How the West African “Good Girl” of the Mid-20th Century Behaved in a Relationship

Mid-20th-century Nigerian public media shaped a new image of modern West African girls and women. In particular, the “Milady’s Bower” column in the West African Pilot promoted the cultural ideal of a modern woman at that time. Its columnist, “Miss … Continue reading

Tactile and Kinesthetic Senses of Love

Many of us believe that we love and are loved the way we see each other. It is true that visual appearance is salient in our interpersonal perception. Auditory perceptions—the way we hear each other—also convey important signals of love. … Continue reading

Love Power Is in the Power of Both Fire and Water

The aid of a metaphorical lexicon help us better grasp what love is. Various Western and Eastern languages and cultures have metaphors, metonyms, and related concepts for “fire,” “heat,” and “water” that stand for the core qualities of love (see … Continue reading

Cultures Across the World Regard Love as Fire

A metaphoric lexicon helps us better understand what love is. In many languages, the metaphors, metonyms, and related concepts of “fire” and “heat” represent the strong passion of love (see Karandashev, 2019). The metaphors of “love as fire are among … Continue reading

Love Is Hot as Fire: European and North American Cultures

Metaphors, metonyms, and related concepts enrich and deepen our understanding and experience of love. Many languages and cultures use various metaphorical expressions of love (Kövecses, 1988; Kövecses,2003). In many European and North American cultures, love is compared to fire, a … Continue reading

Love as a Natural Force

Metaphors, metonyms, and related concepts make our understanding and experience of love richer and deeper. Various metaphorical expressions of love are quite typical across many languages and cultures (Kövecses, 1988, 2003). For instance, the “love” metaphoric lexicon expresses the emotional experience … Continue reading

Body Metaphors of Emotions Across Cultures

PDF version. Subjective experiences of love are widely embodied in various sensations and organs. Therefore, it is not surprising that bodily metaphors and metonymies are common for verbal expressions of emotion and love (see, for example, Kovecses, 1988, 2003). For … Continue reading

Where Do You Feel Your Love?

PDF version. It is commonly assumed that love is evidently inside their body, soul, and mind. The questions remain, however: “Where do you feel and sense your love in your body?” Love is Not Only Butterflies in the Stomach Many … Continue reading