Linguist George Lakoff and philosopher Mark Johnson wrote Metaphors We Live By, in which metaphors are argued to be an unconscious cultural construct. They introduce their book through the idea that argument is war and then give a list of phrases that English speakers say  exemplify it: “Your claims are indefensible.” “He attacked every weak point in my argument.” “His criticisms were right on target.” “I demolished his argument.” They then ask the reader to consider a culture where argument is perceived as a dance as opposed to a war. What do we suppose about such a culture? The arguers…