Metaphor is a big component within and between language systems, notably by means of metaphor-motivated polysemy. A lot of its use in utterances may therefore be expected to display similar patterns across languages. There is cultural variation between conceptual metaphors and their linguistic expression, but it is also true that lots of closely related languages have the same patterns of metaphoricity for specific semantic fields and conceptual metaphors. In other words, metaphors ought to be easily translatable in many cases (Tradurre Figure / Translating Figurative Language).

However, translators and interpreters occasionally make other choices. They deliberately turn metaphors into non-metaphorical expressions, or the other way around. They can also alter metaphorical expressions in more subtle ways, alternating between deliberate and non-deliberate metaphor forms in ways that need close scrutiny. In translation, a lot of the work itself is slow and deliberate, whereas in interpretation, it is often fast and automatic. Behaviour in both cases here is clearly influenced by language issues, discourse factors, and cultural questions: this is called contrastive rhetoric or intercultural pragmatics outside translation.

For DMT, translation and interpretation may be one of the most exciting key issues for developing ideas about deliberate and non-deliberate metaphor use in on-going comprehension and production at different speeds. This holds for both metaphor use as a psychological and social process and its products as well as a matter of structures and functions of language and discourse. Snice translation and interpreting are such widespread practices, with AI approaches now kicking in as well, this is clearly a key area for the near future.