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This article investigates the nature and role of a set of words and phrases that consistently co-occur with linguistic metaphors in spoken discourse, and that, for reasons that will be explained, we call "tuning devices." These are exemplified in the following extracts from our data by just, like, and sort of: 1

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Earlier studies have demonstrated the dynamic properties of metaphor by showing how the meanings and functions of metaphorical expressions can flexibly change and develop within individual texts or discourse events (Cameron 2011). In this paper, we draw from Linell's (2009) typology of 'recontextualization' in order to analyze the development of particular metaphors in three pairs of linked texts, each produced over a number of years, on the topics of medicine, politics and the parenting of children with special needs. We show how key metaphorical expressions from earlier texts or conversations are re-used by later writers, in different genres and registers, to convey new meanings and serve new functions. We account for these new meanings and functions by considering the relevant domain of activity and the differences between the original context of use and the context(s) in which the metaphor is re-used. Our study contributes, from a diachronic perspective, to the growing body of literature that recognizes the dynamic and context-bound nature of metaphorical language. Earlier studies have identified and discussed the dynamic properties of metaphor within individual texts and conversations. In particular, Cameron and other scholars have argued that the meanings of metaphorical expressions are inherently flexible, and emerge in different ways in different contexts of use. As a result, the same metaphorical expressions are sometimes re-used within the same text or discourse event with different meanings and functions (Cameron and Low 2004, Cameron and Gibbs 2008, Cameron 2011). It has also been shown that particularly prominent metaphors for specific topics can be employed in different ways in different contexts. Such metaphors seem to evolve over time as they are used and re-used by different speakers and writers in different texts or interactions (Musolff 2010). Moreover, a number of studies have demonstrated that the density, forms and functions of metaphors in language can vary substantially depending on context of use, or, more specifically, on

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