produce the metaphoricality of a metaphor, because a word spoken or written without context cannot be metaphorical. Such a contextless word is likely meaningless anyway. But the requirement for contextual words does not negate the claim that the metaphor itself is a metaphor, whether it's one word or a few.

But the requirement for contextual words does not negate the claim that the metaphor itself is a metaphor, whether it's one word or a few. — jamalrob

I was with you until this.

Analogically, a preposition can be one word even if it takes more than one word to make it a preposition. A preposition on its own is nothing.

This analogy works because prepositions indicate relations, as do metaphors. I'm just making the simple point that in both cases they can consist of a single word.*

* though not, of course, a single word alone (whatever that would mean)

So my earlier claim was making the point that the following in the OP...

Recently I heard a philosopher speaking about a certain term Heidegger used as being a 'metaphor" — jancanc

...is not affected by an argument to the effect that a metaphor requires the context of other words, because of course, the term did have such a context.

"I was bruised by @T Clark's harsh criticisms"

The metaphor is "bruised". Is there more to say?