TOPIC: Метафори

METAPHORES AND IMAGES IN ENGLISH BUSINESS TEXTS
Dr Ann Thorsson Johansson
Escola Universitària de Ciències
Empresarials Dr. Manyà, Tortosa
(Affiliated to University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona)
When we pick up a business review we find to our surprise, that the reading of
its articles can be not only a highly instructive, but also quite an entertaining activity.
Most of the reporters employed by these publications seem to be frustrated poets,
judging from the style they use. The stockmarket, banks, investments, multinationals,
economic crises and crashes would at first sight not inspire a writer to use metaphores
and images, but it is amazing to see how Wall Street investors are turned into bears and
bulls and how companies are reported to be fighting for their lives like soldiers in a
battle. In order to analyze these literary resources we have extracted a number of
metaphores and images from The Economist and Business Week, though due to the
limited extension of this paper, examples of only the most usual semantic fields will be
exposed.1
1. Animals
One of the most usual metaphores is that of animals. The stockmarket on Wall
Street seems to be constructed in the middle of a great forest in the north of Canada
where “Bears” who are “fierce, dangerous creatures” threaten the investor’s safety.
Nevertheless, we are told that, “some can even offer comfort in difficult times”. This
may be the case with “the sort of creature that is now stalking Wall Street and spooking
other stockmarkets. His growls will give many investors a nasty scare, ...” The author of
the article advises the readers to be aware of the risk that the stockmarket may fall too
deep and tells them to pray that “today’s cool bears do not turn out to be grizzlies” (E,
Aug.8th:13/14).
We should explain that a bear market is a falling market represented by the bear,
who uses his powerful paw to push shares down. The opposite is a bull market, where
shares are lifted by the horns of the bull. We are asked if the “bullmarket is here to stay”
and informed that there are “Fears of a severe bear market” and that a “rate-cut by
America’s Federal Reserve ... turned stockmarket psychology bullish”. Not only the
stockmarket but also those who frequent it may become animals. Thus “Abby Joseph
Cohen ... may feel her unwavering refusal to turn bearish has been vindicated ... she
seemed like a bull in deep denial that the world had changed” (E, Nov.14th:93). We
learn that “certain retailers are also bullish” (BW, Jan.11th:51) and that “one such bull”
(stock analyst) is “John W. Ballen, chief investment officer at MFS Investment
Management in Boston” (BW, Dec.28th:62). On the other hand, Mr Gary Dugan at J.P.
Morgan Securities Ltd in London is “one of Europe’s more bearish analysts” (BW,
Dec.28th:68). Furthermore we can read about a “bullish view” ... an “exhuberant bull” ...
1 The reference in brackets - which will be stated behind a quotation or a group of quotations if they are
on the same page - refer to The Economist designed with an E and Business Week with BW, followed by
the date and the page. (The names of the authors will not be stated as some of the articles are unsigned
and stating only some of them might lead to confusion.)
a “raging bull” and “bullishness” (BW, Dec.28th:62) and about “the bull” who “outran
Wall Street’s expectations” (BW, Dec.28th:62).
Not only bulls and bears stroll through our economy and walk the business
world. “Sea-gull management” means “that topmost managers swoop down, make an
unpleasant deposit and fly away” (E, Jan.30th:58), the conflict over imports of bananas
into Europe is called a “Monkey business” (E, Nov.14th:98) and we learn that in 1999
technology stocks will probably be “wild, wooly and profitable” and are “likely to
outrun the herd” (BW, Dec.28th:62). The computer companies are encouraged to try to
“hunt down and exterminate Year 2000 bugs” which is supposed to be a “mammoth
task” (BW, Jan. 11th:59) while we are warned that a company with economic difficulties
may be a “takeover prey” (BW, Dec.28th:20). “It is a bad time to be an ostrich” (BW,
Dec.19th:15), says the writer of an article about political and economic events during the
year of 1998 as he predicts possible events for the coming year.
2. Mythical characters
Just like fairy tales, business texts are crowded by fantastic characters and the
giant is especially popular to describe mainly big companies and multinationals. If you
are in the car industry you should not try to “run an independent company in this age of
giants” (E, Jan.30th:64), but preferably merge with other companies to make production
cheaper. “South Korea’s giant conglomerates need to slim” and the recommendation,
personifying these enormous enterprises, is that “the best diet would be a throwing open
of the country’s domestic market”. Further down on the same page the giant has become
a “monster” (E, Nov.14th:14). Another article in the same review assures us that The
Chaebol - as the above-mentioned conglomerates are called - is not very much
appreciated and that “just about everyone ... wants to curb the power and profligacy of
the giant South Korean family-owned conglomerates ...” (E,Nov.14th:79). On the other
side of the world American Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is described as a “retailing giant” (BW,
Jan.11th:33) who has recently been saved from bankrupcy by its new CEO Mr David D.
Glass and some months ago in Europe a Dutch software company “was challenging
German giant SAP in business programs” (BW, Dec.28th:20).
Another CEO - L. Dennis Kozlowski at Tyco International Ltd - came “riding in
as a white knight to snatch electronic components maker AMP from the hostile clutches
of AlliedSignal’s Lawrence A. Bossidy” (BW, Jan.11th:33) last November. We get the
idea of a beautiful princess in a tower rescued by an intrepid Mr Kozlowski dressed in a
suit of armour and a helm, although the man in the photograph beside the article does
not exactly look like the right man for that task. To complete the fairy tale, comes the
“Wizard of 3-D” (BW, Jan.11th:32) who is performed by Mr Kwok Yen Ho - a producer
of microchips which are later employed in children’s computer games. China deserves
to be compared with Superman and is described as “East-Asia’s gravity-defying hero”
(E, Dec.19th:15) for not having devaluated its currency in difficult times.
The guru - a Hindu perceptor giving personal religious instruction according to
the dictionary - has also been a popular figure in business reviews lately and although
he does not belong to the mythology I am going to include him in this section. We have
already mentioned Abby Joseph Cohen compared with a bull who refused to be bearish
and in the same article she is called a “famously optimistic equity guru” (E,
Nov.14th:93) for her positive view of the stockmarket. In another article in a different
publication she is once again called an “investment guru perhaps most associated with
the bull market” (BW, Dec.28:58).
3. Means of transport
The car is omnipresent when it comes to explaining the progress, failure or
professional performance of a company, a person or the economy itself. Thus we learn
that the efforts made to limit globalization will probably “move into a higher gear” (E,
Dec.19th:15) whereas the stockmarket is thought to be “shifting to a lower gear” (BW,
Dec.28th:44) and “...business ... is hoping to help the Clinton Administration win fast
track negotiating authority to cut trade deals for farm products, telecommunications and
foreign investment” (BW, Dec.28th:51). One author is of the opinion that “The increased
weight that the stockmarket now plays makes it harder for the Fed to steer the
economy” (E, Aug.8th:14), so it is advised to be “steering with both hands on the wheel”
(BW, Dec.28th:50) in order to save the economy. An article talking about Mr “Mario
Monti, Europe’s taxman-in chief”, predicts that the “schemes he has been steering
through the corridors of Brussels will soon be changing the life of Europe’s
bourgeoisie” (E, Nov.14th:46).
The ship is maybe the second vehicle in frequency, used mainly to indicate
economic difficulties.”Haitai (one of the enterprises belonging to the above-mentioned
chaebol) went bankrupt a year ago ... But the bank decided to keep it afloat” (E,
Nov.14th:79) and Business Week predicts a possible “global financial panic .. with
Russia continuing to slide downhill and Brazil struggling to stay afloat” (BW,
Jan.11th:51). Nevertheless all boats are not threatening with sinking and just like an old,
but well-preserved, old ship, melodically puffing out steam, the American economy is
“steaming ahead” (E, Dec.19th:16). Using the aeroplane to construct metaphores,
experts hope that the American economy will manage to carry out “the third soft
landing of Alan Greenspan’s 11 year Fed chairmanship”, (BW, Dec.28th:50) which
would be “the second soft landing in 5 years” (BW, Dec.28th:58), referring to a moderate
slowdown in the economic activity.
Even such a primitive vehicle as the horse is present in the modern American
economy. We learn that due to the low inflation rates “there is no reason for the Fed to
rein in economic growth” (BW, Jan.11th:51) while one author wonders if this year’s
caution will guarantee “a smoother ride” (BW, Dec.28th:75) over the green fields of the
European stockmarkets.
4. Military vocabulary
Economists and business people fight a constant battle to keep their business
going and consequently military vocabulary abounds when business reporters write.
Thus “the smaller South Korean firms ... have valiantly struggled in the shadow of the
big conglomerates”. We are also reminded that “In battle, the frontal assault is not
always the best way to win” (E, Nov.14th:14) and we are told that Italy is in the “avantgarde
of European politics” (E, Nov.14th:46), “Bill Gates is on the defensive” and that
“intellectual defeat of central planning has made globalization appear inevitable” (E,
Dec.19th:15). The Dutch enterprise Baan Co. “struggles to piece together a strategy”
while it is “fighting a battle against SAP ...” - “a battle to survive” (BW, Dec.28th:20).
The United States’ and Europe’s dispute over the import of bananas into European
countries may become a “trade war, ... America’s tactics could easily backfire ...” and
“the EU loftily says it would fight back” in the “banana war” (E, Nov.14th:98).
5. Personification
Similarly to the way sailors call their ships she treating them lovingly, business
people and business reporters tend to personify enterprises and sometimes the economy
itself. The merger of two companies, especially when one of them is more powerful
than the other is often expressed by voluptuous eating: “Ford swallows Volvo” (E,
Jan.30th:60) and “The chaebol that ate Korea” (E, Nov.14th:79) are two good examples
of these enterprises’ appetite.
Showing human characteristics, “stockmarkets have shrugged off global
economic gloom” (E, Nov.14th:93) and “the chaebol would at last be brought to heel”
(E, Nov.14th:14) while in another article Carl Lindner is depersonalized into a “top
banana at Chiquita Brand” (E, Nov.14th:98). Malaysia becomes a “maverick”
(unbranded calf and also independent-minded person), Russia a madman: “lunatic
Russia” (E, Dec.19th:15) and the presidency of the U.S. gets “wounded” (E,
Dec.19th:16).
6. Music (and bubbles)
“I’m forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air. They fly so high, nearly
reach the sky, then like my dreams they fade and die ...” (E, Nov.14th:14). The old song
warns investors that Wall Street shares are overvalued and that sooner or later the
bubble will burst leading to a slowdown or even to a recession. The light soap-bubbles
of the song are repeated in many texts in a less romantic manner: “The bubble that has
been developing on Wall Street” (E, Aug.8th:13), “if Wall Street’s stockmarket bubble
bursts ...” (E, Dec.19th:15) and “There is a bubble of sorts - no question about it”, says
Mr Riley of BankBoston. The Beatle’s “Help! I need somebody” is the outcry the
author of the article puts into the mouth of software consultants facing the menace of
the 2000 Year bug. To paliate the situation a “continuing wave of mergers is drumming
up plenty of demand for help reconciling incompatible computer systems” (BW,
Jan.11th:59). On the other hand, poorer countries will have to put up with the fact that
the rich, developed world “sets the tone on trade and investment rules” (E, Dec.19th:15).
To finish, we know that 1998 was a tumultuous year, but despite all “the U.S. economy
hummed along smartly” (BW, Dec.28th:44).
7. Various
Apart from the semantic fields treated above, there are many others. We can
briefly mention “an economic storm” (BW, Jan.11th:60) and “Longer-terms prospects
for equities are as cloudy as ever” (E, Nov.14th:93) referring to the weather. Marriage
appear from time to time, generally to describe a merger of two companies, as for
example in “marrying a software company that may disappear ...” (BW, Dec.28th:20).
Conclusion
This paper does not claim to be the testimony of rigurous and exhaustive
examination of the metaphores and images used in business texts, but merely pretends
to amuse the reader and maybe awake an interest for the language of this kind of
writings. Little research has been carried out in this field and it would be desireable that
the totallity of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) were not considered sub-languages,
but given the importance they actually have in the business world and in the world of
science.
Bibliography
Business Week (December 28th 1998 - January 4th 1999)
- “ - (January 11th )
The Economist (August 8th - 14th 1998)
- “ - (November 14th - 20th 1998)
- “ - (December 19th 1998 - January 1st 1999)
- “ - (January 30th - February 5th 1999)
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, 1996, New
Jersey, Random House Value Publishing, Inc.