The word 头绪 is formed through a vivid conceptual metaphor that blends two tangible objects to express an abstract idea. The character 头 (tóu, "head") suggests the beginning or main point of something, while 绪 (xù) originally means "the end of a thread" or "strand". By combining them, the word creates the image of finding the "head-end of a thread" in a tangled skein, thus poetically conveying the notion of discovering the key clue, main line, or logical order within a complex and initially confusing situation.