When examining a complete utterance, first establish its ordinary original meaning. Then ask whether that literal meaning is intended in the current situation, or whether the speaker is using it to represent another situation or accomplish a different speech purpose.
Analytic sequence:
1. State the utterance’s original complete sense.
2. Identify its present application or communicative aim.
3. If resemblance is involved, describe the shared composite pattern; otherwise identify the relevant other relation.
4. Locate the contextual indication.
5. If the expression is a proverb, preserve its recognized verbal form.
This sequence avoids treating every simile, representative metaphor, proverb, or non-reporting utterance as if all had one identical structure.