The Metaphor as the Ostensive Trigger of the Effect: The Paradox of Different Things

Abstract This text reviews the concept of ad hoc metaphor and the Sperber and Wilson´s (1995) hypothesis about metaphorical meaning as an adjustment by inferential implication between lexicalized concepts and contextual informations via broadening or narrowing the concept (CARSTON, 2002, 2010; WILSON; CARSTON, 2006, 2008) and consider the hypothesis of the extension of a category of the extended relevantist model (SPERBER; WILSON, 2008). However, although promising, these approaches are still quite restricted to the assumption of rational effects only. Based on the premise that metaphor is a communicative ostension strategy built on concepts of categories and distinct properties, the text discusses the plausibility of metaphorical interpretation enrichment. The conclusion is that the ad hoc creative metaphor, guided by the principle of relevance, in addition to cognitive effects, also generates emotional effects (SANTOS; GODOY, 2020, 2021).