词汇学 Chapter 6 English Idioms.ppt

词汇学 Chapter_6_English_IdiomsChapter 6
English Idioms
Definition of Idioms
An element of a language that possesses a unique way of expression based on its time-honored use.
A fixed group of words or a single word, or even a sentence, with a special meaning that cannot be guessed from its structure.
An English idiom is a group of words with a special meaning different from the meaning of its constituent words.
bination of two or more words which are usually structurally fixed and semantically opaque, and function as a single unit of meaning.
Example: to spill the beans – to tell something that is secret
Significance of Studying English Idioms
An essential part of the general vocabulary
informal & formal; speaking & writing
The correct use of idiomatic English must be one of the main aims for nonnative learners, because learning and using idioms is the best way to master the language.
Features of English Idioms
English idioms can be very short or rather long
an Indian summer: the warmer weather in late autumn (North America)
take/catch forty winks: have a short nap
to be all in: to be exhausted
All good e to an end.
to be like a bear with a sore head
in a very bad mood
to cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth
to plan one’s aims and activities in line with one’s recourses and circumstances
English idioms take different structures.
A: Irregular in structure & clear in meaning
I am good friends with him.
Diamond cut diamond.
The devil take the hindmost.
B: Regular in structure & not clear in meaning
To have a bee in one’s / head.
To have a strange fixed idea about sth.
C: Irregular in both structure and meaning
(To do) through thick and thin
Through both good and bad times / in spite of all the difficulties
The idioms which cannot be changed at all are called fixed idioms.
Strictly fixed:
A stitch in time saves nine.
if a job needs doing it is better to do it now, because it will only get worse, like a hole in clothes that requires stitching.
Partially fixed:
e to a bad / nasty / sti