In day-to-day English, we use the word ‘metaphor’ to talk about figurative expressions in general. Linguists also use ‘metaphor’ in this way, but sometimes they prefer to be more specific, drawing a distinction between two sorts of figurative expressions: metaphors and metonymies.

 Metaphors

In this context, linguists define a metaphor as an expression that suggests a resemblance between two things. For instance, if we say that someone ‘cannot control their fear’, fear is implicitly compared with some sort of agitated creature, or power, that one needs to calm. The metaphor postulates similarities between fear and such a creature.

 Metonymies

On the other hand, if a given language uses the expression ‘have goosebumps’ to mean ‘be afraid’, the underlying reason for the association is not that goosebumps and fear are alike, but that they happen at the same time – because fear triggers goosebumps. It is quite natural for people in any languages to use a single word or expression when two things are regularly encountered together in real life. For instance, in English, we say that we drink ‘a glass of wine’. Of course, we don’t drink the glass, but rather its content. But language takes a short cut, so to speak. The same applies with goosebumps and fear: if we know that people who have goosebumps are often afraid, the expression can be used as a short cut to talk about fear. For example, in Alyawarr (Central Australia), arrelyerreyel means both ‘become frightened’ and ‘get goosebumps’. This sort of short cut between things that happen together in the world are what linguists call metonymies.

References

Green, Jennifer, David Blackman and David Moore. Alyawarr to English dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press, 2019.