Spatial metaphor in formation of English phraseological units

It is known that phraseological units of language are means of reflecting a person's vision of the world. The article deals with the phraseological units demonstrating human intellectual abilities. Particular attention is paid to the figurative component of these units. Image of space is the underlying. The category of space is one of the fundamental in the concept of worldview. This fact explains great number of word combinations of different invariability, based on a metaphorical rethinking of various spatial relationships between objects of reality in different languages. Spatial metaphor is presented as one of the ways of forming phraseological units. Spatial features that characterize human mental activity are the basis of the considered units. With the help of phraseological units the metaphorical models of mental activity “up-down", "forward-backward", "inside-out" and others are realized.