One of my absolute favourite concepts Vedic Sanskrit has introduced me to is the comparison by negation – basically, instead of being introduced by a comparative preposition such as like or as, the compared noun (phrase) is simply negated.
For example, “She, like a wolf, hunted them all down,” is instead “She, not a wolf, hunted them all down” (but in the former meaning).
An example from Rigveda: the Hymn to the Goddess of Night (RV X.127 Rā́trī), verse 4, lines 2 and 3:
नि ते यामन्नविक्ष्महि ।
वृक्षे न वसतिँ वयः ॥ní te yā́mann_ávikṣmahi down into [our] homes we retired,
vr̥kṣé ná vasatím̐ váyaḥ not birds to [their] nests on trees(→supply like for not for an accurate translation)
The principle being that the comparison is invoked by the mere presence of the noun (phrase) the original thing is compared to, while the negation reinforces the mere comparison as opposed to it being actually real, thus “She, not [literally, but figuratively] a wolf, hunted them all down.”
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