ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Triangle of reference

A triangle of reference is like a little map in your brain that helps you understand what words mean. Just like how we use maps to find our way around a city, we use this triangle to understand the meaning of words.

Imagine the triangle has three points: one point is you, the second point is the word you are trying to understand, and the third point is the thing that word represents in the real world.

So, for example, when you hear the word "dog," your brain automatically pictures a furry, cute pet with four legs, wagging its tail. The word "dog" is not the actual animal, but it represents it, and your brain knows that.

The triangle of reference helps us understand that a word is not only a collection of letters, but it has a meaning and represents something real in the world. Without the triangle of reference, we would be confused and unable to understand the meaning of words.
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