Review of R. W. Gibbs. 2016. Mixing Metaphor (Metaphor in Language, Cognition, and Communication 6)

“Mixing Metaphor” is a compilation of 12 chapters by prominent researchers, introduced by Raymond Gibbs, one of the main actors in the eld of metaphor studies. It is a highly timely contribution that lls a gap between the pre-theoret- ical notion of ‘mixed metaphors’, largely known to the (English-speaking) pub- lic as something to be avoided as it re ects poor style or even sloppy thinking, and scholarly research on metaphor, where the topic has received little attention. In the Introduction, Gibbs discusses the example the city’s proposal to skim the frosting, pocket the cake, and avoid paying the fair, reasonable value for the meal is hound that will not hunt, and proposes that such metaphor mixing should not be viewed negatively, but rather as a natural reflection of “people’s cognitive flexibility to think of abstract concepts in a myriad of metaphorical ways” (p. vii). But this is a rather too positive an assessment.