TABLE 1.
Examples of extended metaphors and systematic metaphors.
| Systematic metaphors | Extended stretches | Participants | Topics |
| DESIRE OF WASTING MONEY IS A DANGEROUS ANIMAL WITH VIOLENT ACTION | Once we want to waste money, the beasts of desire in our chests are awakened, they yell and stamp their feet, trying to control our mind. | Deng | Spend and save |
| MONEY WITHOUT CONTROL IS A WILD ANIMAL | Without any goals, your money will run wild and go all over the place. You will even find that you buy nothing useful which causes a lot of money. Take control of your money and stick to your goals. | Shi | Spend and save |
| MONEY IS A PERSON | “Money is good servant but a bad master.” We cannot be controlled by money so that we will not be a pathetic slave of money. | Li N. | Spend and save |
| SPENDING IS A VEHICLE | There is a common view in China saying that the three carriages of the economy are consumption, export, and investment. […] we should pay a lot attention to consumption and rationally spend more so that our economy can have a sustainable and powerful driving force. | Wang | Spend and save |
| SAVING MONEY IS RESERVING WEAPON | If life is compared to a war, saving money is like to storage [store] bullets. | Zhang | Spend and save |
| LOVE IS PHYSICAL FORCE DRIVING VEHICLES/MACHINES | Basically, love is the invisible power. It has the driving force which can encourage people to achieve some goals. […] love is like the petrol to a car, the battery to a player. | Li Y. | Campus love |
| NEGATIVE EMOTION CAUSED BY BREAKUP IS A BOMB | Campus love will increase the psychological burden. When they experience a breakup, they will feel desperate and depressed for a long time. Their feelings will be a ticking time bomb which will lead to terrible consequences when it blows up. | Liu | Campus love |
| LOVE IS ILLNESS | Love can be a good medicine or a poison. […] we all know that romance can go sour, and a failed love experience can be stressful and painful. | Lou | Campus love |
| LOVE IS FIRE | Love is like a fire, warm and bright but easy to burn. | Lou | Campus love |
| LOVE IS FOOD BEARING PLEASANT FEELINGS | Pursuing romantic love is the instinct of human, just like hungry people find [finding] food. […] the romantic love, just like desert [dessert] can make the hearts warm and happy. | Guo | Campus love |
| HUMAN BEINGS ARE PLANTS AND ANIMALS | Only when flowers bloom will the bees come to gather honey. | Deng | Campus love |