Human thought processes are largely metaphorical.The language of argument is literal – we talk about arguments that way because we conceived of them that way – and we act according to the way we conceive of things.The concept is metaphorically structured, the activity is metaphorically structured, and, consequently, the language is metaphorically structured.Argument is partially structured, understood, performed, and talked about in terms of war.The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.If a culture viewed argument as a dance, one would say that we have a discourse structured in terms of battle and they have one structured in terms of dance.Though there is no physical battle, there is verbal battle, and the structure of an argument-attack, defense, counterattack, etc-reflects this.Many things we do in arguing are partially structured by the concept of war.For example, take the metaphor “Argument is War”.The way we think, what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor.Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities.Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we related to other people.Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.Metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action.

Lakoff metaphors