'Until recently, metonymy studies had to be content with playing second fiddle to metaphor analysis, both in terms of theoretical status and methodological applications. Littlemore's brilliant book puts paid to this tradition by giving a succinct overview over the advances in cognitive modelling of metonymy production, identification, comprehension and usage, as well providing fascinating insights into the interplay of metaphor and metonymy in real-world contexts, including political, therapeutic, pedagogic and intercultural communication.' Andreas Musolff, University of East Anglia
Introduction; 1. 'What those boys need is a good handbagging'. What is metonymy?; 2. 'He coughed and spluttered a lot and sneezed his lunch all over the place'. Types of metonymy and their behaviour in real-world data; 3. 'He's only bowing to his passport'. Theoretical models of metonymy: uses and drawbacks; 4. ''BBC', her mother would have said'. What do people use metonymy for?; 5. 'But what can we expect, after all, of a man who wears silk underpants?'. Playful, evaluative and creative functions of metonymy; 6. 'The Government of Britain is sort of there'. How can we identify 'metonymy'?; 7. 'I found Robbie Williams in the lounge'. How is metonymy processed in the mind?; 8. 'He started as nobody from Austria'. Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural variation in metonymy: implications for language learning and translation; 9. 'These huts did absolutely unbelievable work'. What do we now know about metonymy?