capture the fancy

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
1.What does this "fancy" mean here? "imagination" or "wish"?

ex) If someone were to say “Life is a cup of coffee,” it is unlikely that you would have heard this expression before. But its novelty forces you to think about its meaning. The vehicle used, a cup of coffee, is a common object of everyday life and therefore easily perceivable as a source for thinking about that life. The metaphor compels you to start thinking of life in terms of the kinds of physical, social, and other attributes that are associated with a cup of coffee. For this metaphor to gain currency, however, it must capture the fancy of many other people for a period of time. Then and only then will its novelty have become worn out and will it become the basis for a new conceptual metaphor: life is a drinking substance. After that, expressions such as “life is a cup of tea, life is a bottle of beer, life is a glass of milk,” will become similarly understandable as offering different perspectives on life.

→ A new metaphor initially makes people ____refelect on____ its meaning; if it loses its novelty later by gaining ___popularity____, it will give birth to similar types of metaphorical expressions.
 

birdeen's call

VIP Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
"Catch the fancy of" is more common. I find it difficult to explain what it means exactly. "Impress pleasingly" is the best I can come up with and the dictionaries I have access to at the moment are of no help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top