Abstract

RAMIREZ ALVAREZ, Maikel. From maternity room to the toilet: motivation of the metaphorical expression ‘eres la cagada de tu mamá/papᒠ(roughly translated as “you look like your mom’s/dad’s fecal matter”). Letras [online]. 2013, vol.55, n.89, pp.48-60. ISSN 0459-1283.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the metaphorical expression “you look like your mom’s/dad’s fecal matter” (meaning “you look like your mom/dad”) is motivated by the act of giving birth image. The theoretical orientation has its bases on Johnson (1987), Lakoff and Johnson (2007), Kövecses (2010); Cuenca and Hilferty (1999) and Turner (1992) (1996). The corpus was taken from the register by the DRAE (2001) about the metaphorical use of the expression “cagada” (“excrement”), and in order to corroborate its use in Spanish, the Facebook group “Marisc@ eres la cagada de tu mama/ papa”. Results: (a) the orientation of the act of defecating corresponds to the orientation of the act of giving birth; (b) the center of energy involved in the act of defecating matches the one in the act of giving birth; (c) the matter expelled in both acts match; (d) a moment in the act of defecating is chosen. There is evidence to prove the idea that the expression “you look like your mom’s/ dad’s fecal matter” is motivated by the act of giving birth.

Keywords : metaphor; schematic image; defecation.