The aim of the present paper is to discuss metaphorical constructions, based on figurative uses of words, in informal Polish in the field of computers and the Internet. The study is based on the author’s own corpus, compiled on the basis of short informal texts (entries, posts) written on 32 selected Internet forums. Altogether, the corpus consists of 1,541,449 words. The paper, as the title suggests, focuses on one metaphorical formula, i.e. COMPUTERS ARE BUILDINGS. The metaphors which can be subsumed under this heading belong to the most frequent in the corpus (alongside a different type, i.e. COMPUTERS ARE HUMANS). They are discussed within the cognitive framework, as introduced by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). Some attention will also be devoted to the possible infl uence of English upon Polish metaphorical constructions used in the area of computers and the Internet.

The present paper aims at analyzing the conceptual metaphors for sin identifi ed in the English version of the Bible. The experience of moral evil belongs to basic human experiences and in theological interpretation, its existence is the reason for the salvation brought to people by Christ. However, from the semantic point of view, the concept of sin itself is highly abstract and diffi cult to defi ne. In order to conceptualize that notion, people frequently employ conceptual metaphors which enable them to refer to the abstract through the use of the concrete. This study is based on the English translation of Scripture published as the New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (2007[1989]). That version of Scripture is a revised edition of the famous King James Bible (1611) and it is widely used among Christians representing various denominations. The identifi ed sin metaphors are based on either sensorimotor or cultural experience. There are conceptualizations of sin that are motivated by preconceptual image schemas, ontological metaphors, and metaphors that combine cultural scripts and image schemas.