Sports metaphor

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As a sports metaphor (compound from " sport " < late Latin d (e) isportare = to have fun, to disperse and " metaphor " < ancient Greek μετα-φέρω / μετα-φορέω = to transmit, transfer ) one designates a pictorial expression or a phrase that originally comes from the field of sports and has been transferred to another language area. The transfers can be made in other special languages , in technical languages or in the standard language .

character

The essential characteristic of a metaphor is the analogy between what is said literally and what is meant in a figurative sense. It is about a "transfer" of an original meaning or process into a new context. This meaning of the term metaphor (μεταφορά) is already emphasized by Aristotle in his programmatic writing Rhetoric .

Through the use of sports metaphors, the colloquial language gains lively expression and visual quality. Metaphors from all language levels in sport rejuvenate everyday language and prevent it from becoming encrusted or intellectualized . They enable a differentiated, also emotionally determined language.

structure

The intuitive perception of the language image does not always lead to a correct understanding of the term. If this is not the case, misinterpretations such as the term Olympiad (= technical term of the ancient calendar) and nonsense metaphors such as Chess Olympiad , Mathematics Olympiad or professional Olympiad arise . The linguistics helps with a simple structure analysis to raise awareness of the true image transmission:

According to Siegbert Warwitz, the sports metaphor lives from an "original meaning" that is anchored in the field of sports (e.g. "getting on the go" = "increasing the pace of the horse"), a "point of comparison" (e.g. the factor " Acceleration ") and a resulting" meaningful transfer " into another context that he visualizes (e.g." induce a tired official to do more committed work "). The comparison of images must be factually and technically correct.

According to Paul Ricœur, a metaphor also presents itself formally as a so-called "implied comparison", i. H. as a comparison without the use of a connecting “how” or “as”.

to form

Abstracta

The provenance of metaphors from the sports field is gradually lost in the consciousness of the normal linguist with the age of adoption and the degree of abstraction. Some sports metaphors are already so "naturally" integrated into the standard language that they are hardly recognizable as such:

Sports metaphors such as "competition", "problem", "dexterity", "superiority", "incentive", "achievement", "concern", "clout", "follower" or "forerunner" are usually only considered by language experts perceived former borrowings from the sporting vocabulary.

Reinterpretations

Some sports metaphors still show their origin, but are reassessed when the image is transferred:

Rope team on the Großvenediger
Abseil down

The "rope team on the mountain" provides the starting point for a "rope team in politics", albeit in a revaluation: the term " rope team" from mountaineering in its original meaning denotes a group of mountaineers who form a community of danger and fight against a possible fall secure a rope network . In a figurative sense, however, the originally positive linguistic image takes on a derogatory meaning in the sense of a career network that promotes each other's careers by isolating themselves from others or protecting former members after the collapse of a political system.

Even the sporting activity “abseiling” , which is neutral in its original meaning, is given a negative tint in the sense of “getting away from it”, “secretly evading a dangerous situation”.

Conversions

Sports metaphors can also draw their visual material from other areas of life. This is then reinterpreted in the sporting scene in order to enter the standard language with the new meaning: The activity originally stemming from the bricklaying trade, namely building a wall, changed in football to the figurative expression "building a (human) wall" and then became to the metaphor “ wall ” in the sense of “ blocking a decision ”. Expressions like “ grandiose words ” for a stilted way of speaking or “ galloping oneself up ” for a wrong decision or wrong action represent language-creative transformations that originated in sport, but were never used in this form of speech. You have developed a linguistic transformation with your own imagination and are rarely associated with sport.

In an even wider understanding of the term, an entire sport such as mountaineering with its upward orientation becomes an image giver and a “metaphor of a life striving for meaning”: “ What makes the experience of mountaineering a metaphor for life in general and even a symbol for the search for eternal salvation is the combination of the culturally positive conception of height with the demand for physical performance. "

Stylistic features

Initial image of the metaphor of the "cyclist" as a "career spider"

The sports metaphor enables very subtle language distinctions. So it makes stylistically and content make a difference whether someone is a concern (elegant) " by fencing " or (gross) " by boxing ". “ Get lost ” has a different meaning than “ gallop ”.

Metaphors from sport can also have a funny, ironic connotation such as “ Crossing the nursery at a gallop ” or “ Being a cyclist ”, i. H. a person who humps up and kicks down in his company.

Examples

The German language has an extremely extensive arsenal of sports metaphors. The following examples are taken from the publications by Werner Haubrich, Siegbert Warwitz, Paul Ricœur and Stefan Gottschling:

  • General sport : " Training ", " Fairness ", "Muscle games", " Competition / architecture competition ", " Disqualify yourself ", " Take something athletic"
  • Mountain sports : " Form a rope team ", "Ascent", " Abseil "
  • Boxing sport : "Put on your boxing gloves", "Get involved in a fight", "Strike", "Score", "Punch through a thing", "Become a punching ball", "Be tough", "Take a deep blow", " Being beaten "," Going on the ropes "," Going to the ground "," Being counted out "," Ko go "
  • Fencing sport : "Make a parade", " Put on a feint ", "Show yourself a nakedness", "Fight something through or fight out"
  • Aviation : "get wings", "take off", "be a high-flyer", "make a hard landing"
  • Football : "Let someone run up", "Counter"
  • Apparatus gymnastics : "Providing help", "doing a somersault", "rolling over", "doing pull-ups", "doing headstands", "rocking", "balancing", "tug of war for salaries", "doing a somersault"
  • Athletics : “Starting the new season”, “Experiencing a blockade from the start”, “Missing the start”, “Throwing in a big throw”, “Taking an intermediate sprint”, “Lapping someone”, “Turning into the home straight”, “To the final sprint start ”,“ Cross the finish line ”,“ Climb the podium ”,“ Compete with someone ”,“ Have a forerunner ”,“ Take several attempts ”,“ Refer competitors to their places ”
  • Cycling : "Cyclists", "Pedaling"
  • Equestrian sport : “Sit firmly in the saddle”, “Take all the hurdles”, “Take the spurs”, “Take the curb”, “Push the gang”, “Tighten the reins”, “Let the reins loose”, “In Grab the reins ”,“ Lunge on the lunge ”,“ Beat capers ”,“ Be one step ahead ”,“ Accept a handicap ”,“ Be a favorite ”,“ Go gallop ”,“ Get going ”,“ Sit out a problem "
  • Wrestling sport : "Achievement", "Struggle through", "Gain a victory", "Struggle for a compromise", "Be superior", "Defeat", "Put someone on the mat", "Let yourself get down"
  • Swimming : "Get into swimming", "swim", "stay afloat", "swim against or with the flow", "get caught in the vortex", "blurred vision", "initiate a turn", "submerge" , "Submerge", "Emerge", "Stepping stone for a career", "Jump into life", "Swim free"
  • Shooting sports : "Go over the top", "Target of ridicule", "Hit the bull's eye", "Accurate", "Outperform", "Direct hit", "Concern"
  • Game : "Home game", "Passing the ball", "Staying on the ball", "Spoilers", "Keeping to the rules of the game", "Being played over", "Covering up a weakness", "Playing up", "Getting the red card "," Prove team spirit "

rating

The contribution of sport to colloquial language has been examined linguistically several times since the first analyzes by Werner Haubrich. Siegbert Warwitz counters the accusations of “spoiling” and “flattening” language through sports metaphors with the arguments of “dynamization”, “visualization”, “regeneration”, “rejuvenation” of the otherwise rigid and abstract and thus aging standard language. Paul Ricœur generally ascribes the function of “renewal” and “enlivening language” to the metaphor.

literature

  • Stefan Gottschling: Lexicon of Words . SGV-Verlag, Augsburg, 2008, ISBN 978-3-9811027-3-4 .
  • Werner Haubrich: The visual language of sport in contemporary German . Schorndorf 1965.
  • Friedrich Kluge: Keyword: Metaphor , In: Etymological Dictionary of the German Language . Edited by Elmar Seebold. 24th, revised and expanded edition. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2002, page 615. ISBN 3-11-017472-3 .
  • Peter Röthig, Robert Prohl (ed.): Sportwissenschaftliches Lexikon , 7th edition, Verlag Hofmann Schorndorf 2003, ISBN 3-7780-4497-4 .
  • Paul Ricœur: The living metaphor , Munich 1986, ISBN 3-7705-2349-0 .
  • P. Schneider: The language of sport. Terminology and presentation in the mass media , Düsseldorf 1974.
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Sport in the Mirror of Language - an Analysis of Metaphors. Tübingen 1967.
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Das Metaphernlexikon , In: Ders .: Interdisciplinary sports education. Didactic perspectives and model examples of interdisciplinary teaching , Verlag Karl Hofmann, Schorndorf 1974, pp. 69–81, ISBN 3-778-04551-2 .

Single receipts

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge: Keyword: Metaphor , In: Etymological Dictionary of the German Language . Edited by Elmar Seebold. 24th, revised and expanded edition. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2002, page 615
  2. ^ Franz G. Sieveke: Aristoteles, Rhetorik , Fink, Munich 1980, p. 176
  3. ^ A b Siegbert A. Warwitz: Sport in the mirror of language - a metaphor analysis. Tübingen 1967
  4. ^ A b c Paul Ricœur: The living metaphor , Munich 1986
  5. ↑ Business elite : Who has the best rope team - Article from Manager Magazin from April 8, 2011
  6. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Climbing - the urge to go up. In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . 2., ext. Edition, Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 , pp. 71-76
  7. ↑ Christof Hamann, Alexander Honold: Kilimanjaro. The German story of an African mountain . Klaus Wagenbach Verlag, Berlin 2011, page 20
  8. ↑ a b Werner Haubrich: The visual language of sport in contemporary German . Schorndorf 1965
  9. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Das Metaphernlexikon. In: Ders .: Interdisciplinary sports education. Didactic perspectives and model examples of interdisciplinary teaching , Verlag Karl Hofmann, Schorndorf 1974, pp. 69–81
  10. ^ Stefan Gottschling: Lexicon of the worlds of words . SGV-Verlag, Augsburg 2008
  11. ↑ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Essence and Performance of Metaphor , In: Ders .: Interdisciplinary Sports Education. Didactic perspectives and model examples of interdisciplinary teaching , Verlag Karl Hofmann, Schorndorf 1974, pp. 71–73