Affiliation:
1. Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Abstract
Abstract
This paper offers a study of the foodstuffs used by speakers of Peninsular Spanish when referring to an attractive
individual. Two online forums were scanned to automatically search for linguistic realizations of the metaphor an attractive
individual is appetizing food. A corpus of 860 short texts was compiled, which contains the food terms used in context.
The frequency distribution of the type of food and the variable of gender was measured. Results indicate a preference to exploit
the metaphor through salty food products and that the foodstuffs used are highly dependent on the variable of gender. Contrary to
previous studies (e.g., Caitlin Hines 2000; Irene
López Rodríguez 2007, 2008), the frequency of sweets and desserts is not
higher with female referents. The findings do not agree with prior assumptions about the foodstuffs used in Peninsular Spanish to
conceptualize attractive people and the cultural stereotypes associated with them.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
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