Metaphor
George Lakoff thinks we understand new things by recognising their similarity to things we already understand, and using this similarity to understand the new in terms of the old: metaphor.
A simple example is thinking of argument (new thing) as war (something we already understand). We 'marshal' our arguments, 'attack' our opponents, and so on. But it isn't just the words we use. We behave when arguing very much as we would in a war.
See Lakoff's books for much more detail and much better explanations.
Metaphor isn't a little-known poet's tool, it's the bedrock of our language and our understanding of the world.
Pattern-chaser
"Who cares, wins"
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