According to a traditionally infl uential idea metaphors have mostly ornamental value. Current research, on the other hand, stresses the cogni-tive purposes metaphors serve. According to the Conceptual Theory of Metaphor (CTM, for short), e.g., expressions are commonly used meta-phorically in order to conceptualize abstract and mental phenomena. More specifi cally, proponents of CTM claim that abstract terms are understood by means of metaphors and that metaphor comprehension, in turn, is

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... ed. In this paper, I will argue that CTM fails on both counts.