What is an idiom? Исполнитель
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What is an idiom?
An idiom is a phrase which has a different meaning from the meaning of its components.For example, when we say :"It's raining cats and dogs", we do not mean that cats and dogs are falling from the sky.This amusing expression means that it is raining heavily.Idioms are basically fixed expressions, which means you cannot change the word order, or the grammatical forms in the same way as you can change non-idiomatic expressions.
2. Where can you find idioms?
Idioms can be found in every language. They form an essential part of the general vocabulary of English.
3. Are idioms colloquial expressions?
Not exclusively for they can appear in formal style, in slang, in poetry or in the language of Shakespeare and the Bible.Even if you are more likely to find idioms in the tabloids or in the popular press, you will certainly find a lot of them in quality newspapers, too.
4. What is the difference betwen an idiom, a proverb , a saying and a cliche?
Idioms are not proverbs. A proverb is "a short well-known sentence that states a general truth about life and gives advice" (Advanced Learner's Dictionary) A proverb can be used idiomatically, but many proverbs can be understood literally. For example:"Like father like son" , or again :"Nobody's perfect".
A saying is "a well-known phrase, expression or a proverb". All proverbs are sayings but idioms are neither proverbs nor sayings.
A cliche is "a phrase which is used so often that it is no longer interesting, effective or relevant." (ALD). Although many idioms have become old-fashioned, they still have some relevance and we often find them interesting, so they are not cliches.
5. Can we guess the meaning of idioms?
The words which are used may offer some clues, but usually the meaning is totally different, which is why idioms are considered so tricky for students who are not native speakers.
LEARNING TIPS
There is no easy way to learn idioms. Every student at advanced level should have a dictionary of idioms , for example, The Longman Dictionary of English Idioms. A good learning practice consists in grouping idioms according to topics in order to make them easier to learn. Here is an example of how we can group idioms according to categories. Compare French or other languages.
ANIMAL IDIOMS
1."He's like a cat among the pigeons" (...loup dans la bergerie)
2. "To let the cat out of the bag" (vendre la mèche)
3. "She is spry as a chicken" (pleine d'entrain)
4. "I'll be a monkey's uncle" (ça alors!)
5. "to smell a rat" (avoir la puce à l'oreille)
etc.
MONEY IDIOMS
1."To fall behind payments" (être en retard dans ses rembousements)
2."to break even" (rentrer dans ses fonds)
3."up to the ears in debt"(endetté jusqu'au cou)
4."to jack up the prices" (faire monter les prix)
5. "to chip in" (participer financièrement eg au restaurant)
etc.
FOOD IDIOMS
1. "full of beans" (plein d'entrain)
2."To blow a raspberry" (faire pfft!)
3."To have a chip on one’s shoulder" (en vouloir à tout le monde)
4. "small beer" (de l'anisette, un jeu d'enfant, ça ne compte pas)
5. "to cook the books" (truquer, maquiller les comptes)
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An idiom is an expression that has a meaning apart from the meanings of its individual words.
An idiom or idiomatic expression refers to a construction or expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly translated word-for-word in another language.
For instance, the English expression, "She has a bee in her bonnet," meaning "she is obsessed," cannot be literally translated into another language word for word. It's a non-literal idiomatic expression, akin to "She is green with envy."
Example: A piece of cake is an expression that doesn't really have anything to do with eating, but rather refers to how easy some task might be.
Example: It’s raining cats and dogs. Its literal meaning suggests that cats and dogs are falling from the sky. We interpret it to mean that it is raining hard.
Unlike proverbs and similes, idioms have no fixed form and come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. American English abounds with colorful idioms. New ones are added each day. An idiom usually originates with a specific group - television, sailors, housewives, teachers, poets, or politicians - then spreads to more general use by others.
They make great projects for art. Here's an example:
http://mdianeharrison.com/images/idiom.jpg" >
In the next minute write down as many idioms as you can.
In the next minute write down the meaning of the idioms you created.
Get into groups of four. Share idioms and meanings for ~ 1 minute. Have the group choose the best (most creative) idiom and read it to the class.
Draw posters illustrating your favorite idiom and share it with the class.
An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional—that is, whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed. For example, the English phrase to kick the bucket means to die. A listener knowing the meaning of kick and bucket will not thereby be able to predict that the expression can mean to die. Idioms are often, though perhaps not universally, classified as figures of speech.
1.What is an idiom?
An idiom is a phrase which has a different meaning from the meaning of its components.For example, when we say :"It's raining cats and dogs", we do not mean that cats and dogs are falling from the sky.This amusing expression means that it is raining heavily.Idioms are basically fixed expressions, which means you cannot change the word order, or the grammatical forms in the same way as you can change non-idiomatic expressions.
2. Where can you find idioms?
Idioms can be found in every language. They form an essential part of the general vocabulary of English.
3. Are idioms colloquial expressions?
Not exclusively for they can appear in formal style, in slang, in poetry or in the language of Shakespeare and the Bible.Even if you are more likely to find idioms in the tabloids or in the popular press, you will certainly find a lot of them in quality newspapers, too.
4. What is the difference betwen an idiom, a proverb , a saying and a cliche?
Idioms are not proverbs. A proverb is "a short well-known sentence that states a general truth about life and gives advice" (Advanced Learner's Dictionary) A proverb can be used idiomatically, but many proverbs can be understood literally. For example:"Like father like son" , or again :"Nobody's perfect".
A saying is "a well-known phrase, expression or a proverb". All proverbs are sayings but idioms are neither proverbs nor sayings.
A cliche is "a phrase which is used so often that it is no longer interesting, effective or relevant." (ALD). Although many idioms have become old-fashioned, they still have some relevance and we often find them interesting, so they are not cliches.
5. Can we guess the meaning of idioms?
The words which are used may offer some clues, but usually the meaning is totally different, which is why idioms are considered so tricky for students who are not native speakers.
If something is a day late and a dollar short, it is too little, too late.
If all bets are off, then agreements that have been made no longer apply.
When someone talks big, but cannot back it up, they are all hat, no cattle.('Big hat, no cattle' is also used.)
If you have been all over Hell's half acre, you have been traveling and visiting many more places than originally intended, usually because you were unsuccessful in finding what you were looking for. It can also be used to mean everywhere.
If something like a discussion is all over the map, it doesn't stick to the main topic and goes off on tangents.
Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades
Used in response to someone saying "almost" in a win/lose situation. The full expression is "Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." An alternate form puts "and flinging shit from a shovel" at the end.
An armchair quarterback is someone who offers advice, especially about football, but never shows that they could actually do any better.
If someone is as mad as a wrongly shot hog, they are very angry. (Same as, Angry as a bear or Angry as a bull).
Something that is rare as hen's teeth is very rare or non-existent.
If someone will do something at the drop of a dime, they will do it instantly, without hesitation.
If you are at a loose end, you have spare time but don't know what to do with it.
At the bottom of the totem pole
If someone is at the bottom of the totem pole, they are unimportant. Opposite is at the top of the totem pole.
If you are at the end of your rope, you are at the limit of your patience or endurance.
A baby boomer is someone born in the years after the end of the Second World War, a period when the population was growing very fast.
If you do something balls to the wall, you apply full acceleration or exertion.
(from baseball) It means to do something perfectly.
To be out in left field is not to know what's going on. Taken from baseball, when youngsters assign less capable players to the outfield where the ball is less likely to be hit by a young player. In business, one might say, 'Don't ask the new manager; he's out in left field and doesn't know any answers yet.'
If you beat someone to the draw, you do something before they do.
If someone is trying to convince people to do or feel something without any hope of succeeding, they're beating a dead horse. This is used when someone is trying to raise interest in an issue that no-one supports anymore; beating a dead horse will not make it do any more work.
To be somewhere with bells on means to arrive there happy and delighted to attend.
Someone who wears belt and suspenders is very cautious and takes no risks.
If you can bet your bottom dollar on something, you can be absolutely sure about it.
The Big Apple is New York.
The Big Easy is New Orleans, Louisiana
If you blow off steam, you express your anger or frustration.
If people blow smoke, they exaggerate or say things that are not true, usually to make themselves look better.
Can't dance and it's too wet to plow
When you can't dance and it's too wet to plow, you may as well do something because you can't or don't have the opportunity to do anything else.
When I used to ask my grandma what was for dinner, she would say 'cat fur and kitty britches'. This was her Ozark way of telling me that I would get what she cooked. (Ozark is a region in the center of the United States)
Something that is the cat's pajamas is excellent.
Caught with your hand in the cookie jar
If someone is caught with his or her hand in the cookie jar, he or she is caught doing something wrong.
If you circle the wagons, you stop communicating with people who don't think the same way as you to avoid their ideas. It can also mean to bring everyone together to defend a group against an attack.
If you are close but no cigar, you are close to success, but have not got there.
If you're cooking with gas, you're working very efficiently.
A very long time, as in 'I haven't seen her in a coon's age!'
A country mile is used to describe a long distance.
One who always looks at the bad side of things and is morbid or gloomy. In olden days crepe was hung on the door of a deceased person's home.
If something is a curve ball, it is deceptive.
If something is as cute as a bug, it is sweet and endearing.
When someone buys a round a pub or bar, they decorate the mahogany; putting cash on the bar.
Different ropes for different folks
This idiom means that different people do things in different ways that suit them.
Different strokes for different folks
This idiom means that different people do things in different ways that suit them.
If something is a dime a dozen, it is extremely common, possibly too common.
A dog and pony show is a presentation or some marketing that has lots of style, but no real content.
If something is dollars for doughnuts, it is a sure bet or certainty.
This is used to tell people not to worry about trivial or unimportant issues.
This idiom is used to advise people not to be cheated or ripped off.
If something goes down to the wire, like a competition, then it goes to the very last moment before it is clear who has won.
If you drop a dime, you inform the police about someone's illegal activities.
A drop in the bucket is something so small that it won't make any noticeable difference.
Drunker than a peach orchard boar
Southern US expression - Very drunk, as when a boar would eat fermented peaches that have fallen from the tree.
If something is duck soup, it is very easy.
If you have your ducks in a row, you are well-organized.
If you eat crow, you have to admit that you were wrong about something.
If everybody has a fair shake of the whip, they all have equal opportunities to do something.
If someone has just fallen off the turnip truck, they are uninformed, naive and gullible. (Often used in the negative)
A fifth wheel is something unnecessary or useless.
This idiom is used when you want to tell someone that it is time to take action.
If someone can't see the forest for the trees, they get so caught up in small details that they fail to understand the bigger picture.
If someone is from Missouri, then they require clear proof before they will believe something.
If something happens from the get-go, it happens from the very beginning.
If someone gives away the store, they say or do something that makes their position in negotiations, debates, etc, much weaker.
This is used to tell someone to go away and leave you alone.
This is used to tell someone to go away and leave you alone.
If something goes over like a lead balloon, it will not work well, or go over well.
This means 'Get lost' or 'Go away'('Go pound sand' is also used.)
If something is a going Jesse, it's a viable, successful project or enterprise.
Someone with a talent for gardening has a green thumb.
If someone is responsible for something, they are holding the bag.
If something is a horse of a different color, it's a different matter or separate issue altogether.
A hot button is a topic or issue that people feel very strongly about.
A hot ticket is something that is very much in demand at the moment.
This idiomatic expression is used to express surprise or shock at something that has happened. It can also be used to boast about something you have done.
If I had a nickel for every time
When someone uses this expression, they mean that the specific thing happens a lot. It is an abbreviation of the statement 'If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would be rich'
If something is in high gear, it is in a quick-paced mode. If someone is in high gear, they are feverishly on the fast track.
If someone is in the catbird seat, they are in an advantageous or superior position.
John Hancock means a signature- his signature on the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence is very prominent.
John Q Public is the typical, average person.
If you kick up your heels, you go to parties or celebrate something.
Like green corn through the new maid
If something is very fast, it is like green corn through the new maid.
Like nailing jello to the wall
Describes a task that is very difficult because the parameters keep changing or because someone is being evasive.
If something is like taking candy from a baby, it is very easy to do.
If you do something like white on rice, you do it very closely: When Bob found out I had front row tickets for the concert, he stuck to me like white on rice.
This means that children hear more and understand the world around them better than many adults realize.
Lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut
If someone or something is lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut, they are of low moral standing because a snake's belly is low and if the snake is in a wagon rut, it is really low.
If someone is as mad as a hornet, they are very angry indeed.
If people are making bets in a burning house, they are engaged in futile activity while serious problems around them are getting worse.
If someone is extremely successful in a venture, they make out like a bandit.
This idiom means that people should mind their own business and not interfere in other people's affairs.
A mom and pop business is a small business, especially if it is run by members of a family. It can used in a wider sense to mean that something is small scale.
A Monday morning quarterback is someone who, with the benefit of hindsight, knows what should have been done in a situation.
Something that will give you more bang for your buck will deliver more value than any other option.
When someone says this, they mean that their feet are hurting.
If something happens in a New York minute, it happens very fast.
If someone gives you a nickel tour, they show you around a place. ('Fifty-cent tour' is also used.)
If someone doesn't know beans about something, they know nothing about it.
If something is not worth a red cent, it has no value.
If something comes out of the left field, it is beside the point and has nothing to do with the matter being discussed.
If you paddle your own canoe, you do things for yourself without outside help.
If someone paints themselves into a corner, they get themselves into a mess.
If something is pennies on the dollar, it's much cheaper than it cost originally.
Something that is very unimportant is penny ante.
A pick-up game is something unplanned where people respond to events as they happen.
Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered
This idiom is used to express being satisfied with enough, that being greedy or too ambitious will be your ruin.
Someone who polishes the apples with someone, tries to get into that person's favor.
If sopmeone pulls numbers out of their ass, they give unreliable or unsubstantiated figures to back their argument.
If you pull something out of the fire, you save or rescue it.
If someone pulls your chain, they take advantage of you in an unfair way or do something to annoy you.
To put more green into something is to spend more or to increase investment in it.
It's used to encourage someone to throw a ball like a baseball hard or fast.
This term was used to signify the Union forces (who wore blue uniforms) in the American Civil war .
If someone raises Cain, they make a big fuss publicly, causing a disturbance.
If you rake someone over the coals, you criticize or scold them severely.
If the rest is gravy, it is easy and straightforward once you have reached that stage.
It's a expression used in the Southern USA that means that you must look out for yourself as no one's going to do it for you. (It can be shortened to 'root hog'. A hog is a pig.)
If you run around the bush, it means that you're taking a long time to get to the point.
A Saigon moment is when people realise that something has gone wrong and that they will lose or fail.
If you say uncle, you admit defeat. ('Cry uncle' is an alternative form.)
If someone is as sharp as a tack, they are very clever indeed.
If someone says this when negotiating, they want the other person to make a better offer, a lower price.
This is used as an instruction to tell people when to draw their guns.
Slower than molasses going uphill in January
To move extremely slowly. Molasses drips slowly anyway but add January cold and gravity, dripping uphill would be an impossibility, thereby making the molasses move very slowly indeed!
When people say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, they mean that the person who complains or protests the loudest attracts attention and service.
When people say that you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, it means that you cannot get something from a person, especially money, that they don't have.
A stool pigeon is a police informer.
If something like a vehicle stops on a dime, it stops very quickly and accurately.
If you do not want to answer a question you can take the fifth, meaning you are choosing not to answer. ('Plead the fifth' is also used.)
If someone talks a blue streak, they speak quickly and at length. ('Talk up a blue streak' is also used.)
Tall enough to hunt geese with a rake
A person who's much taller than a person of average height.
If you tell them where the dog died, you strongly and sharply correct someone.
That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee
This is used to describe something that is deemed worthless. "He's got a Ph.D. in Philosophy." "So? That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee."
Very common Southern US expression meaning: What you say makes no sense.
This idiom is used to show that something has ended and there is nothing more to say about something.
If you throw someone a curve, you surprise them with something they find difficult to deal with. ('Throw' a curveball' is also used.)
Throw a monkey wrench into the works
If you throw a monkey wrench into the works, you ensure that something fails.
A tough row to hoe is a situation that is difficult to handle. ('A hard row to hoe' is an alternative form.)
If someone is as ugly as a stick, they are very ugly indeed.
Uncle Sam is the government of the USA.
If a person does something under the wire, they do it at the last possible moment.
It means until the very last possible moment or until every possibility is exausted: You boys always stay until the last dog is shotI will stay until the last dog is shot to complete this project by deadline (Expression my mom who was born in 1917 in Wisconson always used.)
A shy person who is not asked to dance is a wallflower.
This idiom means that you should look behind you for dangers coming that you can't see.
If something has happened and cannot be changed, it is water over the dam.
In wedge politics, one party uses an issue that they hope will divide members of a different party to create conflict and weaken it.
What can you expect from a hog but a grunt?
This means that you can't expect people to behave in a way that is not in their character- a 'hog' is a 'pig', so an unrefined person can't be expected to behave in a refined way.
Where the rubber meets the road
Where the rubber meets the road is the most important point for something, the moment of truth. An athlete can train all day, but the race is where the rubber meets the road and they'll know how good they really are.
If someone is whistling Dixie, they talk about things in a more positive way than the reality.
If someone is whistling past the graveyard, they are trying to remain cheerful in difficult circumstances. ('Whistling past the cemetery' is also used.)
The person who wears the pants in a relationship is the dominant person who controls things.
The whole ball of wax is everything.
Wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole
If you wouldn't touch something with a ten-foot pole, you would not consider being involved under any circumstances. (In British English, people say they wouldn't touch it with a bargepole)
If someone puts or throws a wrench, or monkey wrench, in the works, they ruin a plan. In British English, 'spanner' is used instead of 'wrench'.
US expression used in the New England area (most frequently in Maine) by persons being asked for directions to a far distant location that cannot be accessed without extensive, complicated directions.
You can't have cake and the topping, too
This idiom means that you can't have everything the way you want it, especially if your desires are contradictory.
Someone who has acted with a lack of intelligence has rocks in their head
An idiom is a group of words in current usage having a meaning that is not deducible from those of the individual words. For example, "to rain cats and dogs" - which means "to rain very heavily" - is an idiom; and "over the moon" - which means "extremely happy" - is another idiom. In both cases, you would have a hard time understanding the real meaning if you did not already know these idioms!
There are two features that identify an idiom: firstly, we cannot deduce the meaning of the idiom from the individual words; and secondly, both the grammar and the vocabulary of the idiom are fixed, and if we change them we lose the meaning of the idiom. Thus the idiom "pull your socks up" means "improve the way you are behaving" (or it can have a literal meaning); if we change it grammatically to "pull your sock up" or we change its vocabulary to "pull your stockings up", then we must interpret the phrase literally - it has lost its idiomatic meaning.
How should one index an idioms reference? Do we list the idiom "kick the bucket" under K for "kick" or B for "bucket"? Given that Internet users have the option of searching for individual words with the search function, the approach we have taken is to list all idioms in strict alphabetical order, omitting the indefinite and definite articles (a, an, the) and some pronouns if they occur at the beginning of the idiom. Thus, for example, the idiom "kick the bucket" is indexed under K, while the idiom "a ballpark figure" is indexed under B.
Many idioms originated as quotations from well-known writers such as Shakespeare. For example, "at one fell swoop" comes from Macbeth and "cold comfort" from King John. Sometimes such idioms today have a meaning that has been altered from the original quotation.
Some idioms are typically used in one version of English rather than another. For example, the idiom "yellow journalism" originated and is used in American English. Other idioms may be used in a slightly different form in different varieties of English. Thus the idiom "a drop in the ocean" in British and Australian English becomes "a drop in the bucket" in American English. However, in general, globalization and the effects of film, television and the Internet mean that there is less and less distinction between idioms of different varieties of English. In this reference we have tagged an idiom with one variety of English or another only when the idiom really is restricted to a particular variety of English or to indicate that the idiom originated in that particular variety of English.
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