At the lowest levels, with quantum weirdness (to our way of thinking), yes, we can only create metaphors to try and don't really understand it. Same at the extreme other end where relativistic effects can't be ignored.

But we don't live at those levels. That low-level unpredictability usually is statistically predictable at the macro level where we live. "Coloric" doesn't exist, but it is a perfectly usable concept. There is no need to actually measure the position and velocity of every molecule of gas an a balloon to understand its temperature.

So, to us, the world is 99% magic at the extremes, but <1% where we actually live; we can understand this regime fairly well.