To increase, to decrease, metaphorically

[ThomasK]

In recent news stories about current affairs in the US I read about numbers
+ spiking (reaching a peak, or at least going up sharply/...), probably based on (an ear of) grain [shooting up?] or a nail, and
- tanking (going down). referring to a liquid container but not clear to me how (coined by Billy Jean King, according to etymonline.com, who said; " "They 'tank' [give up]. I never tanked a match in my life and I never saw a girl do it. ")
I did know about plummeting, but did not know the origin. Yet it is dead simple: it is a ball of lead (plomb in French), so it can only sink.

In Dutch we could say;
+ pieken (like peaking in English), referring to a sharp point (such as a mountain peak)
- kelderen, referring to the cellar

What are the metaphors you use in your language?

 

[apmoy70]

In Greek when we're talking about numbers going up sharply, we say that the numbers «τσίμπησαν» [ˈʦ͡im.bi.san] (3rd pl. aorist) --> (they) stunɡ; the verb is «τσιμπάω/τσιμπώ» [ʦ͡imˈba.ɔ] (uncontracted)/[ʦ͡imˈbɔ] (contracted) --> to stinɡ, pinch, nibble < Byz. Gr. v. «τσιμπῶ» ʦimbô and «τσιμπίζω» ʦimbízō < Classical v. «ἐξεμπίζω» ĕksĕmpízō --> to sting < preposition & prefix «ἐκ» ĕk which before a vowel becomes «ἐξ» ĕks + fem. noun «ἐμπίς» ĕmpís --> gnat, with popular derivation from «ἐμπίνειν» ĕmpínei̯n --> to drink oneself full (in the case of gnats, 'full of blood') < prefix & preposition «ἐν» ĕn which before labials in assimilated into «ἐμ» ĕm + v. «πίνω» pínō.

«Ἐξεμπίζω» ĕksĕmpízō > «*ξεμπίζω» *ksĕmpízō > «τσιμπίζω» ʦimbízō & «τσιμπῶ» ʦimbô with tsitakism.

For the opposite we just use the v. «πέφτω» [ˈpef.tɔ] --> to fall < Classical v. «πίπτω» píptō.

«Πίπτω» píptō > «πέφτω» péfto with dissimilation of -pt- > -ft-

 

[Catagrapha]

To skyrocket

 

[ThomasK]

Thanks, both of you.

Should of thought of skyrocketing indeed. Very plastic/... ! Did you not refer to plummeting as well? But I had mentioned it in #1...)

@apmoy70 : as for τσίμπησαν, I had just thought of gonfler in French, "to swell", like after a sting... Could there be a link, Apmoy?

 

[ThomasK]

German: "in den Keller gehen", "sinken". (to go into the cellar, to sink) vs. "explodieren" (explode)...

Strange that this thread has not elicited more response, but so be it.

 

[nimak]

In Macedonian, when we talk about numbers:

to increase:
се искачи (se ískači) v. lit. "climbed up"
скокна (skókna) v. lit. "jumped"

to decrease:
се симна (se símna) v. lit. "got off", "climbed off"
падна (pádna) v. lit. "fell"

 

[ThomasK]

Thanks, but is Climbing understand as referring to people Climbing? I just notice that it is used like that in Dutch too, but not too often, it seems to me. We do not "climb down" though… ;-)

 

[nimak]

Thanks, but is Climbing understand as referring to people Climbing?

Yes. Искачува (iskáčuva) means: to move upward, to walk upward, to climb stairs, to climb mountains...

Тоj се искачи на Монт Еверест. (Tój se ískači na Mónt Éverest.) = He climbed Mount Everest.; lit. "He himself climbed on Mount Everest."

We don't "climb down" too.

 

[ThomasK]

I think the climbing works like in Germanic languages. As a matter of fact: we would say in Dutch. "Hij be-klom de ME" (be-climb, the be- being a prefix often replacing a preposition like "on", as in: Hij beantwoordde de brief = hij antwoordde op de brief (which are about real synonyms: he be-replied the letter = he replied to the letter). Same thing with spelen op/ play on = (+/-) bespelen/ be-play.
However, here, "Hij klom op de ME" sounds odd, probably because this seems to imply that he was on (the side of) MU, but does not suggest anything as for his being successful or not.

We don't "climb down" too.

But your figures do "climb down", I guess...

 

[Sowka]

German: "in den Keller gehen", "sinken". (to go into the cellar, to sink) vs. "explodieren" (explode)...

Strange that this thread has not elicited more response, but so be it.

Also:

abstürzen (crash, like an airplane, e.g. for share values)
For high values, there's also the term "Höhenflug" (of a share; altitude flight)

So it seems we take some of our metaphors from aviation.

 

[ThomasK]

Dutch is West Germanic too but we do not fly that high (nor fall that deep). ;-)

 

[nimak]

I think the climbing works like in Germanic languages.

And here are two more, about numbers:

to increase:
се издигна (se ízdigna) v. - "lifted", "uplifted", "elevated", "erected", "raised"
порасна (pórasna) v. - "grew up"