Cognitive metaphor and cognitive metonymy not only have modifying functions, but also are related to thinking. Cognitive linguistics holds that metaphor and metonymy are important means for us to expand our thinking. We can automatically and unconsciously obtain these modes of thinking metaphor and metonymy, and use metaphor and metonymy for thinking. From the perspective of cognitive linguistics, this paper explores two important ways of thinking: metonymy and metaphor, which are rooted in people’s basic experience and constitute our daily thinking and action. Communication is restricted by the principles of information, economy, cognitive salience and social needs. The speaker either uses the knowledge structure in the source domain to highlight the knowledge structure in the target domain, that is, he uses metaphor, or chooses the highlighted and easily perceived part to replace the whole or other parts of the whole; and uses the whole with Gestalt perception to represent the information to be conveyed, that is, he uses metonymy to communicate. Therefore, the meaning beyond the discourse comes into being.