What's a metaphor?

It's for communicating complex ideas.

"Metaphors aren't just used for flowery speech," says Lera Boroditsky, assistant professor of psychology at Stanford University. 'They shape the conversation for things we're trying to explain and figure out. And they have consequences for determining what we decide is the right approach to solving problems."

"Some estimates suggest that one out of every 25 words we encounter is a metaphor," adds Paul Thibodeau, a doctoral candidate. "But we didn't know the extent to which these metaphors influence people."

The two conducted an experiment in which participants were asked to react to fictional reports on crime in a city. The result: people will likely support an increase in police forces and jailing of offenders if crime is described as a "beast" preying on a community. But if people are told crime is a "virus" infecting a city, they are more inclined to treat the problem with social reform.

Along with the metaphors, the crime reports also included some alarming statistics. One mentioned that there were about 10,000 more crimes reported in 2007 than 2004, and the number of murders had gone from 330 to more than 500 in that period.

When the 485 participants in that study were asked to highlight what they thought was the most influential part of the report, only 15 identified the metaphor, while almost everyone else said it was the statistics that swayed their decisions on how to curb crime.

"People like to think they're objective and making decisions based on numbers," Boroditsky said. "They want to believe they're logical. But they're really being swayed by metaphors."