The chapter introduces the concept of metaphor from a cognitive linguistic perspective, challenging traditional views that see metaphor as primarily a linguistic phenomenon used for artistic or rhetorical purposes. Instead, it emphasizes that metaphor is a fundamental aspect of human thought and language, rooted in conceptual domains and their systematic correspondences. The chapter defines metaphor as understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another, with examples such as "life is a journey" and "love is a journey." It explains that these conceptual metaphors consist of mappings between source and target domains, where the target domain is more abstract and the source domain is more concrete. The chapter also discusses the importance of metaphor in everyday life and the need to study it to understand human thought and communication. Finally, it outlines key questions and topics that will be explored in subsequent chapters, including common source and target domains, the scope of metaphor, and cultural variations in metaphor.The chapter introduces the concept of metaphor from a cognitive linguistic perspective, challenging traditional views that see metaphor as primarily a linguistic phenomenon used for artistic or rhetorical purposes. Instead, it emphasizes that metaphor is a fundamental aspect of human thought and language, rooted in conceptual domains and their systematic correspondences. The chapter defines metaphor as understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another, with examples such as "life is a journey" and "love is a journey." It explains that these conceptual metaphors consist of mappings between source and target domains, where the target domain is more abstract and the source domain is more concrete. The chapter also discusses the importance of metaphor in everyday life and the need to study it to understand human thought and communication. Finally, it outlines key questions and topics that will be explored in subsequent chapters, including common source and target domains, the scope of metaphor, and cultural variations in metaphor.