Implicit figuration and subjective interpretation make up the conventional basis of the classical discussion of the comprehensiveness and aesthetic quality of the metaphor. Its function and use in social science research is illustrated as a background to a radically different methodological approach. By means of a Perspective Text Analysis, it is demonstrated that metaphor has to be reconceived as the Re-naming Instrument. The hypothesis tested is that the metaphor carries ecological information. Results of the analysis show that the metaphor has to be treated as a self-contained verbal expression of affordance. By naming the affordance (i.e., what object and events in the environment offer), events of a certain kind are brought into perspective. One table illustrates algorithmic processing of a metaphoric sentence. A 24-item list of references is included. (Author/SLD)