La métaphore et les catégories "ad hoc"

This article deals with the « comparant » (or comparison term) through two theoretical reflections about metaphor. The first one, in an aristotelian way, insists on the link between metaphor and wit (the greek εὐστοχία). The second one qualifies this link by considering the theory of “ad hoc categories”, which comes from the cognitive sciences (L. Barsalou). In both cases, the metaphor is distinguished not by those formal properties, but as a moment of suddenly perceived opportunity and timing.