Understanding is mediated by metaphors. : A study of metaphors in British and American newspaper articles dealing with science.

We use metaphors in our daily language – deliberately, and unconsciously. The purpose of this paper was to investigate if journalists use metaphors to explain difficult information concerning science. This study, of British and American newspaper articles dealing with science, especially health, shows that journalists use metaphors to explain difficult information. However, is there a specific underlying conceptual metaphor? I have analyzed 58 metaphors from 12 newspaper articles to get an answer. The result shows that every one of the articles contains linguistic metaphors. I have found 17 conceptual metaphors, and the majority of the linguistic metaphors can be traced back to the conceptual metaphors THE BODY IS A FACTORY and TREATING ILLNESS IS FIGHTING A WAR. The journalists give the small units, and processes, inside our body human characteristics and functions. This makes some procedures easier to understand. The reason is that our experiences contribute to our understanding of the metaphors. Metaphors enable the reader to understand complex matters in familiar terms