Rather than a holding on to cultural cliches, I think The Pook's analysis of semantic shift is more to the point. Another example might be the word tap. Originally it meant 'to strike lightly' as in "he tapped on the table with his pencil." It was then used as a verb describing what one did to insert the device one used to draw beer from a barrel and thence to the device itself. This device was still called a tap even when it was screwed into the barrel and tap then became the device used to cut female threads into something.