Með hjartað í lúkunum eða buxunum

On metaphors in Spanish and Icelandic phrases

Abstract

This paper is a comparative study of phrases and idioms in Spanish and Icelandic. Our point of departure are some basic ideas of cognitive linguistics and semantics, and first and foremost the scheme constructed by the Spanish linguists Pamies and Iñesta (2000, 2001, 2002) aiming at systematising phrases and expressions of diverse languages based on conceptual metaphors in order to establish whether they are universal or not. The article gives an account of the conclusions drawn from a comparison of idioms concerning fear, hunger and overeating in Spanish and Icelandic.