Meaning of the word idioms

What is an idiom?

An idiom is a phrase that has a figurative meaning. This meaning cannot be deduced from the individual words that are part of this phrase. Sometimes idioms can immediately express literal meaning, but most often figurative, figurative, figurative.

For example: come out of your shell – (literally come out of the shell) means to open up, become more confident, more sociable.

Idioms form an important part of the vocabulary of both formal and informal languages. But in informal communication, they are used more often, for example, idioms are very common in films and songs.

Many idioms are becoming obsolete and obsolete. Therefore, it is worth using proven idiom dictionaries, or it is best to communicate with foreigners or professional linguists who will tell you.

Do not confuse idioms with slang. Idioms are not slang. However, it should be remembered that idioms are used only in certain situations, that is, not always. Do not oversaturate your speech with idioms.

The use of idioms in a specific context in speech or writing shows a high level of proficiency in a foreign language.

How do I learn idioms?

There are idioms in almost every language. Do not be afraid of them, you should study them, it is very interesting and exciting as a whole, and the knowledge of everything new every day. In order to make it convenient to study idioms, they can be grouped according to different signs or meanings – for example, idioms about love.

You can also use a popular way of grouping idioms for memorization – this is correlation by composition, for example, idioms that include words for body parts, names of animals, etc.

It is also worth saying that sometimes you can clearly pick up a similar idiom from your native language, with the same meaning and possibly even similar words that are part of an idiomatic phrase, for example, pick up something from Russian, and sometimes in Russian or in any other native language it is extremely difficult to find something similar to translate an idiom.

Don’t try to memorize more than 10 idioms a day.

Come out of one’s shell

Come out of one’s shell means to become less shy, more confident and sociable.

If translated literally, then this is to get out of the shell, shell.

Example :

While working at that cafe, she came out of her shell and made a lot of new friends. – Working in that cafe, she opened up, became more self-confident and became friends with many.

Sometimes they say bring somebody out of one’s shell, which has exactly the same meaning as come out of one’s shell.

Example:

I think the job has brought her out of her shell. – I think the work helped her to become more confident and sociable.

Spill the beans

Spill the beans – reveal, tell something secret, private or secret.

Example :

He was scared to death that I was going to spill the beans about his adultery to his wife. – He was scared to death that I would reveal his secret about betrayal of his betrayal.

Keep someone posted

Keep someone posted – keep someone up to date with what is happening by providing the latest information about someone or something.

Example:

She promised me to keep me posted about my business while I went to see my mother in London. “She promised me that she would keep me informed about my business while I went to visit my mother in London.

Let the cat out the bag

Let the cat out the bag – “let the cat out of the bag”, “the cat in the poke” – tell something secret. In Russian, as in English, the expression “cat in the bag”, that is, “cat in a poke” means “something secret”, some kind of surprise or surprise.

Example :

I knew he was hiding something, so I wanted to make him let the cat out the bag. ” I knew he was hiding something, so I wanted to force him to reveal the secret.

Find common ground

Find common ground – find a common language. If translated literally from English, then “find a common ground.” Agree with someone, find common topics for conversation, agree on an opinion.

Example:

As I love my wife, I tried to find common ground with her mother, so everyone could be happy. – Since I love my wife very much, I tried to find a common language with her mother so that everyone would be happy.

From the horse’s mouth

From the horse ‘ s mouth – “firsthand”, when we receive information from precisely those people who are involved in the business, or know the best.

Example:

When he tells them, straight from the horse ‘ s mouth, what a great assistant you are, they will increase your salary. – When he tells them, straight from the mouth, what a good helper you are, they will raise your wages.

Go off on a tangent

Go off on a tangent – deviate from the topic, move away from the main topic of the conversation. You can use this idiom both about a person and about a movie or about a book, for example. If translated literally, then “deviate from the tangent, from a straight line.”

Example :

The teacher went off on a tangent and started telling us stories about his personal life. – The teacher moved away from the topic and began to tell stories from his personal life.

The most common English idioms

In America, these English idioms are among the most common in everyday speech. You will hear them in movies and TV shows. Use them to make your English sound even more like native speakers.

Common English Idioms and Expressions

In America, these are some of the most common English idioms in everyday speech. You can hear them in movies and TV shows and come in very handy for bringing your English closer to that of native speakers. Feel free to use them in the appropriate context.

Famous English idioms and proverbs

These English idioms and proverbs are familiar and understandable by native English speakers, but are generally not used in everyday speech. If you haven’t mastered the more common idioms yet, it’s best to start with them. But if you are already familiar with these expressions, the idioms below will add spice to your English.

General properties of phraseological expressions

Coming from time immemorial, idiomatic expressions often do not correspond to modern language norms. For example, in the Russian language, such archaic combinations can be attributed to the statements: “to beat the thumbs up”, “to play the fool”, “without a king in the head”, “to slurp soup with bast shoes”, “a retired goat drummer”, “in Tula with a samovar”, ” breathe in the incense “, etc. All of them reflect the realities of the past life. And the expressions “hesitating for nothing”, “young and old”, “their name is legion”, “not sleeping eye” are also a vivid example of archaic grammatical forms.

Idiomatic expressions are used as a whole, often not even allowing the rearrangement of parts within itself. That is why a foreigner, as a rule, cannot immediately understand their meaning. For example, in the idiom “Sodom and Gomorrah”, meaning noise, turmoil, confusion, there is not a single word directly speaking about this.

What is the difference between phraseological unity and idioms?

A literate person should distinguish between idioms and phraseological unity. As already mentioned, idiomatic expressions are an inseparable combination of words, the meaning of each of which has nothing in common with the meaning of the entire idiom. And in phraseological unities, the signs of the semantic separation of their components are clearly visible, since the general meaning of such a phrase is precisely derived from its components.

Phraseological unity has a special figurativeness, due to which the set of words included in it acquires a figurative meaning (for example: “throw a fishing rod”, “iron grip”, etc.). In the case of a literal translation of such a construction, a foreigner will be able to guess its general meaning.

In addition, unlike idioms, phraseological units obey the laws of modern language and therefore allow the presence of additional words between their parts. For example, the phrase “burn out with shame” can be slightly changed by using others instead of the word “shame” (love, jealousy, impatience, etc.). The result is unity with a different meaning: “burn out with love”, “burn out with impatience.”

Where the idiomatic expression came from: examples

The modern Russian language has a rich history. And if you try to divide the idioms depending on their origin, then they can be classified as primordially Russian and borrowed phrases.

The second group contains tracing papers from foreign languages ​​(“Augean stables”, “Trojan horse”, etc.), but the native Russians came not only from hoary antiquity, but also got into the living language through the efforts of writers. So, for example, the “living corpse” dates back to the time of A.P. Chekhov, and “the office of Horns and Hooves” entered our speech thanks to Ilf and Petrov.

“That’s where the dog is buried!”

“That’s where the dog is buried!” In English: “that’s where the shoe pinches”.

Meaning: Here’s the thing, that’s the real reason.

The idiom arose after the story of how the Austrian warrior spent all his battles with his beloved dog. Once during a trip, the dog saved its owner from death. The grateful warrior buried his four-legged friend and erected a monument that stood for more than two centuries. Later, tourists found the dog monument. Then this idiom was born, which makes sense: “I found what I was looking for.” There are also other versions of the origin of the idiom.

“Bear it in mind” In English: “bear it in mind”.

“Cut it in your nose”

Meaning: Remember once and for all.

The word “nose” in this idiom does not mean the organ of smell at all. This word means “plaque” or “note tag”. This idiom arose in ancient times, when illiterate people carried tablets with them everywhere, and various notes and notes were made on them. Such plates were called noses.

“Get on the rampage”

“To ask for trouble” In English: “to ask for trouble”.

Meaning: Doing something dangerous, running into trouble.
The idiom arose when hunting for a bear, when hunters used a rampage – a pointed stake. Hunting with a rampage, they put it in front of them, then the enraged beast climbed on the rampage and died.

“In the middle of nowhere”

“In the middle of nowhere” In English: “in the middle of nowhere”.

Meaning: To be very far away in an unknown place.

In Russian speech, the word “kulichiki” came from the distorted Finnish word “kulizhki”. So in the north they called swamps or forest glades. In this wooded part, the settlers constantly cut down the “kulizhki”, the so-called plowing and mowing areas. Often the farmers had to go to the wilderness on their “kulizhki”, where, according to legends, devils and all kinds of forest vermin were found. This is how this idiom appeared, which is often used by the Russian people.

“Bang your face in the dirt” In English: “have an egg on one’s face”.

“Bang your face in the dirt” In English: “have an egg on one’s face”.

Meaning: to be disgraced, to feel humiliated.

Originally this idiom meant “to fall on dirty ground.” Previously, in fist fights, such a fall was considered very shameful, a weak opponent was thrown to the ground. Therefore, this expression was born.

Use of idioms in literature

It is difficult even to imagine any work where phraseological units were not used. Literary speech without their use becomes faded and, as it were, artificial. The idioms of the Russian language live so organically in it that sometimes they are not even noticed at the time of use.

Try to imagine a dialogue in which one person, telling another about the material wealth of someone else, would describe for a long time how rich he is. More often than not, he would have expressed himself briefly and succinctly: “Yes, his chickens don’t peck money,” as, for example, does the heroine of A. Ostrovsky in the play “Our people – we will be numbered”.

This expression can be found in A. Chekhov, I. Shmelev, and other classics and writers. And this, of course, is not the only such common idiom. Examples are endless.

The most important feature of phraseological units is their metaphorical, figurative nature. Academician N. M. Shansky even gave them such a definition as “miniature works of art.” Can large creations fully exist without them?

The use of idioms in the media

Modern newspapers and magazines try to give expressiveness and expressiveness to the presentation of their materials. The language of the media is enriched with the ability of stable turns not only to define some object or phenomenon, but also to show their assessment by the author. The emotionality of phraseological units “works” for this. Their functional and stylistic qualities are widely used in various genres of journalism.

The idioms of the Russian language in the field of the media “allow themselves” to change the places of their constituent words, as well as add or subtract them, which by and large contradicts the scientific point of view on the structure of phraseological units. This is done to enhance the required impression.

So, in the press you can find “extended” idioms like “kindle serious passions” instead of the established “kindle passions”, “lather your neck well” – “lather your neck”. The phrase “he went through fire and water” can be found without the final words “and copper pipes.”

The more inventively a journalist uses phraseological units, the more catchy material he gets, and the more adequate the reader’s reaction to it will be.

Using idioms in colloquial speech

In stable lexical turns, as in words, the main function is that they are able to name objects and their signs, phenomena and states, as well as actions. Idioms of the Russian language can be replaced with one word and vice versa. So, in colloquial speech, instead of the word “carelessly”, there is a steady expression “carelessly”. If they want to emphasize a small amount of something, instead of the word “little” they will rather sound “with a gulkin’s nose” or “the cat cried.” Confuse – confuse, like (don’t like) – like (don’t like). There are many examples of idioms when they win in competition with ordinary words.

The conversation sounds much more lively if, characterizing someone’s courage, the interlocutors agree that he is “not from a timid dozen”; that someone did their job not somehow, but “through the stump-deck”; and someone else is dressed in a suit “from a needle”, that is, a new one, and after talking, they will go “to kill the worm” instead of the banal “snack”.

The role of idioms in Russian

Phraseologisms occupy a special place in our vocabulary. Idioms of the Russian language are widely used both in epic works of oral folk art, classical and modern literature, being a very important tool for their creation, and in the media and everyday colloquial speech.

They are found literally at every step, and therefore it is interesting to know their origin and necessary – meaning, meaning. Thanks to this, it will be possible to use them competently and to the place, enriching and making your own speech more colorful. In addition, this knowledge will help you better understand various literary texts.

The role of idioms in our language is also quite large because thanks to them, you can express your attitude to this or that event or phenomenon as figuratively as possible, “including” a figurative meaning.

You can also name the laconization of speech. Phraseologism, by reducing it, as if squeezing it, gives it great energy.

The role of idioms in foreign languages

Phraseologisms are a wealth of Russian vocabulary. However, this linguistic layer is sufficiently inherent in other systems as well. Chinese idioms, which are one of the deepest legacies of the culture and traditions of this country, are seen as extremely interesting. There are about 14 thousand of them in the corresponding dictionary.

It is rather difficult to find an equivalent to Chinese idioms in other languages, because they are often based on some kind of national legend or historical fact.

Likewise, an essential part of the English vocabulary is represented by the idioms of the English language. With translation, as well as from Russian into other foreign ones, difficulties arise here too. An example of a classic stable expression is the English phrase It’s raining cats and dogs, which literally translates as “rain of cats and dogs.” This is an analogue of the Russian idiom “pouring out of the bucket”.

As in our language, in English phraseological splices are used in different speech styles and in different literary genres.

Sources used and useful links on the topic: https://speakwithnansy.ru/idiomy-v-anglijskom-yazyke/ https://www.ef.ru/angliyskie-resursy/angliyskie-idiomy/ https: //www.syl. ru / article / 213488 / new_chto-takoe-idiomaticheskie-vyirajeniya https://www.learnrussianineu.com/ru/russkie-idiomi https://FB.ru/article/177546/idioma—chto-takoe-i-gde- ispolzuetsya-idiomyi-russkogo-yazyika

As you can see, these are figurative uses of the term, as neither of them involve any actual scratching.

This idiom features in the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843):

So when is a metaphor not an idiom? The answer is simple: when it is not a well-established phrase or expression. If I was to say, “I’ve parked my tin can outside”, this would be a metaphor (as I’m referring to my rusty old car as a tin can), but it is not an idiom, as it is not a set phrase or expression in the same way that, for example, «burning the candle at both ends» is.

DerivationsEdit

CompositionalityEdit

MobilityEdit

TranslationEdit

Dealing with non-compositionalityEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Further readingEdit

External linksEdit

Last Updated:
12 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences