This corpus-based study analyzes metaphorical extensions of temperature terms in English and Italian, focusing both on general language corpora and on Internet blogs. Adjectives such as 'cool' and 'hot' have recently started to be used in idiosyncratic ways, leading to the emergence of new senses within particular social and age groups. The paper shows that, while language in both corpora presents significant similarities in the literal usage of temperature terms, a strong evaluative component emerges for both figurative and non-figurative uses of these terms. In Italian, figurative meanings tend to overlap, while there is no complete diagrammaticity with the metaphorical uses of the equivalent English terms.