do you want to climb up a hill?

[Matt]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

In the case of a mother saying to her two-year-old child 'do you want to climb up a hill?' and at the same time pointing to the chair on which the child will sit down to have lunch, which figure of speech does the mother use?

I would say that this is a metaphor, because she refers to an objects by means of another 'more abstract' thing, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for your help and have a good day.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Welcome, Matt!

We usually say "climb a hill," not "climb up a hill."

That's not how we use metaphor. I'd call that making a game or turning it into a game. We make games out of tasks to make the tasks more appealing to kids. We turn tasks into games to make them fun.

 

[jutfrank]

Absolutely, yes, it is a metaphor, in a very basic sense.

However, it's not accurate to say that the reference is to a 'more abstract thing'. It doesn't help to think of a hill as more abstract than a high chair.