The present paper has both a theoretical and a pedagogical outlook. The cognitive theories of metaphor and metonymy (CTMM), in the author's view, present some minor deficiencies which have to be overcome if they are to be easily applicable in linguistic and literary research. Moreover the researcher attempting to apply these theories must be given some clear guidelines helping him to decide as confidently as possible whether a given portion of a text is the expression of a conventional metaphor, of a conventional metonymy, or of both, and he must also be able to identify the kind of metaphor or metonymy that is at work, and the kind of interaction between them. The article is, in its first part, a contribution to the clarification of some of the theoretical problems. The second part is a case study, through which a methodology is suggested for the application of the CTMM. (Antonio Barcelona)