ABSTRACT
The origin of the word metaphor is indeed Greek, while translate comes from Latin. The idea of transfer is also reflected in the terminology of both metaphor research and translation studies, as evidenced in the twofold use of the terms source and target. Given the potential of metaphor for alternative, often fluid, interpretation, it is an interesting irony of modern metaphor theory that some of it is surprisingly rigid. Some of the best-known writers within the approach known as the conceptual metaphor theory have tended to be very dismissive of other approaches, grouping them all together under the disparaging title of traditional. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is based on the study of the many and varied types of metaphorical expression contained in scientific texts and their translations.
