Metaphors in Prime Ministers’ address to the nation on coronavirus: the case of ‘country lockdown’ televised statements in Italy and in the UK

In the first months of 2020, when the Coronavirus pandemic globally broke out, many countries’ governments became aware of the unprecedented risks for their populations’ health and of the toll on their countries’ health care systems. So, emergency measures were passed that would limit people’s contacts and circulation in closed environments. Some of these drastic and dramatic measures were lockdowns that would severely limit or prohibit the movement of people outside their homes. These measures were communicated to the corresponding populations by the countries’ Prime Ministers (PMs) in person via televised press conferences. The study considers the public announcements of country lockdowns placed in Italy and in the United Kingdom in March 2020. Framed within Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980), the study conducts a qualitative analysis of two statements by the then Italian PM Giuseppe Conte and the then British PM Boris Johnson, focusing on the use of metaphors to refer to the COVID-19 outbreak and the first emergency measures that had to be taken to tackle the tragic situation. Results show that both PMs define the virus with the conceptual metaphor CORONAVIRUS IS CHALLENGE/THREAT, while the solution to the emergency is conceptualised in terms of war effort. Results also show that, while Johnson’s speech emphasises the importance of the measures to protect the NHS and people’s lives, Conte’s statement emphasises the population’s emotional commitment and personal sacrifice for the greater good.