While reading through the introductory paragraphs of the first chapter I had a sense of what Lakoff and Johnson were trying to convey in Metaphors We Live By regarding  metaphors and how writers use them to portray certain points to their readers. It wasn’t until l had read what Lakoff and Johnson said about argumentative speech using metaphorical phrases that I realized I use metaphors on a day to day basis.

As I got more into it I had a better understanding of what the authors were saying about metaphors and how the words we use shape the manner in which we speak. In chapter three the authors mention time and list an example of many different metaphors in regards to time. Reading through the list of metaphors I realized that I use quite a few of those sayings on a daily basis and didn’t even know how true it was. Time is always thought of in relation to money because it is considered to be so valuable. Even though I say “time is money” so often I never realized just how true it is in the U.S. until after reading about it.

Reading these chapters of the book gave me more insight and a better understanding of how metaphors are very much a part of our day to day lives. They also managed to relate it all to relevant metaphorical concepts that are interesting to read about and made me think about how much of an impact such concepts actually have on us. For example conceptualizing arguments in terms of war impacts the way an argument happens, the person you are arguing against is seen as an opponent and there is always a winner and a loser just like in war. The metaphors not only have an effect on us language wise but also on the way we think about certain topics, like arguments and how valuable time really is.