Metaphor is the use of a word or phrase to label an object or concept that it does not literally denote, suggesting a comparison of that concept to the phrase's denoted object. There are many nuances in the meanings of metaphors. Mark Johnson and George Lakoff discuss preconceptual elemants (which include: general human purposes, cultural instistuions and practices, theoretical paradigms, individual traits and values, and personality traits). They claim that it is only because of these preconceptions that metaphor is able to affect our thinking, emotions and language. Earl Mac Cormac writes that the way in which we explain things influences how we understand them. While this relationship may initially appear backwards, the circularity can easily be withdrawn when one realizes that after the original clumsy description is given, we sstart trying to make the thing we are describing fit the model, which is only eliminated if it does not fit.
