Yufeng Liu (Kiki)劉雨鳳

Metaphors and identities in online descriptions of the experience of pain | Communication & Medicine Abstract Becoming seriously and/or chronically ill can challenge and disrupt our sense of who we are in terms of our bodies, minds, and social roles. Although a substantial literature exists on metaphor and illness, the use of metaphor to represent identities has received little attention. This article focuses on similes as a particularly relevant manifestation of metaphoricity in language. An 8-million–word corpus of contributions to the Pain Concern online forum is investigated via a combination of corpus linguistic methods and in-depth qualitative analysis. We explore how contributors to the forum use similes to describe their own (changing) self-perceptions due to living with pain and its consequences. To this end, we introduce and demonstrate a multicomponent analytical framework, which, as we show, is equally applicable to the analysis of metaphorical expressions. The framework includes a consideration of source concept, type of identity, and viewpoint. With regard to our data, we show how similes are used to convey mostly unwelcome changes in the person's perception of themselves in physical, psychological, and/or social terms, potentially resulting in estrangement, low self-esteem, isolation, and disempowerment. More broadly, we suggest that our framework is applicable to the study of metaphorical representations of identities in the context of illness generally.

New paper just out in Communication & Medicine: 'Metaphors and identities in online descriptions of the experience of pain', with @kikiliu.bsky.social and Jane Demmen. It was a long time in the making for various reasons so we're particularly pleased to see it out! utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/...

Congratulations!🥂

Applications of Corpus Linguistics by Gavin Brookes, Niall Curry and Robbie Love
With case studies from diverse contexts, this book shows and critically reflects on applications of corpus linguistics research and methods.
📚 https://cup.org/3NZeaTI

Spotlight: May O. Lwin (February 2026) In this second Spotlight video of the series, Dr Gavin Brookes (Lancaster University) talks with Professor May O. Lwin, who is a Professor in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information…

Interested in what different members of the International Consortium for Communication in Health Care (IC4CH) are working on?

Today we're putting the spotlight on Professor May O. Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore):
ic4ch.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/s...

‼️ Deadline Extension ‼️

The deadline to submit abstracts for our 2026 webinar has now been extended to Monday, March 9th @ 5pm

We’d love to hear from you!

Our entry on ‘Time Series’
Published in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2nd Edition)

I would like to thank Professor Dennis Tay for his generous support throughout the process.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

lancasteruniversity: Corpus linguistics and new technologies: data, language and society | edX In an era of AI and big data, understanding language through data is essential. This hands-on course from Lancaster University—a global leader in corpus linguistics—teaches you to build, query, and an...

Check it out - the corpus MOOC is back (15th September) on a new platform (edX) exploring new topics, including AI. One thing has not changed - it is still free to access 😁 Find out more here: www.edx.org/learn/social...

At #RaAM17 @raammetaphor.bsky.social, I was pleased to present, on behalf of our team, one study from the
4D Picture project, on “Metaphors, identities, and gender in online interactions about cancer”.
It was my first in-person RaAM, and I loved every bit of it.

Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare Cambridge Core - Medicine: General Interest - Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare

Just received the final proofs of this book, based on @corpussocialsci.bsky.social research on health communication. It will be out *open access* later this year. @paulari.bsky.social @gavinbrookes.bsky.social @lukeccollins.bsky.social @tonymcenery.bsky.social

www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...

Even more exciting: this year’s EAPC Early Career Award goes to another researcher in palliative care with a linguistics background. How encouraging to see linguistic approaches gaining ground in this vital field!

Always so special to get lots of our staff, students and alumni together. A lovely evening after #EAPC2025

Glad to share our poster at #EAPC2025 on metaphors, identities & gender in cancer communication—part of @4dpicture, with key contributions from @corpussocialsci.bsky.social @ioelc.bsky.social @ucrelnlp.bsky.social
The Junior Forum was a real highlight—truly motivating as an ECR.

I should start my day with little lambs and ducks.

Marvellous Will.
Congratulations 🥳

Enjoy the rest of this remarkable day! 🍾🍾🍾🎉🎉🎉

Again! Congratulations! This is all well deserved! Dr. Dance.

Better communication about vaccines could tackle scepticism Vanderslott discusses several shortcomings of covid-19 vaccination that need to be tackled in preparation for future pandemics.1 My colleagues and I have identified an additional area of concern.2 We ...

Just out in the BMJ: www.bmj.com/content/389/... - a (supportive) response to Samantha Vanderslott's piece 'Confronting the shortcomings of covid-19 vaccination will help us in future pandemics', based on our earlier paper on a new form of vaccine scepticism: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Leading the way in #CorpusLinguistics! CASS at @LancasterUni is tackling real-world challenges with big data and language analysis - now with new co-directors at the helm. Dive into our latest blog to see what’s next: cass.lancs.ac.uk/cass-enters-...

#Linguistics #AI #SocialScience #CASS

We now have a Bluesky account for the Public Discourses of Dementia project! Check out what we're doing, and what we've been up to, below! 👇 #dementia #appliedlinguistics #discourse #corpuslinguistics

I, alongside Dr Mike Ryder at Lancaster University, have just published an article in BMJ Medical Humanities titled 'Role of science fiction in conceptualising the reproductive future: a linguistic and literary perspective'! It is open access and you can read it here - mh.bmj.com/content/earl... 1/3

‘It’s not a vaccine, it’s a shot’: uncovering a new trend in vaccine scepticism The COVID pandemic triggered a new kind of vaccine scepticism shared by people who normally take up vaccines – here’s why that’s a problem.

I have written a piece for @theconversationuk.bsky.social about our study on a new form of vaccine scepticism: people questioning the status of some vaccines as vaccines, starting during the pandemic
theconversation.com/its-not-a-va... @lancslinguistics.bsky.social @corpussocialsci.bsky.social

Something weird about Web of Science…
They have automatically added someone else’s research outputs to my profile.
I cannot even find a way to delete that person’s name and organisations on my profile.
It’s funny to see myself in the fields of Engineering and Linguistics at the same time…

An image displaying the ranking of Lancaster's Linguistics department as 3rd in the world by the QS World Subject Rankings 2025.

We are delighted to have been ranked 3rd in the world for Linguistics by the QS World Subject Rankings 2025!

🔗 www.topuniversities.com/university-s...

🔗 www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/lancast...

How can corpus linguistics enhance legal research? In our latest post, Adrian Hemler, a recent Lancaster University Master’s graduate, shares insights on the intersection of law and linguistics.

Read more: cass.lancs.ac.uk/corpus-lingu...

Spring in Lancaster. 🍃 ☀️🌷

I made a #cognitivelinguistics starter park - please share and let me know who I missed! #linguistics #starterpack go.bsky.app/EtMaSX5

Just had a fantastic time at the #BAECRN #ECRNetwork North West and North Wales Launch event!
Great discussions and connections-so excited to be part of this Early Career Researcher network. Looking forward to what’s next :)

We are delighted to announce that the applications for the free Lancaster Summer Schools in Corpus Linguistics 2025 are now open! Join us this summer at @lancasteruni.bsky.social to learn more about corpora and their applications.

16-20 June 2025

More information: wp.lancs.ac.uk/corpussummer...

Hello #wmatrix version 7, I've just got access to a new server to install the next release of the software (ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/wmatrix/). More news coming soon!

Hello, everyone on this site!