To what extent and in what ways is metaphorical thought relevant to an understanding of culture and society? Can the cognitive linguistic view of metaphor simultaneously explain universality and diversity in metaphorical thought? Cognitive linguists have done important work on universal aspects of metaphor, but they have paid less attention to why metaphors vary both interculturally and intraculturally as extensively as they do. This book proposes a new theory of metaphor variation. Firstly, the major dimensions of metaphor variation are identified; that is, those social and cultural boundaries that signal discontinuities in human experience. Secondly, the book describes which components, or aspects, of conceptual metaphor are involved in metaphor variation, and how they are involved. Thirdly, it isolates the main causes of metaphor variation. Lastly, it deals with the issue of the degree of cultural coherence in the interplay among conceptual metaphors, embodiment, and causes of metaphor variation.