No subject

[tina.bennett]

I was quite interested in the data on pain words.
Several years ago I planned to team up
with a pediatrician to study how children of
various ages described pain. (When the physician
developed heart problems and retired, I abandoned
the idea, however.) Of particular interest is
how much metaphor and simile is involved in English
descriptions of pain--dull, sharp, nagging, like a knife,
like it was on fire, etc.

Has anyone seen any studies of adult pain words?

-Tina Bennett-Kastor