Metaphors of Life and Chemistry in Conceptualising Money: The “Litmus Test” of Economic Reality

It is this article’s primary focus to study biological and chemical metaphors, whose purpose is twofold: both to conceptualize money and economic reality. Metaphors pertaining to biology and chemistry, including “litmus test”, are analyzed using the materials of the National Corpus of the Russian Language to elucidate the social and economic nature of money. The author examines the hybrid characteristics of money, which is perceived as both a resource and a catalyst. Special emphasis is placed on Russian linguoculture, where money is metaphorically associated with natural resources, living organisms and chemical objects. The study under consideration places significant emphasis on the use of metaphors in the simplification of complex economic processes and their role in shaping our cognitive picture of the world.