The problem with going there is that it's easy to go to far, to a point where the Bible isn't true anymore and it's just your interpretation of bits and pieces of the Bible. Anyways, I don't really think of figurative language as something you need to make allowances for, it just is how it was written- and most of the time is fairly obvious too. I've never seen one instance of imprecise measurement, but if you know of one, fire away, and unmarked parables are also fairly easy to spot.