Food we think and talk by

A comida da vida cotidiana

Abstract

After clarifying the central role of metaphorical competence in everyday communication and explaining its importance as an essential component of communicative competence, this contribution analyses Italian food metaphors as an example of the strategic relevance of metaphorical competence for additional language teaching. Food is a cognitive and socio-cultural device that characterises Italian language use, as it enables us to think and talk about aspects, events, characteristics, and relationships related to the properties and experiences of food, thus using the semantic domain of food as a source domain for metaphorical thinking. A corpus of Italian idioms based on food metaphors is analysed from the perspective of language education to demonstrate the possibility of teaching these expressions as types of metaphors to learners of L2 Italian by showing the images on which they are based. This study suggests that this possibility could enable learners to achieve conceptual fluency in the target language, expand their vocabulary, and develop cultural knowledge.

Keywords
metaphorical competence; conceptual metaphor theory; Italian food metaphors; idioms; L2 teaching; learning of culture

Resumo

Após esclarecer o papel central da competência metafórica na comunicação quotidiana e explicar a sua importância como componente essencial da competência comunicativa, esta contribuição analisa as metáforas alimentares italianas como exemplo da relevância estratégica da competência metafórica para o ensino de línguas adicionais. A comida é um dispositivo cognitivo e sociocultural que caracteriza o uso da língua italiana, pois permite pensar e falar sobre aspectos, eventos, características e relações associados às propriedades e experiências da comida, utilizando o domínio semântico da comida como domínio de origem para o pensamento metafórico. Um corpus de expressões idiomáticas italianas baseadas em metáforas alimentares é analisado em comparação com o inglês e a partir da perspectiva da educação linguística, para demonstrar a possibilidade de ensinar aos alunos de italiano L2 este tipo de metáforas, a fim de alcançar fluência conceptual na língua-alvo, expandir o vocabulário e desenvolver o conhecimento cultural.

Palavras-chave
competência metafórica; teoria da metáfora conceptual; metáforas da comida italiana; expressões idiomáticas; ensino de L2; aprendizagem cultural

INTRODUCTION

The first part of the title of this paper recalls the book Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), highlighting that the theoretical framework of the linguistic study presented here is the cognitive-linguistic view of metaphor. This view holds that metaphor – since it structures our thinking, living, and speaking – is a cognitive, not merely a linguistic, phenomenon. The focus is on the importance of metaphorical competence in everyday communication from the perspective of language education. Many scholars have increasingly understood metaphorical competence as an implication of conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff, 1987; 1990; 1993; Lakoff and Johnson, 1980; 1999; Lakoff and Turner, 1989) for language teaching (Danesi, 1992; 1993; 1995; Azuma, 2005). In this contribution, it is also argued that embodied cognition can be considered the basis of metaphorical competence. The semantic domain of metaphorical concepts based on food in Italian is investigated by applying the theoretical framework of metaphorical competence. These concepts structure various metaphorical expressions in Italian, as shown by the analysis of a corpus of Italian idiomatic expressions based on food. Teaching these expressions is not easy, but it is necessary because of their frequency in everyday communication and their cultural value. Making visible the metaphoric concepts that underlie these expressions can be an effective teaching strategy. This enables L2 learners to acquire metaphorical competence and, at the same time, offers a strategic opportunity to expand their communicative competence and cultural knowledge.

1. METAPHORICAL COMPETENCE

Metaphor has long been regarded primarily as a linguistic device of rhetoric used in poetic and persuasive contexts, at least until the theoretical perspective of conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson was established. However, some authors began to recognise the influence of metaphor on thought. Vico (1744), for example, had the merit of considering metaphor as a product of poetic logic, which he saw as the foundation of language and which is not logic strictu sensu, but a creative logic akin to that of myth and poetry. Nevertheless, he focused on aspects of language genesis rather than on the central importance of metaphor in the development of language and its various everyday uses.

Only within the framework of cognitive linguistics, it has been demonstrated that metaphor is central to everyday language use, based on a conceptualisation grounded in the interactions between mind and body in the world. According to cognitive linguistics, “the different meanings of words and expressions are mostly derived from our perception of the world; this perception being based on our basic embodied experiences, largely elaborated metaphorically. Much of this conceptual system is strongly related to our spatial orientation” (Farias; Costa Lima, 2010, p. 461). As Mey (2006, p. 57) argues, metaphor is “an act by which we make our thoughts and words take bodily shape, making our actions reflect themselves in thought and words, and those words and thoughts being thrown back at us through our bodies”. Indeed, metaphor can be seen as a form of embodied cognition. Farias and Costa Lima (2010, p. 455) write that “embodiment is a fundamental aspect of metaphorical thought. The nature of our cognitive and sensorimotor apparatus significantly constrains the nature of human experience and conceptual systems. The way we reason is fundamentally bodily-based”. Our speech is structured by metaphorical thinking, which conceptualises something in terms of something else and enables us to understand an idea or event in terms of another idea or event (Black, 1962; Gibbs, 1994). These conceptualisations are based on the interaction between body and mind and on human experiences in the world. In this regard, Lakoff and Johnson (1999, p. 17) claim that our thinking is “inextricably tied to our bodies and the peculiarities of our brain […] which tell us that our ‘bodies, brain, and the interactions with our environment provide the mostly unconscious basis for our everyday metaphysics.”

The metaphor is therefore not merely a simple figure of speech; it structures our thinking and the way we live and interpret events in the world, what characterises the physical and psychological aspects of a person, and so on. Many gestures people use to communicate are also based on metaphorical thinking (De Iaco, 2022). In co-verbal gestures, metaphorical thought is shared with verbal expressions; in symbolic gestures – conventional gestures with meanings independent of verbal language – metaphorical thought characterises the meaning that bodily movements assume. Gestures as expressions of metaphorical concepts are a concrete form of embodied cognition. Several gestures can be considered examples of metaphorical thought embodied in them: metaphoricity is not a property of a particular type of gesture but is as pervasive in gestures as it is in words. In this respect, we can claim that all gestures based on metaphorical thinking “turn abstract ideas and discourse structures into the visual and embodied. For example, holding or weighing a large object suggests the meaning of an idea” (Lhommet; Marsella, 2016, p. 1), or pointing to the future in front and the past behind, or the scissor hand gesture, which is used in different countries in Europe. The scissor hand gesture has a referential meaning, such as asking for a pair of scissors, and a metaphorical meaning when used to ask someone to finish speaking, discuss, or criticise (De Iaco, 2022).

The perspective of cognitive linguistics, which views metaphor as a conceptual device that shapes and reflects how speakers think, live, and act in every language and culture, albeit with different conceptualisations (Kövecses, 2003; 2005), makes metaphorical competence an essential goal in foreign or second and additional language (L2) learning¹. Metaphorical thinking underpins most everyday expressions, such as phrasal verbs, idioms, and abstract verbs and nouns. Everyday lexicalised and unconscious metaphorical expressions correspond to metaphorical concepts. Metaphorical competence must therefore become an essential skill to be achieved. It has been defined as the ability to understand others’ metaphors and to produce metaphors in communication (Sabet; Tavakoli, 2016, p. 32). As Farias and Costa Lima (2010, p. 458) claim, “it is quite important for foreign language students to be aware of the use of metaphors in ordinary language, as they are part of our way of reasoning. If they understand this fact, they will see that many languages share metaphorical concepts, which will contribute to expanding their vocabulary and will help them to make plausible guesses when reading or hearing new metaphors.” Littlemore and Low’s (2006) model of communicative competence illustrates that metaphorical competence is essential for all components of communicative competence. Since metaphors are pervasive in everyday communication, it is essential for an L2 learner to acquire metaphorical competence in order to develop comprehensive communicative competence.

Anyone learning an L2 must acquire the conceptual system of the target language to communicate fluently. It should be noted that the metaphorical conceptual system of the learner’s first language (L1) is not identical to that of the target language. The two systems may be similar in some cases, but very different in others. Thus, if the learner speaks in the target language according to the conceptual system of the L1, they may produce discourse that is not understandable or causes misunderstandings. This reveals that the speaker is a foreigner who does not know the cognitive and cultural framework of the target language. There is a lack of competence on the part of the L2 learner who transfers the conceptual system of the L1 into the words of the L2, which correspond to a different conceptual system. This creates a case of linguistic interference, specifically conceptual interference, which can lead to gaps in understanding or misunderstanding. According to Danesi (2016, p. 145), this is related to the learner’s lack of conceptual fluency. Danesi (2016, p. 145) defines conceptual fluency (CF) as the ability to use the conceptual-semantic system that produces figurative discourse systematically. CF assumes that figurative discourse, being systematic, is as teachable as any other aspect of the L2.

Idioms are omnipresent in everyday language use. Most idioms have a conceptual-metaphorical basis and their meaning may be motivated by the crystallised conceptualisation of a historical event or experience, yet they are unpredictable (Cacciari, 1989, 1993; Gibbs, 1992, 1994; Kövecses, 2003; Kövecses/Szabó, 1996). They are difficult for L2 learners to understand and learn because the meaning they generate does not result from the sum of the literal meaning of the words that make up the individual idiom (Cardona 2008). Nevertheless, idioms cannot be ignored in L2 teaching because, on the one hand, they are essential for the development of communicative competence due to their high frequency in everyday colloquial contexts (Hymes 1972); on the other hand, they are essential for learning the conceptual system to which the language refers, because learning idiomatic expressions means learning the language, but above all it means “learning the culture expressed in the language” (Berruto, 2012, p. 45). Idioms function as more or less fixed lexical units, characterised by varying degrees of idiomaticity, which are influenced by differing levels of transparency and opacity of meaning. Regardless of the degree of opacity identified in linguistic analysis, some idioms are widely used and therefore tend to be transparent to the average L1 speaker, who has most likely been extensively exposed to their use. As it has been highlighted above, foreign speakers can have considerable difficulty understanding and learning the meaning of idioms in a target language, due to limited exposure and differing cultural backgrounds, which may hinder access to the underlying conceptualisation. Idioms with a high degree of meaning opacity are more difficult for foreign language learners to understand and learn, as the underlying conceptualisation is less apparent or more abstract. The difficulties in understanding and learning idioms depend on the differences between the conceptual system of the source language and that of the target language. To understand and learn idioms, as it has been argued, it is necessary to acquire metaphorical competence in the target language (Levorato, 1993).

In this context, the Italian idiomatic expression “levare le tende” serves as a significant example. It refers to leaving or departing from a situation that causes others bother or inconvenience or involves occupying a public or private space. There does not appear to be a corresponding expression in the English conceptual system, which highlights the challenges such idioms can present. For teaching purposes in the Italian L2 classroom, it may be helpful to present the metaphorical image by illustrating it through gestures, drawing part of it, or showing related pictures to learners, thereby contextualising the metaphorical meaning this idiom acquires when referring to leaving. It can also be useful to ask learners for possible L1 idiomatic expressions that correspond to the same experience. Representing metaphorical concepts in this way is known as the technique of revealing the image schema (Johnson, 1987). This technique can also be applied to teach certain grammatical differences by revealing the different images underlying some uses of verbs that lead to incorrect grammatical transfers. For example, consider the different use of “avere” and “to be” in expressions such as “ho fame”, which corresponds to “I am hungry”. Although in Italian it is also possible to say “sono affamato” to express a feeling, as in English, it is not possible in English to say “I have hunger”. Supporting the effectiveness of the image schema technique, Danesi claims that the “I” in Italian is interpreted as a container for physical and mental states (Danesi, 2016, p. 147):

Identifying metaphorical content in order to include it in input phases of pedagogy involves the employment and didactic adaptation of conceptual metaphor theory. The main technique is that of image schema, which allows us to classify seemingly disparate conceptual content together. For example, the conceptually incorrect utterance above, Io sono caldo, should be Io ho caldo (literally “I have heat”) reflecting the presence of the container schema, as Lakoff & Johnson call it (1980, 1999). Now, the relevant point is that this is not an isolated example of the use of a schema, but rather part of a regular utilization. The same schema undergirds a whole series of expressions in Italian, such as Io ho torto, tu hai ragione, lowercasero hanno sonno, and so on, which are translated as “I am wrong,” “you are right,” “they are sleepy.” So, concepts such as heat, cold, sleep, and the like are perceived as substances within a container—if the container is the human body, then it (literally) has (contains) it, hence the use of avere. This allows us to explain verb choices in Italian that seem to be idiomatic as, instead, regular.

Showing the image schema underlying phrasal verbs enables the teaching of the various uses of prepositions or the different terms used in this type of verb in each language. In this regard, developing metaphorical competence in L2 teaching can be regarded as a strategic technique for teaching grammatical content (cf. De Iaco, 2023; De Iaco, 2025). For example, mandare giù (meaning to accept a situation or event) in Italian can conceptually correspond to “to suck it up” in English. In the latter, both the verb and the preposition differ, resulting in an idiomatic use of the phrasal verb based on a different image schema than in Italian, where the image schema is that of swallowed food. Conversely, the Italian verb stare dietro is used in various cases and has different corresponding phrasal verbs in English depending on the context, making it necessary to identify different image schemas.

Stare dietro someone in the sense of taking care of him or her

Stare dietro someone/something in the sense of keeping up with someone (being on the same level)/keeping up with something (staying up to date)

Stare dietro someone in the sense of accompanying him or her (coming along)

Stare dietro in the sense of hovering over someone (watching over something in a negative sense, in Italian also said as stare addosso with this meaning, which can be negative in some contexts)

The list of examples could be very long, but for the purposes of this article, these examples analysed contrastively are sufficient to highlight key concepts such as conceptual fluency, conceptual system, metaphorical competence, and image schema before we focus on the selected semantic domain of Italian food metaphors in the next paragraph.

2. THE ITALIAN CONCEPTUALISATION OF FOOD

Food is of crucial importance in Italian culture. Italians have a strong emotional and affective relationship with food and are culturally connected to culinary practices that have spread throughout the country over time, with local differences characteristic of each region and province. Italians devote much time and attention to the preparation and enjoyment of food. They love to eat and share their food with family and friends. For Italians, thinking about food and experiencing food also means experiencing ‘being together’. A corpus-based study of the word ‘food’, published in the book Il cibo. Sensi, gusti, significati tra semiotica e linguistica educativa (Silvestri; De Iaco, 2025, p. 128) and conducted using the web corpus itTenTen20 available on the Sketch Engine platform, showed that the word single quotation marks has several semantic frames. Firstly, it can be noted that in Italian the use of the synonym alimento to refer to food is widespread, but as the corpus-based analysis has shown (cf. Silvestri; De Iaco, 2025, pp. 129-131), the use of the word alimento mainly refers to nutritional properties, physical aspects, individual foods, and physiological results. The use of the word alimento is therefore not influenced by cultural, political, or social conceptualisations, unlike the word cibo, which can be seen as a cognitive mechanism shaped by socio-cultural particularities. Cibo (food) is conceptualised in relation to various other concepts and is used as a term for thinking and talking about phenomena, properties of objects, behaviours, and physical aspects of human beings. The following semantic frameworks for food in Italian has been derived from the analysis of the various collected occurrences of the word cibo²:

1. Food is nourishment; it is substance, energy, and life (e.g. Mi sento scarico, ho bisogno di cibo, which means “I feel exhausted, I need food”).

2. Food is fuel for the body, which is a machine. In this context, food is also seen as a motor that enables the machine (the body) to move and act (e.g. Non riesco a carburare se non mi ricarico (con il cibo), i.e. “Without food I cannot function”).

3. Food is a drug, a medicine, and a remedy when used as supportive therapy in the treatment of diseases or when used wisely to prevent certain illnesses (e.g. La pizza è una droga per me, non riesco a farne a meno, i.e. “Pizza is a drug for me, I cannot do without it”; Le verdure sono medicina per il mio corpo, i.e. “Vegetables are medicine for my body”; So che posso prevenire il cancro eliminando lo zucchero, i.e. “I know I can prevent cancer by cutting out sugar”).

4. Food is a poison (in contrast to the previous frame). A particular food can be harmful to a person, or the quantity, production, preparation or preservation of food can be toxic to humans. In this frame, food can become synonymous with health and well-being, but also, conversely, with rubbish: this is the case with so-called “junk food”, which is considered harmful to humans because it is responsible for the onset of various diseases (e.g. La frittura fa male al fegato, ma non riesco a rinunciare a essa, i.e. “Fried food is bad for my liver, but I cannot give it up”).

5. Food is a language, a symbol, a form of art, or a poem. This means that food is an instrument that can express and convey values, represent ideas, and pass on knowledge (e.g. Il cannolo è il simbolo della Sicilia, i.e. “The cannolo is the symbol of Sicily”). This semantic domain is closely interwoven with the domain that represents food as identity, value, culture, rite, tradition, history, and also as fashion.

6. Food is a good, a right, a resource, a gift, and also a means of socialising and sharing. This framework has an ethical character: e.g. Il cibo non può essere sprecato, i.e. “Food must not be wasted”, Ci sono persone per cui un pasto caldo è un dono prezioso, i.e. “There are people for whom a hot meal is a precious gift”; Stare a tavola con la mia famiglia mi mette di buon umore, i.e. “Eating together with my family makes me happy”.

7. Food is pleasure, flavour, passion, love, emotion, experience, obsession, and joy. This frame has an aesthetic character (e. g. Quando vedo un cannolo, sento già l’acquolina in bocca e vado in estasi³, “When I see a cannolo [typical Sicilian pastry], my mouth waters and I am in ecstatic exultation”; Sono ossessionata dai dolci, non posso farne a meno, i.e. “I am obsessed with sweets, I cannot do without them”; Quando viaggio desidero fare esperienza dei cibi tipici, i.e. “When I am travelling, I want to experience typical dishes”; Quando mangio la pizza, mi sento felice, i.e. “When I eat pizza, I am happy”).

The emergence of these frames enables us to understand how the concept of food is articulated in Italian showing that food can function in various ways as a term in metaphorical processes. In fact, the significance of food for Italians and within Italian culture has led to the development and widespread use of several idiomatic expressions based on the conceptualisation of food. These expressions are not transparent and are therefore not immediately understandable to foreign speakers; they require the acquisition of conceptual fluency in Italian to be understood and used correctly.

3. A STUDY OF ITALIAN IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS BASED ON FOOD

3.1 Collection of data and method

Table 1 presents a corpus of Italian idiomatic expressions related to food, collected from real occasional conversations in everyday informal communication contexts and transcribed by the author as part of the linguistic and metalinguistic analysis of food within the national scientific interest project (PRIN 2020) entitled “About the origin. Identity, authenticity and contradictions of food”. These expressions have been selected according to a high frequency criterion in colloquial contexts and because they were used by adults of various ages. The right column of the table contains the collected idiomatic expressions, while the left column provides their corresponding meanings. In this paragraph, the expressions are presented in the table below and their meanings are disclosed to initiate a metalinguistic analysis of the metaphoric conceptualisations based on them. These conceptualisations are clarified in the next paragraph, and the image schema active in each is included in Table 2 (see paragraph 3.3) to outline a language education perspective.

Table 1
Italian idioms based on the semantic domain of food created by the author of this paper

Italian idioms based on food	Meanings
È una pizza	Referring to a boring situation or person
Sei una pizza fredda	Referring to someone who does not express emotions or feelings
Tutto fa brodo	A situation or condition in which any element contributes to a result
È sempre la solita minestra/ è la solita minestra riscaldata	An event or situation that repeats itself or is always the same
Sei un maccherone/Sei un salame/Sei un broccolo/Sei un baccalà/Sei un cocomero	Referring to a naïve gullible person
Ho fatto una frittata	Referring to the creation of a difficult situation
Lo ha rigirato come una frittata	Referring to someone who manipulates a situation or the reasons for an action to gain personal advantage
Sei un prezzemolo/Sei il prezzemolo di ogni minestra	Referring to someone who is present in an inappropriate or intrusive manner in any context or situation
Non è né carne né pesce	Referring to something undefined, unclear, or uncertain. Sometimes also used to refer to someone with unspecified expertise
É così insipido/a!	Referring to someone or something as insignificant or trivial
Hai (sei) una testa di rapa/testa di zucca	Referring to a stupid person
Sei fritto/a	Referring to someone in a difficult situation
Sei cotto/a, sei stracotto/a	Referring to someone who is very tired or falling in love
É così mieloso	Situations, actions or behaviour sickly sweet
Sei una pera cotta	Referring to someone who is falling in love, falling into a trap, or someone who understands or reacts very slowly.
Si è vestita a cipolla	Someone who dresses several layers of clothing

3.2 Remarks

Entries 1 and 2 are characterised by pizza as the source domain. Pizza is used to describe something or someone as boring. The origin of this conceptualisation (pizza = being boring) is uncertain. It is hypothesised that it may derive from the name of the old film sleeve, called “pizza”, which became a metaphor for a long and boring film; or that it is based on the long leavening required for the preparation of pizza dough; or, again, on the flatness and lowness of the pizza. The Italian expression che pizza fredda (literally: what a cold pizza) is characterised by the conceptualisation of cooled pizza to express a dispassionate, rational attitude.

Entry 3 is based on the idea that every fact, action, or aspect involved in the professional or personal life of someone, or in a situation, can be a constituent element of the result, the realisation of a project, or the achievement of a goal. This idea is conceptualised in terms of the ingredients used to make a broth: each ingredient contributes to giving flavour to the broth.

In the fourth example, la solita minestra conceptualises the same thing as a repetitive event or situation in terms of the usual soup.

The group of Italian expressions in entry 5 is based on foods such as maccherone, salame, cocomero, broccoli, and baccalà, and is used to conceptualise the characteristic of being naïve or gullible in a person. It is interesting to note that, for example, in Anglo-Saxon culture, the origin of this type of metaphorical conceptualisation is different, as it does not refer to the semantic area of food; instead, the image of the naivety of a babe in arms is used for the metaphorical conceptualisation⁴.

Entry 6 is characterised by the creation of a difficult, disordered situation described by the term fare una frittata. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, for example, the word “mess” is used in a similar figurative sense to conceptualise a difficult situation, but there is no idiomatic expression corresponding to the use of the Italian fare una frittata. “Mess with someone’s head” is an English idiomatic expression that means “to make someone frustrated, anxious or angry” (Ayto 2020).

The Italian idiomatic expression rigirare la frittata in entry 7 conceptualises a situation in which someone manipulates circumstances to gain personal advantage, using the act of turning over an omelette as a metaphor.

Entry 8 uses the experience of prezzemolo as an ingredient in many Italian recipes to conceptualise someone who is intrusive or appears everywhere in an undue manner.

In entry 9, the indefinite nature of being a person without personality and with little decision-making capacity is conceptualised through the clear choice between meat and fish as a second course, a practice widespread in Italian culture.

In the expression è insipido (entry 10), the lack of salt in a food preparation is used to conceptualise the behavioural aspect of being an insignificant person or the insignificance of something.

In entry 11, a person’s acting without due consideration or proper judgment is conceptualised in terms of the rounded shape and hollow-sounding content of the pumpkin and the round, squat shape of the turnip.

In the expression sei fritto (entry 12), the image of fried food is used to conceptualise an irreversible, vulnerable situation that causes difficulties for the individual. Instead, the expression sei cotto/a or stracotto/a (literally: you are cooked, you are overcooked) uses the state of cooked or overcooked food to represent the state of having lost all energy, that is, being very tired or exhausted, or to conceptualise falling in love.

In entry 14, è mieloso, the property of honey being very sweet is used to conceptualise excessively sweet behaviour in a person or to negatively conceptualise a sweet situation.

In entry 15, sei una pera cotta, the experience of the pulpy consistency of a cooked pear is used to conceptualise the quality of being in love or being seduced by someone. The expression is also used in Italian to refer to very slow behaviour.

The entry 16 vestirsi a cipolla literally means “to dress like an onion” and uses the onion’s characteristic of being made up of layers to represent the practise of wearing different layers of clothing, especially in the inter-seasons or in situations characterised by frequent temperature changes. In the Anglo-Saxon culture a corresponding expression is found in “layering”, which means “wearing with layers of clothing”. This English expression has an exact equivalent in the Italian phrase vestirsi a strati.

These examples of idiomatic expressions show that the semantic domain of food is often used colloquially in Italian to conceptualise aspects, properties, and situations, as food plays an important role in Italian culture. Interpreting abstract states, features, or complex situations requires conceptualisation through image schemas that refer to concrete objects, real experiences, or visualisable actions or states, enabling thinking, understanding, and facilitating communication between L1 speakers. For L2 speakers, transferring the L1 conceptual system into the L2 conceptual system through a linguistic calque or literal translation may lead to misunderstandings. When an idiomatic expression in the target language has no equivalent figurative meaning in the L1 or vice versa, L2 speakers need to understand it to avoid interrupting communication and to grasp the cultural value of the conceptualisation; integrating knowledge about the specific conceptual system of a language may be necessary.

3.3 Suggestions for teaching idiomatic expressions in L2 classes by developing metaphorical competence from a multimodal perspective

The idiomatic expressions analysed in the previous paragraph are based on food metaphors. They belong to a large group of widespread and common colloquial expressions in a language. As such expressions are widely used in everyday communication, it is important to teach them as part of a communicative approach in L2 teaching aimed at learners from various L1 backgrounds, which involves an intercultural perspective (Byram, 2021; Balboni, 2015). For an L2 learner, the ability to understand and use these types of expressions implies the development of conceptual fluency based on the acquisition of metaphorical competence and enables the development of communicative and cultural competence in the target language (Low, 1988; Teymouri Aleshtara; Dowlatabadi, 2014). Due to their linguistic and cultural characteristics, idioms should be learnt in the context in which they are used. In L2 classes, it can be useful to teach them by showing images and miming actions that illustrate their metaphorical embodied meanings, by watching film scenes or videos of real conversations in which idioms are used in authentic contexts, and by guiding learners to practise their meanings by acting out real scenes in which they occur, for example, by using theatre techniques such as role play or simulation (Paul, 2015).

Therefore, using a multimodal approach, after miming, showing images, and watching film scenes or videos of real conversation featuring idioms and before the practical task of acting out real scenes, an analysis of idiomatic expressions in L2 lessons can be conducted using a table such as Table 2 for designing multimodal teaching activities or for exercises involving matching or completing the corresponding image schemas. Table 2 summarises in the first column, a corpus of sentences containing the same idiomatic expressions as those analysed in the previous paragraph; the second column provides the Italian explanation of the underlying image schema for each idiom. The table can be used directly in the target language to raise learners’ awareness of the meaning of the idiomatic expression based on the visualisation of that meaning and to develop communicative skills by stimulating cognitive attention, encouraging a more immediate understanding of meaning, prompting a shift in perspective for interpretation, and facilitating memory in the acquisition and recall of vocabulary (Boers, 2004; Xiabo, 2002).

Table 2
Italian idioms based on food and the corresponding image schemas useful for guiding their teaching, created by the author of this article

Italian idiomatic expressions in the context of a sentence	Explanations based on revealing the image schema
1. Sei una pizza! Questo libro è davvero una pizza! Ha una faccia di pizza! Che pizza questa storia, non ne posso più!	La noia suscitata da qualcosa o qualcuno viene rappresentata con l’immagine della pizza che è anche la denominazione della custodia delle vecchie pellicole cinematografiche e potrebbe essere diventata metafora di un film lungo e noioso; l’immagine potrebbe anche essere quella della lunga lievitazione richiesta per la preparazione dell’impasto della pizza o, ancora, potrebbe essere quella dell’omogeneità della forma rotonda e piatta della pizza
2. È proprio una pizza fredda!	Espressione diffusa nel sud Italia in riferimento a una persona o a una situazione priva della capacità di suscitare emozioni. L’immagine è quella del sapore e della consistenza di una pizza lasciata raffreddare usata per rappresentare l’incapacità di qualcuno/a o di qualcosa di suscitare emozioni
3. Conviene fare anche questa esperienza, perché tutto fa brodo	La situazione in cui diverse esperienze o azioni possono essere un elemento costitutivo, determinante per ottenere un risultato viene rappresentata attraverso l’immagine del ruolo svolto da ciascun ingrediente usato per preparare un brodo: ogni ingrediente contribuisce a conferire sapore al brodo
4. Non si cambia mai, è sempre la solita minestra	L’immagine usata è quella dell’abitudine ripetuta di consumare lo stesso pasto, la stessa minestra: essa rappresenta una situazione ripetitiva, fatti o azioni ripetitive
5. Che maccherone, ci casca sempre! È proprio un salame, si fa sempre raggirare Non si è proprio reso conto della situazione, che baccalà! Si è fidato ciecamente, que broccolo! Sei un cocomero!	La capacità del maccherone di assorbire, contenere il sugo e in generale le proprietà strutturali degli altri cibi (baccalà, broccolo, cocomero) sono l’immagine schema per rappresentare il carattere o il comportamento di una persona che non mostra dinamicità, intelligenza e mostra un atteggiamento passivo
6. Ha fatto una frittata, non so se riuscirà rimediare a questo pasticcio	L’immagine della rottura delle uova e della preparazione di un composto dall’aspetto pasticciato e schiacciato per realizzare una frittata viene usata per rappresentare una situazione confusa, caotica o sbagliata alla quale non è possibile porre rimedio
7. È incredibile, lo rigira come una frittata	L’atto rapido e attento del girare la frittata, durante la cottura, affinché entrambi i lati possano cuocersi adequatamente funge da immagine schema per rappresentare il raggirare qualcuno o il manipolare una situazione a proprio vantaggio
8. È davvero un prezzemolo, lo ritrovi dappertutto	La presenza frequente del prezzemolo in moltissime ricette è l’immagine schema per rappresentare l’essere invadente, onnipresente di qualcuno/a
9. Questa proposta non è né carne né pesce	L’opzione netta tra carne e pesce come secondo piatto diffusa nella cultura italiana viene usata come immagine per rappresentare il carattere indefinito di qualcosa o il carattere insicuro di una persona
10. È davvero una persona insipida	L’immagine di un cibo insipido viene usata per rappresentare qualcosa o qualcuno che mostra poco carattere, non riesce a distinguersi
11. Hai una testa di zucca/testa di rapa. Non c’è verso che tu capisca.	La forma rotondeggiante e il contenuto dal suono vuoto della zucca così como la forma rotonda e tozza della rapa vengono usate come immagini per rappresentare l’agire poco razionale, senza la giusta riflessione di una persona
12. Sei fritto, non credo tu possa rimediare	Lo stato irreversibile di un alimento fritto viene usado come immagine per rappresentare una situazione irrimediabile
13. Sono cotta/stracotta, ho bisogno di riposare È cotta di lui Ho preso una bella cotta	Lo stato di cottura o stracottura di un cibo viene usado come immagine per rappresentare la stanchezza eccessiva di qualcuno/a o l’essere perdutamente innamorati
14. Che scena mielosa, mi è venuto il diabete! È una persona così mielosa	La dolcezza accentuata del miele viene usata come immagine per rappresentare le caratteristiche estremamente romantiche di una situazione o di una scena di un film. La stessa immagine può essere utilizzata per rappresentare il carattere sdolcinato di una persona
15. È una pera cotta	L’aspetto e la consistenza molliccia assunti dalla pera una volta cotta fungono da immagine per rappresentare caratteristiche come la lentezza d’azione o la difficoltà di comprensione di qualcuno/a oppure l’essere follemente innamorati
16. Mi sono vestita a cipolla perché la temperatura tende a cambiare nell’arco della giornata	L’immagine degli strati della cipolla rappresenta la situazione in cui si indossano più indumenti uno sopra l’altro in modo da potersi eventualmente alleggerire togliendo uno di essi in caso di un cambio di temperatura

Moreover, the joint analysis of each expression and its meaning among the learners from different L1 backgrounds in the class could generally allow for an expansion of vocabulary in the target language, making the development of metaphorical competence a means of learning the target language lexicon (Boers, 1999; 2004; Beréndi, Csábi, Kövecses, 2008). From this perspective, Table 2 can be presented in two phases. In the first phase, only the first column of the table is shown to the class, omitting the second column, and learners are asked to guess the meaning of each expression, drawing on what they have previously or simultaneously learnt while watching images or videos that contain the idioms or the phenomena they represent, which are useful for reproducing a real communicative context for each expression. For example, in the case of the idiom tutto fa brodo, an image of brodo can introduce the explanation. It is possible to obtain an image suited to the level and aims of the classroom, including by using AI tools. Image 1 was created by Gemini AI in response to the following prompt: “Create an image of brodo adequate to introduce the idiomatic expression tutto fa brodo in a class of intermediate level students of Italian L2.”

Image 1
Created by Gemini AI on 28 April 2026

The image of brodo serves as a basis for showing to the students the various ingredients that contribute to the flavour, by pointing them out in the picture while introducing or revising their names. After illustrating the possible ingredients and using gestures to demonstrate the need to mix them all together in a pot where they boil, the teacher could propose to the class an example dialogue between a mother and a son: the son does not want to undertake a particular educational experience, claiming that it is not useful for developing his competence, and the mother, to persuade him, replies that it is wrong to think so because tutto fa brodo, meaning that every experience one has contributes to enriching competences and shaping personality.

For the expression vestirsi a cipolla, a video can be shared with the class to illustrate a possible occurrence of the expression and clarify the use in it of the preposition a instead of da.

Image 2
Short teaching video illustrating the use and grammatical structure of the metaphoric expression vestirsi a cipolla. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gVfH5-eXKds Accessed on June 1, 2026.

The teacher can comment on the video, using gestures to show the layers of clothing one can wear to be prepared for a change in temperature.

In the second phase of the teaching activity, Table 2 is shown with the second column containing information about the image schema corresponding to each expression, to facilitate discussion of these schemas using images or videos, as in the previous example. These information are provided directly in the target language, Italian; nevertheless, they have to some extent been anticipated in the previous paragraph, to serve the guiding role of the table mentioned above, making it useful for preparing the teaching activities, and also for exposing students at input in the target language. In an additional third phase, following a communicative approach to language teaching, learners are asked to share similar idiomatic expressions in their respective L1s to stimulate the development of intercultural competence.

CONCLUSION

Metaphorical competence involves knowledge of the conceptual system to which each language specifically responds, as well as awareness of the cultural differences that influence the specificity of these conceptual systems. Metaphorical thinking is ubiquitous in all languages and shapes numerous figurative expressions, such as abstract verbs and nouns, phrasal verbs, idioms, and proverbs, which speakers frequently use without being aware of the underlying metaphorical concepts. For L2 learners, acquiring metaphorical competence fosters the development of conceptual fluency in the target language and provides an opportunity to expand vocabulary and deepen knowledge of the target culture. Therefore, this paper argues that metaphorical competence is both a goal and a means in the context of L2 learning. After presenting the results of a corpus-based analysis of the word cibo to illustrate its multilayered metaphorical and cultural conceptualisations, some Italian idiomatic expressions in the semantic domain of food, based on metaphorical conceptualisations have been examined as valid examples of the need for language learners from various L1 backgrounds to acquire knowledge of the specific conceptual system of the target language. This helps avoid false and misleading transfers from the L1 conceptual system to the L2 conceptual system and vice versa, as can occur when L2 speakers use conceptual calques to translate between languages, resulting in literal translations that often do not work. Moreover, as we have observed and argued, metaphorical competence offers the opportunity to teach the vocabulary of a target language and to develop awareness of the target culture by uncovering and understanding the image schemas underlying metaphorical expressions, thereby improving communicative and cultural competences. Further research on the pedagogical application of conceptual metaphor theory should be encouraged to create greater awareness among teachers of the potential of metaphorical competence in L2 teaching and to promote the benefits of learners’ acquisition of metaphorical competence for the development of their conceptual fluency, communicative skills, and cultural knowledge in the target language.

• 1
  In this paper, the abbreviation L2 is used throughout the text as a hypernym for all situations of language learning, including cases where the target language is a foreign, second, third, or any subsequent language to be learnt.
• 2
  The linguistic examples added for each semantic framework were collected by the author, who recorded their effective use in everyday informal communication among Italians of various ages. These records supplement the findings from the corpus-based analysis using the web corpus iTenTen20, as published in the aforementioned book, and serve as further evidence.
• 3
  Avere l’acquolina in bocca is a very common idiomatic expression in Italian. Children learn to use it spontaneously and unconsciously from an early age. It is a metaphor for the physical experience of increased salivation when we are hungry or see something tempting to eat. There does not appear to be a corresponding idiomatic expression in English, so we use the physical description directly.
• 4
  The only reason for referencing examples from Anglo-Saxon culture here is that English is one of the most widely used languages in the world, having been designated as the international language. In fact, the group of learners addressed by this study is broader than just L1 English learners.
• AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT
  The article was written by a sole author, so I think that the author contribution statement is not necessary.
• RESEARCH DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
  Data available within the article itself (e.g., the corpus/examples in the text and tables): Table 1 and Table 2.
• STATEMENT ON THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
  The author used Gemini AI to produce image 1, as clearly stated in the description of its creation process for language education purposes and in the image caption.

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• Editor-in-chief
  Érica Lima

Data availability

Data available within the article itself (e.g., the corpus/examples in the text and tables): Table 1 and Table 2.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  27 July 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  19 Aug 2025
• Accepted
  10 June 2026