 When a system of informal logic is designed to analyze and assess verbal arguments of this sort, the language of argument they assume (L in the BLAST definition) consists of the words and sentences (and the rules governing them) associated with some natural language (“NL”). This makes the language of argument a complex and nuanced system of meaning which expands the possibilities of argument beyond the “informative” statements of fact that authors like Copi took to be the only legitimate realm of argument. One notable feature of the expanded realm that informal logic studies is the extent to which metaphor and other figures of speech are used to support conclusions — something that must be accounted for in a comprehensive account of informal reasoning. 