Popular Metaphors for Love

&nbsp Introduction/Background: On a website called Marie Claire, Maura Lelly, the author of a page called "Our Favorite Way to Talk about Love," explains the metaphoric language of love with the help of an author called James Geary. It says what the common metaphors for love are, were we find them, and why we associate those metaphors with love.

Summary/Sypnosis: James Geary talks about how the most common metaphor for love is heat. He talks about how songs like "Heat Wave," a song by Martha & The Vandellas, or Elvis Presley's "Burning Love" use the heat metaphor. James also says that the heat metaphor is still popular in daily speech with everday expressions like "He's so hot". Then he refers to a line in the play Romeo and Juliet where Romeo talks about Juilet as if she were the sun.

Later on, James talks about why heat is associated with love. He says "Love and other intense emotions, such as anger, raise pulse and blood pressure, increase muscle tension, and stimulate sweat glands, making us feel hotter. Plus, the brain areas that process physical warmth also process psychological warmth, forming a link between body and mind". Then explains that "The link between heat and love also explains why red is the color of romance. Red is associated with fire, so red lipstick, red dresses, red sports cars, and red hearts for Valentine's Day are all used as metaphorical signals of hot stuff".

Finally, James gives examples of love metaphors that don't involve temperature such as "my better half" or "our love is a rollercoaster ride".

In conclusion, it's stated that love is an "overwhelming, crushing sensation we feel when we really, really (no I mean really) like a person".

Citation - Kelly, Maura. "Our Favorite Way to Talk about Love." Marie Claire. Hearst Communication, Inc., 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 18 May 2012. .

Link to source - http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/dating-blog/popular-love-metaphors