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Nadeda Silaki
University of Belgrade
TRANSLATING METAPHORICAL ECONOMIC TERMS FROM ENGLISH INTO
SERBIAN SOME STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES1
Metaphor serves as a highly potent source of economics terminology. Using the
main tenets of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Schaffner 2004;
Deignan 1999), in this paper we focus on the cognitive approach to the translation of
English metaphorical terms in economics science into Serbian. Using the examples of the
terms taken from two Serbian dictionaries of economic science and comparing them to
the original English terms, we describe and explain various translation solutions,
especially dealing with those metaphorical terms in English whose translation into
Serbian renders a non-metaphorical expression. We offer possible explanation for a
rather unfavourable attitude toward the use of metaphors in Serbian economic
terminology.
1. INTRODUCTION
Within the theoretical wing of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this paper deals with
the identification and the analysis of procedures for metaphor translation adopted by the
authors of two economic dictionaries in Serbian.2 Our aim is to identify the translation
strategies Serbian term creators use when translating metaphorical terms from English.
The starting hypothesis of the analysis is that term creators reluctantly preserve metaphor
in translating metaphorical terms from English into Serbian, still considering it
undeserving of scientific terminology and too flowery to be used in conveying the
meaning of economic terms to the audience.
In line with the recent findings of Cognitive Linguistics, or more precisely
Conceptual Metaphor Theory as initiated by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), in this paper
metaphor is defined as an essential conceptual tool which consists in a structural mapping
from a more structured and tangible, more concrete or physical source domain on to a
more abstract and less structured target domain. A convenient shortcut for a set of
mappings that exists between elements of one conceptual domain and elements of another
conceptual domain is TARGET DOMAIN IS SOURCE DOMAIN (e.g. THE ECONOMY IS A LIVING
3
ORGANISM ), which is the basic formula for presenting conceptual metaphors in Cognitive
Linguistics. Unlike conceptual metaphors, [t]he metaphorical expressions that
characterize A IS B formulas are regarded as the linguistic realizations or manifestations of
underlying conceptual metaphors. (Kvecses 2002: 29). Thus, for example, in the
ECONOMY IS A LIVING ORGANISM metaphor, the economy is understood and talked about
1

The paper is the result of research conducted within project no. 178002 Languages and cultures across
space and time funded by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of
Serbia.
2
The data used for the analysis will be described in more detail somewhat later in the text.
3
Following an already established convention, conceptual metaphors in this paper are written in SMALL
CAPITAL LETTERS.

in terms of an organism, it can grow, decay, be healthy, sick, etc. This conceptual
metaphor is linguistically realised by numerous metaphorical expressions, which are the
result of the conceptual mappings between the source and the target domain (see Table
1).
Table 1. Mappings which characterise THE ECONOMY IS A LIVING ORGANISM metaphor

Source: AN ORGANISM

Target: ECONOMY

(a) a growing organism economy is going up

(b) a changing organism
economy is changing
(c) a decaying organism economy is going down
(d) a healthy organism
economy is in a good state
(e) a sick organism economy is in a bad state
Source: Velasco Sacristn (2004: 122)

Some of the metaphorical expressions which belong to

conceptual metaphor are the following:

THE ECONOMY IS A LIVING

ORGANISM

the US economy would catch flu, continental Europe might escape with just a
cold
a record budget to revitalise Japans anaemic economy
the growth of the economy
economic nerve centers
the financial sector is the life blood of any economy4
In such a cognitive view, metaphor is not only an ornamental feature of language but
plays a central role in the way we conceptualise the world. It is now widely recognised
that metaphor is an inseparable component of all discourses, scientific discourse (as well
as terminology) being no exception (see e.g. McCloskey 1986, Henderson 1994, Smith
1995, etc.). Originally, however, the idea that specialized and technical texts could
admit polysemous terms or definitions was rather unwelcome, whereas accuracy,
objectivism and precision used to be regarded as essential elements of technical and
scientific languages in order to attain informational accuracy. (Siqueira et al. 2009: 158).
Metaphor, therefore, was considered an undesirable element pertaining to figurative
language that, as such, should be replaced by a literal equivalent. (Siqueira et al. 2009:
158). In the next section we deal with metaphors in economic science.

2. METAPHORS IN ECONOMICS

See also Table 2 below.

After extensive research has been done on the matter, it is now widely thought
that metaphor serves as a highly potent source of economics terminology. For example,
Henderson (1994: 358) argues that [i]t is part of the generative aspect of metaphor to
assist in the developing of a routine vocabulary for handling economic ideas. Probably
the oldest and the most famous metaphor in economics literature was coined as early as
in the 18th century by the British economist and the founder of economics as a science
Adam Smith. It is the invisible hand metaphor which makes use of the notion of force
and the very general metaphor that CONTROL IS THE EXERCISE OF FORCE BY THE HAND
(Lakoff 1996: 254), as in expressions Its in your hands now, I cant handle this
project, etc. This metaphor allows us to conceive of the economic forces of self-interest,
competition and supply and demand in terms of physical forces, which govern the market
in allocating resources in society.
Bearing in mind the fact that metaphor serves the purpose of explaining abstract
concepts in terms of concrete ones, it should come as no surprise that an abstract
discipline such as economics makes extensive use of metaphors in order to explain often
hardly comprehensible economic concepts. Unlike most other disciplinary discourses,
economics has given rise to a vast literature on metaphor elaborated by economists
themselves (McCloskey, 1986; Henderson, 1994, 2000; Mirowski, 1989) (Alejo 2010:
1138). Thus, for example, McCloskey (1986) identifies the following metaphors in
economics: ECONOMIES NEED EQUILIBRIUM, OTHERWISE THEY WILL COLLAPSE; PUBLIC
DEBT IS A BURDEN; CURRENCIES MAY BE WEAK or CURRENCIES MAY BE STRONG, and
BUSINESS MOVES IN CYCLES. Henderson also points out the pervasiveness of metaphor in
economic science, arguing that both living and dead metaphors are part of the normal
vocabulary of economics and are built into the concept-structure of introductory
economics texts. (1982: 147). However, in recent years economics metaphor research
has become a very fruitful area in the field of Cognitive Linguistics, which, unlike more
traditional approaches, treats metaphor as a fundamental cognitive tool by which we not
only talk but, much more essentially, think as well.
Metaphors in economics range from those which are, according to Henderson
(2000: 172), more theory laden, such as inflation, circular flow, human capital,
invisible hand, equilibrium, etc. to those of a more popular strand, as the following
examples from The Economist show5: tightening the screws on the economy, trading
truce, invading new markets, financial hypochondria, etc. Henderson (1982: 147)
identifies three ways in which metaphors may be used in economic discourse:
(1) simply as a textual decoration or perhaps as a teaching device, to illustrate or
exemplify but not being allocated any central purpose;
(2) as a central organising principle of all language thus admitting the idea that there is no
metaphor-free basis for studying metaphor whilst at the same time accepting that sets of
metaphors can be explored and understood;
(3) as a device for exploring specific economic problems and as a basis for extending the
domain of economic ideas.
Boers (2000: 138) claims that [d]iverse figurative expressions encountered in economic
discourse can often be traced back to a single source domain and identifies typical
5

The examples are taken from Boers (2000).

source domains in the process of metaphorisation in economics: MECHANISMS and

MACHINES (e.g. tightening the screws on the economy), ANIMALS (e.g. bear market, bull
market), PLANTS and GARDENING (flourishing economy, to prune the workforce), HEALTH
and FITNESS (e.g. financial markets are healing, economic virus), FIGHTING and WARFARE
(economic arm-twisting, price war), SHIPS and SAILING (a sense of drift in our policies, to
steer the company in the right direction), SPORTS (level playing field, rat race).
According to some previous research on metaphors in economics, the most
pervasive conceptual metaphors underlying popular and journalistic economic and
business discourse are summarised by Alejo (2010: 1140) and are presented in Table 2
below:
Table 2 Metaphors in economics
Conceptual metaphor
THE ECONOMY IS A
MACHINE

Authors
Boers (2000a); Resche
(2002);
Skorczynska and Deignan
(2006); Boers and
Demecheleer (1997);
White (2003)

THE ECONOMY IS A
LIVING ORGANISM

Charteris-Black (2000);
Resche (2002); Boers and
Demecheleer (1997);
Boers (2000b); Lpez
Maestre (2000); White
(2003)

BUSINESS IS
WAR/TRADE IS WAR

Boers and Demecheleer

(1997);
Boers (2000a); Lpez
Maestre (2000);
Charteris-Black and Ennis
(2001); Eubanks (1999)

Examples of metaphorical expressions

Fine-tuning, fine-tuning economic growth,
macroeconomic tools, economic levers, tighten the
screws on the economy, overheating, market
mechanisms, the economy is sputtering, exchange
rate mechanisms, financial instrument/accelerator,
bottle up, brake, engine, flow, fuel, machine, pump,
safety valve
Economic growth, healthy economy, breakdown,
economic disease, economic cure, economic
depression, infant industry, economic decay, giant,
player, parent company, sister company, raider,
white knight, chances of survival, economic
viability, chronic budget deficit, economic paralysis,
economic symptoms, economic sclerosis, arthritic
labour markets, financial hypochondria, acute
shortage, anaemic industries, amputations of
departments, economic recoveries, growth revives,
growth breaks out
Economic arm-twisting, the fight for the market
share, combat fraud, take-over battle, retaliation
against US exports, invading new markets,
conquering the market, breaking ranks with ones
associates, trade war, trading truce, price war,
market retreats, UK shares hit by US slump, trade
peace, rally, trigger, attack, batter, wipe out, retreat,
impact, battle, assault

Source: Alejo (2010: 1140)

Alejo (2010: 1139), however, also points out that it still remains to be ascertained
whether the metaphors already identified [in mainly journalistic texts] are also functional
in the academic discipline. Nevertheless, the pervasiveness of metaphors in economic
texts has downplayed the long held view that they are exclusively used as decorative
ornaments in science.
3. TRANSLATABILITY OF METAPHORS

Much scholarly attention has been given to the variables which might have an impact on
the translation (and translatability) of metaphors in general. According to Samaniego
Fernndez (2002: 206), these are, inter alia, cultural references, communicative
purpose, functional relevance, information burden, metaphor typology, co-text and
context restrictions, degree of compatibility of the conceptual and formal structures of the
two languages involved, prevalent synchronic norms, degree of lexicalization of the
metaphor, translators competence, connotations, degree of anisomorphism between the
source and target domains in both cultures, comprehensibility of the metaphor, cognitive
role, etc.. As far as the translatability of metaphors, i.e. their ability to be transferred
from a source language into a target language is concerned, most authors in the field of
Translation Studies agree that the image in the ST [source text] cannot always be
retained in the TT [target text] (e.g. because the image that is attached to the metaphor is
unknown in the TL [target language], or the associations triggered by the SL [source
language] metaphor get lost in the TL) (Schffner 2004: 1256). Samaniego Fernndez
(2002: 206-207) summarises different approaches to the translation of metaphors in
Translation Studies: (1) metaphors are untranslatable; (2) metaphors are fully
translatable; (3) metaphors are translatable but pose a considerable degree of
inequivalence; and (4) conciliatory approach according to which the range of renderings
depends on the text type and ad hoc factors. Most authors agree that it is novel metaphors
which are most difficult to translate, whereas conventional and lexicalised metaphors are
the most translatable if the systems involved are culturally close (Rabadn lvarez
1991: 137, quoted in Samaniego Fernndez 2002: 208). Clearly, as has already been
argued, metaphors may become a translation problem, since transferring them from one
language and culture to another may be hampered by linguistic and cultural differences
(Schffner 2004).
Generally speaking, there are three main ways among which translators may
choose to translate metaphors (Dobrzyska 1995: 599):
1. using an exact equivalent of the original metaphor (this procedure can be
represented as M M);
2. using another metaphorical phrase which would express a similar sense (the
procedure that can be represented as M1 M2); and
3. replacing an untranslatable metaphor of the original with its approximate literal
paraphrase (the M P procedure).6
As Dobrzyska (1995: 599) claims, [t] he choice of translational tactics should depend
on the type of text translated and the function it is supposed to fulfill. In our case the
translation of terminology besides other factors influencing the choice, there are some

Peter Newmark (1988, quoted in Dobrzyska 1995: 599) offers a much more comprehensive list of
procedures for translating metaphors, which includes seven cases: (1) reproducing the same metaphorical
image in another language; (2) replacing the original metaphorical image with some other standard image
in another language; (3) translating metaphor by simile; (4) translating metaphor (or simile) by simile plus
sense (i.e. a literal paraphrase, a gloss); (5) converting metaphor to sense only; (6) using deletion (if the
metaphor is redundant or otiose); and (7) translating metaphor by the same metaphor with the sense added
(with gloss).

additional constraints, the most important ones being terminological brevity and
unambiguity, two of the probably most decisive preconditions for term creation.

4. CORPUS AND METHOD

Our data for the analysis have been compiled from two dictionaries of economic science
published in Serbian: Ekonomski renik, published by the Faculty of Economics,
University of Belgrade, containing around 7,000 entries, and Mekmilanov renik
Moderna ekonomija, with around 3,000 entries. The analysis of the two dictionaries was
carried out through manual inspection of their entries as well as the definitions of the
entries. The aim was to search for metaphorical occurrences of entries in order to find out
how the original English terms were translated into Serbian, i.e. to establish the
procedures that the authors of the two dictionaries follow as regards metaphor translation
and term creation. Due to the vagueness and the open-ended character of metaphors,
subjectivity in determining what is really metaphorical, as well as a lack of established
parameters which could apply to the identification of metaphors (conceptual as well as
linguistic), the method for metaphor identification (MIP Metaphor Identification
Procedure, Pragglejaz Group 2007) was used to check the metaphoricity of the dictionary
entries as well as to establish their basic and contextual meaning, where contextual
meaning (having in mind that we analysed dictionary entries terms) was established
according to the definition of each entry. MIP is an explicit, reliable, and flexible
method for identifying metaphorically used words in spoken and written language.
(Pragglejaz Group 2007: 2). Therefore, it eliminates any subjective criteria and enables a
clearer and more objective identification of the metaphorical instantiations in the
dictionaries.
For the purposes of this paper, we have divided all metaphorical terms contained
in the two Serbian dictionaries into two major groups, old and novel metaphors. The
first group refers to those metaphorical terms in economic science which have become
fully lexicalised and therefore have lost their connection with the literal meaning. As
Smith (1995: 45) points out, [a] number of what were originally metaphors have become
conventionalised in the language of economics, and can now better be considered as
technical terms than living metaphors. These terms are now so familiar in the jargon
of the subject that their metaphorical etymology is not immediately obvious. (Smith
1995: 45).7 What we call novel metaphors in this paper, however, refers to those
economic terms which have emerged with the latest developments in certain fields of
rather widely defined economic science, such as management, accounting and marketing.
These new terms are most frequently translated from English, where they tend to be
highly metaphorical. Such novel metaphors may be divided into three major groups
(Samaniego Fernndez 2002: 209-210): (1) pure novel metaphors creating the
similarity; (2) novel metaphors based on a pre-existent similarity but showing a new
mapping or being a new combination of cognitive domains and, (3) novel metaphors that
are a simultaneous exploitation of the literal and the metaphorical meanings. These novel
metaphors are the main focus of our analysis.
7

It should be noted, however, that the boundary between what is a fossilized or dead metaphor, and what
is living, is far from clear-cut. (Smith 1995: 45).

5. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES
After a careful analysis of the terms contained in the two dictionaries has been
performed, it appears that metaphor translators use several strategies which will be
further elaborated in the sections which follow.
5.1. STRATEGY 1 (M

M)

In the first strategy for metaphor translation, metaphorical term in English has been
translated by the corresponding metaphorical term in Serbian, with the same source
domain being preserved in the target language. Let us illustrate this strategy by several
terms from the two dictionaries:

black market crno trite8 (the BLACK FOR ILLEGAL metonymy)9

credit ceiling kreditni plafon (the VERTICALITY image schema)10
creeping inflation
puzajua inflacija (THE BEHAVIOUR OF INFLATION IS THE
BEHAVIOUR OF A PERSON)
fair wages pravine zarade (MONEY IS A PERSON)
floating capital fluktuirajui kapital (MONEY IS A LIQUID)
galloping inflation galopirajua inflacija (INFLATION IS A HORSE)
leakages curenja (MONEY IS LIQUID)
malleable capital savitljivi kapital (MONEY IS A SOLID)
merit good dobra roba (ARTICLES ARE PEOPLE)
raider firm firma napada (ORGANISATIONS ARE PEOPLE)
soft loan meki kredit (MONEY IS A SOLID)
spillover effect efekat prelivanja (MARKET IS A CONTAINER)
victim company kompanija rtva (COMPANIES ARE PEOPLE)
window dressing
friziranje finansijskih izvetaja (FRAUDULENT
ACCOUNTING PRACTICE IS BEAUTIFYING)

It seems that there is a conceptual, cultural, as well as linguistic overlap between English
and Serbian in this case, and the conceptual mappings used here are shared between the
two languages. It has already been established that the more universal the experience, the
more likely the transfer of the metaphorical meaning from one language to another. In the
selected examples it is obvious that the translation of metaphorical terms from English
into Serbian renders the same conceptual metaphor, in this case instantiated by the same
metaphorical expression (term) belonging to that metaphor.

Henceforth, English terms will be italicised whereas Serbian terms will be bolded.
Although certain metaphorical terms rest on conceptual metonymy, due to space constraints, in this paper
we will not deal with this important conceptual tool.
10
Image schemas make it possible for us to use the structure of sensory and motor operations to
understand abstract concepts and draw inferences about them (Johnson 2005: 24).
9

5.2. STRATEGY 2a (M

M, different source domain)

In the second translation strategy, the translation of English metaphorical term into
Serbian renders a metaphor, but a different source domain is used. Let us illustrate this
strategy by the following examples:

flight from cash bekstvo od gotovine

internal drain unutranje usisavanje
labour turnover fluktuacija radne snage

In this case, there is a difference in the metaphoric conceptualisation of the same

economic or financial concept between English and Serbian.

5.3. STRATEGY 2b (M

M, different source domain + additional information)

The strategy of translating a metaphor with a metaphor may also be applied to those
terms whose metaphorical translation into Serbian would render a vague meaning. In
such cases, therefore, the Serbian term, although essentially metaphorical, tends to be
rather long, due to the need for supplying additional information for the sake of clarity
and accuracy, but at the expense of brevity and conciseness.

fiscal drag

fiskalno optereenje uslovljeno inflacijom

This strategy, therefore, is not suitable for the translation of terms, since it violates some
of the most important attributes of terms within a scientific field.

5.4. STRATEGY 2c (M
expression)

M, same source domain, different metaphorical

The next option which is also possible in the metaphor-to-metaphor translation is the case
when the source domain is the same, which means that English and Serbian, being
cognitively related, share the same conceptual background, but the metaphorical
expression linguistically realising this same conceptual metaphor used is different, as in
the following examples:

ceiling price najvia cena (VERTICALITY image schema)

floor price najnia cena (VERTICALITY image schema)
infant industry mlada industrija (THE ECONOMY IS A PERSON)
venture capital smeli kapital (RISKY INVESTMENT IS BEING ADVENTUROUS)

As Schffner (2004: 1264-65) points out, a large amount of human experience is

universal, or at least shared by several cultures; thus it is not the conceptual metaphor that
is culture-dependent, but its linguistic realization, a claim which is corroborated by this
translation strategy.

5.5. STRATEGY 3 (M

M, culturally determined)

In the third strategy, metaphorical term in English is translated by using a metaphor in

Serbian. However, Serbian metaphors inevitably have to be culturally determined, since
the source cultural component contained in the English term would render a noncomprehensible metaphor in Serbian. Let us illustrate this strategy with several examples
from our corpus data:

backdoor financing finansiranje na mala vrata

free rider slepi putnik
moonlighting tezgarenje
shadow economy siva ekonomija
tight money skup novac

5.6. STRATEGY 4 (M

Anglicism)

In the fourth strategy, a large number of terms in both dictionaries have been translated,
or rather, coined, by using a bizarre strategy. Namely, English metaphorical term is not
translated at all, but takes an obvious, mixed, transshaped or hidden Anglicism11 as its
translation equivalent. This strategy is illustrated by the examples below:

boom bum
cobweb theorem kobveb teorema
goodwill gudvil
hedging heding
job cluster klaster poslova
junk bond dank bond
monetary policy lag leg monetarne politike
target zone targetna zona

The use of this strategy points out the fact that metaphors compete fiercely with
anglicised terms in Serbian economic terminology, since, in comparison with metaphors,
Anglicisms seem to be considered by term creators to be more scientific and more
deserving of being used as terms. Paradoxically, English metaphorical term is kept as it
is, or slightly changes its orthographic form, while at the same time any attempts at
translating that metaphorical term into Serbian by finding a suitable metaphorical or
literal equivalent, is regarded as unnecessary. The creators of Serbian economic
terminology obviously prefer Anglicisms, and what is even more important, believe that
they are more easily communicated to the audience, losing sight of the fact that
anglicised terms are mainly incomprehensible to non-speakers of English, which poses
unsurmountable difficulties for them and leaves them out of the communication.

11

Pri (2005:120-123) offers several classifications of anglicisms in Serbian, one of them being according
to their form (obvious, hidden and raw).

5.7. STRATEGY 5a (M

L)

Finally, the fifth and the last translation strategy found in the two dictionaries is by far the
most frequently used the translation of the English metaphorical term renders a nonmetaphorical term in Serbian, i.e. its literal equivalent.
Some Serbian terms created in this way, for example, rest on the LIQUID source
domain, already established to conceptually function in Serbian as well as in English.
However, some terms in Serbian dictionaries based in English on the LIQUID source
domain delete metaphor completely, resulting from a safe approach which ensures the
appropriate perception of the message conveyed by the English metaphorical term. Let us
illustrate some metaphorical terms from the source domain LIQUID in English, whose
translation renders a non-metaphorical term in Serbian:

backwash effect (source domain LIQUID) povratni efekat

sinking fund (source domain LIQUID) otplatni fond
sunk costs (source domain LIQUID) nepovratni trokovi
wage drift (source domain LIQUID) odstupanje nadnica

However, a large number of metaphorical terms deriving from several other

source domains are also translated using the same strategy avoiding metaphor and
replacing it by a literal equivalent:

buffer stocks rezerve robe

fine tuning fino podeavanje
forced riders prinueni kupci
fringe benefits dodatna primanja
idle balances tezaurisana sredstva
maturity dospee
pegged exchange rate
fiksni devizni kurs
slump kriza
wear and tear amortizacija
wildcat strike nenajavljeni trajk
windfall gain neoekivani dobitak
windfall loss neoekivani gubitak
winding up zatvaranje

This strategy may be justified in the case of culture-specific metaphors, for which most of
the target audience is likely to lack the necessary background information.

5.8. STRATEGY 5b (M

L, paraphrase)

Somewhat different is the strategy in which English metaphorical term is replaced by a

rather long and cumbersome literal paraphrase in Serbian, leading to more complex or
explanatory renderings, thus violating the main characteristic of a term, its brevity.

Deleting metaphoricity guarantees the necessary precision, one of the most important
preconditions for the existence of scientific terms, especially those which are highly
specialised or belong (or refer) to the cultural setting defined by the English language,
thus being impossible to translate as such. This conversion to sense requires the
componential analysis of the sense, so that the translator could be certain of preserving
the relevant semantic features that are common both to the source and the target, i.e. of
accurately establishing the ground. (Dobrot and Maftei 2002: 319).
This strategy of metaphor translation may also be useful when English metaphor
would be incomprehensible for the speakers of Serbian, due to the cultural specificity of
metaphoric imagery. Otherwise, it often results in rather long and abstruse expressions,
sometimes incomprehensible to the users of the two dictionaries. Here are some
examples:

featherbedding zapoljavanje veeg broja radnika od potrebnog

bears pekulanti koji oekuju pad cena (medvedi)
bulls pekulanti koji oekuju rast cena (bikovi)
blue chip shares akcije prvoklasne kompanije

It is also worthwhile noting another interesting procedure that economic term creators
employ when translating metaphorical terms from English into Serbian. Namely, even if
their translation of a metaphorical English term renders a metaphor in Serbian, they
extensively use inverted commas in order to downplay a Serbian metaphor so that it does
not appear too bizarre, pompous or flowery. Let us illustrate this procedure by several
examples from our corpus of data:

leakages curenja
malleable capital savitljivi kapital
backdoor financing finansiranje na mala vrata

It seems that the creators of economic terms deliberately overlook the fact that metaphors
constitute an irreplaceable part of the linguistic machinery of a scientific theory (Boyd
1993: 486), forming a unique part of scientific reasoning and conceptualization
(Knudsen 2003: 1249), whereas pedagogical metaphors, those which are used in the
building-up of economic classifications, chains of reasoning or for the construction of
particular models (Henderson 1982: 148) play a role in the teaching and explication of
theories. (Boyd 1993: 485).

6. CONCLUSION
In this paper an attempt has been made to compare English and Serbian metaphorical
terms in economic science and to establish the main translation strategies term creators
use when they translate metaphors from English into Serbian. Although no detailed
quantitative or statistical analysis has been performed on the data from the two
dictionaries, our tentative results (which, of course, need to be corroborated by more
precise numerical analysis) point out that rendering an English metaphorical term as a

non-metaphorical term in Serbian (M

L) seems to be the most popular translation
strategy in Serbian economic terminology. Economics terminology in Serbian seems to
avoid using metaphorical terms for two main reasons: (1) because of the lack of the
necessary cultural overlap between English and Serbian, or (2) because the formality of
terminology popularly associated with a scientific discipline such as economics is
thought by term creators and translators to be violated by the use of metaphors.
Metaphors in Serbian economic terminology are still marginalised, regarded as not
scientific enough, as too vivid and flowery so as to serve as scientific terms. Clearly,
metaphor has not yet found its place in Serbian economic terminology, as evidenced by
our analysis where the resort to literal translations still seems to be the most frequently
used term-creating strategy in economic terminology. Subject specialists, who are the
main new term creators in Serbian economic science, should become aware of the
importance of metaphors as cognitive devices in the field of economics, a science which
abounds in abstract terms, therefore a science in which metaphors, or terminological
metaphors, are indispensable to abstract thought.
Key words: Conceptual Metaphor Theory, economics, terminology, translation, English,
Serbian.

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Nadeda Silaki
Prevoenje metaforikih ekonomskih termina sa engleskog na srpski strategije i izazovi
Rezime
U ovom radu bavili smo se strategijama i problemima pri prevoenju engleskih
metaforikih termina u ekonomskoj nauci na srpski jezik. Poetna hipoteza istraivanja
glasila je da tvorci termina nerado koriste metaforu pri prevoenju metaforikih termina
sa engleskog na srpski. Analiza je sprovedena na terminima iz dva reprezentativna
renika ekonomske nauke na srpskom jeziku (ukupno oko 10000 termina). Usredsredili
smo se na nove metafore, one koje su nastale imenovanjem novonastalih pojmova u
oblasti ekonomije. Analiza je pokazala da tvorci termina koriste nekoliko prevodnih
strategija, ali najee onu u kojoj se metaforiki termin na engleskom prevodi
nemetaforikim terminom na srpskom. Metafore se u ekonomskoj terminologiji na
srpskom jeziku izbegavaju iz dva glavna razloga: (1) zbog pomanjkanja neophodnog
kulturnog preklapanja izmeu engleskog i srpskog, i/ili (2) zato to tvorci srpskih termina
smatraju da metafore naruavaju formalnost terminologije koja se popularno povezuje sa
naunom disciplinom kakva je ekonomija. Na zakljuak glasi da su metafore u srpskoj
ekonomskoj terminologiji jo uvek marginalizovane, da se smatraju nedovoljno naunim
i suvie ivopisnim da bi se koristile kao nauni termini.