“Brexit means…”

Abstract

Abstract Brexit, i.e. the withdrawal of the uk from the eu, is an event, which, regardless of its course and destination, has had a lasting impact on international politics. This paper offers a cognitive linguistic perspective on Brexit and investigates its conceptual metaphorizations on the first days after the uk referendum. The paper compares data from uk and non-uk eu media. The perspective adopted is that of Socio-Cognitive Studies in combination with quantitative analysis. The findings suggest there are significant differences between uk source domains and continental eu ones, e.g. overall metaphor use throughout the period is more pronounced in the uk sub-dataset; in the uk sub-dataset, divorce metaphorizations characterize either a ‘break-up’ between ‘two Britains’ or an uk-eu ‘break-up’; journey, disaster and war are more frequently used in the uk, while mechanical failure is more prominent in the continental sub-dataset. Overall, a preference for inanimate source domains characterizes both sub-datasets.