
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 language 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 figure of speech. Idioms typically admit two different interpretations: a literal one and a nonliteral (or figurative) one. Continuing with the previous example, the phrase ''to kick the bucket'' can, in fact, refer to the act of giving a kick to a bucket, but this interpretation is usually not the intended one when a native speaker uses the phrase. This aspect of idioms can be frustrating for learners of a new language. Idioms are often colloquial metaphors. The most common ones can have deep roots, traceable across many languages. Many have translations in other languages, some of which are direct. For example, ''get lost!'' — which means ''go away'' or ''stop bothering me''—is said to be a direct translation or calque from an older Yiddish language idiom. While many idioms are clearly based in conceptual metaphors such as "time as a substance", "time as a path", "love as war" or "up is more", the idioms themselves are often not particularly essential, even when the metaphors themselves are. For example "spend time", "battle of the sexes", and "back in the day" are idiomatic and based in essential metaphors, but one can communicate perfectly well without them. In forms like "profits are up", the metaphor is carried by "up" itself. The phrase "profits are up" is not itself an idiom. Practically anything measurable can be used in place of "profits": "crime is up", "satisfaction is up", "complaints are up" etc. Truly essential idioms generally involve prepositions, for example "out of" or "turn into". It is likely that every human language has idioms, and very many of them; a typical English language commercial idiom dictionary lists about 4,000. When a local dialect of a language contains many highly developed idioms it can be unintelligible to speakers of the parent language; a classic example is that of Cockney rhyming slang. But note that most examples of slang, jargon and catch phrases, while related to idioms, are not idioms in the sense discussed here. Also to be distinguished from idioms are proverbs, which take the form of statements such as, "He who hesitates is lost." Many idioms could be considered colloquialisms. In Spanish language, the word '':es:idioma'' (= :es:lengua) means ''language'', and this is often reflected in their Second language English—using ''idiom'' to refer to language. ==Parlance== Parlance is a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language. ==See also== * wiktionary:Category:Idioms * List of idioms in the English language ==External links== *http://www.GoEnglish.com *[http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/ Idiom page at Dave's ESL Café] *[http://www.briggs13.fsnet.co.uk/idiomslist.htm List of idioms by James Briggs] *[http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/idioms.html Self-study Idiom Quiz by The Internet TESL Journal] *[http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/amerispeak.htm Amerispeak - expressions of our American ancestors] *Idioms Quizzes - [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2228&CurriculumID=16 Idioms Quiz 1] [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2283&CurriculumID=16 Idioms Quiz 2] [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2262&CurriculumID=16 Idioms Quiz 3] [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/showCurriculum.php?curriculumID=16 More Quizzes] ---- In music terminology, idiomatic refers to parts or pieces which are written both within the natural physical limitations of the instrument and human body and, less so or less often, the styles of playing used on specific instruments. simple:Idiom Linguistics
***Open question for discussion: Expressions: "Too many cooks spoil the broth." or "Too many Chiefs, not enough indians" Are these true idioms or mere colloquial metaphors? Both seem much more literal than most true idioms? Come to think of it, a metaphor is a comparison. Surley they're not ultra-short parables. Talk amongst yourselves. -A.Sprankell 6/22/05 20:07 ---- Would it be proper to have a list of idioms? user:zanimum ::No, because, that's part of the function of the wikipedia itself - see idiom dictionary ---- A small bundle of questions: # Do children, like foreigners, have trouble acquiring idioms? # Is "virtually all idioms are peculiar to their own language" perhaps a misleading claim? It seems that romance languages have a number of idioms that more or less directly correspond to an idiom in another romance language. Presumibly, as a rule of thumb, the more historically distant the languages, the more distant the idioms, and the fewer they'll have in common. # What American and British English Differences has to say about "could care less" and "couldn't care less" suggests that former expression derived from the latter. (The latter is present in Britain and America, while the former is present only in America.) Is this a compelling argument? Should we include it? It'd be nice to say ''something'' about how idioms arise, and "mutating" from a non-idiom seems to be one way this happens. (Of course, "could care less" might not be an idiom from certain perspectives.) # There are expressions such that A) if you don't know what they mean, the meaning doesn't seem to follow from the parts, but B) if you ''do'' know what they mean, the meaning more or less does. (Some people would say the meaning is "motivated", but not "determined", from the component meanings.) It's easy to come up with short examples (perhaps "house boat", "mechanical pencil", "abstract algebra", or "generative linguistics"). Maybe someone (perhaps me, at another time) can provide better or longer examples. In any case, are these phrases also called idioms? --User:Ryguasu 05:00 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC) ---- Moved from article text to here: :There are thousands of idioms -- far too many to list here. It has been suggested that someone start a Wiki on this subject alone. It seems more a discussion issue than an encyclopedic article on something in the real world. Not sure, though ... User:Atorpen 05:05 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC) ::: Already covered under idiom dictionary. Wikipedia is already serving as one of these, and the Wiktionary won't replace this function in its current form. ---- :A second meaning is in relation to one's language, and can be applied in specific graduations, for example, one's city, one's county, or one's country; a dialect may be referred to as an idiom. Can someone clarify, perhaps by providing a definition of this sense? I really have no clue how to use the word "idiom" in this sense, and this definition doesn't help me. --User:Ryguasu :I'll do some more research and get back to you on this. What I meant was what you meant, I think, with: "idiom of the Americans," but that ''did'' sound weird. Think of it this way: in America, anyway, Minnesotans up north talk differently than Texans down south, and who 'talk different' than Californians out west. This is what I meant. Still, that's not at all what this article is about, at least at this point, and seems as if this definition would belong better in wiktionary. Maybe. Unsure. :In answer to 1) above, I seem to remember that children don't have trouble picking up idioms - its part of their learning the language. I think. :) User:Atorpen ----- Don't remove 'redundant' See Also links. Most See Also links are 'redundant'. The purpose of the 'See Also' is to point out the most closely related or confused concepts. It is entirely correct to make distinctions in the text and include a link, and then include another link at the bottom to underscore the relatedness or confusedness. Most articles don't have enough See Also links. While the in-context link is usually enough, for some articles, those most commonly confused or closely related or providing more information on the same topic, it's appropriate to actually suggest that they read those other articles. Some concepts are very central and so have up to ten 'See Alsos', most of which are referenced in the text too. :Agreed. The idiom dictionary link is a good one. User:Atorpen ----- I think that they should be replaced with expressions that "actually make sense" ==Removed== "Some people nonetheless lament the existence of idioms, and argue that they should be replaced with expressions that "actually make sense". Others don't care, while some deeply appreciate the existence of idioms." - see weasel terms, passive voice - yuck. -User:Slack 04:12, 6 May 2004 (UTC) == More removed text == In my recent edit I removed: :''The term can be applied in specific graduations, for example, one's city, county, state, or country'' because its original purpose in the article had become almost completely obscured (see April 2004 version), and: :''Indeed, much of human language is idiomatic in structure: even the most formal of structures contain characteristics, such as general linguistic typology, which categorically distinguish it from other languages.'' because it seemed to be using the word ''idiom[atic]'' in a sense not directly related to the rest of the article. - User:Dcljr 03:44, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Idiom:
Idiom
Idiom
Idiomas_Watson
Idiomatic
Idiomatic_equivalence
Idiomatic_expression
Idioms
Idioms
Idiom_dictionary
Idiom_dictionary
Idiom_List
Idiom_Neutral
Idiom_Neutral
Idiom
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 language 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 figure of speech. Idioms typically admit two different interpretations: a literal one and a nonliteral (or figurative) one. Continuing with the previous example, the phrase ''to kick the bucket'' can, in fact, refer to the act of giving a kick to a bucket, but this interpretation is usually not the intended one when a native speaker uses the phrase. This aspect of idioms can be frustrating for learners of a new language. Idioms are often colloquial metaphors. The most common ones can have deep roots, traceable across many languages. Many have translations in other languages, some of which are direct. For example, ''get lost!'' — which means ''go away'' or ''stop bothering me''—is said to be a direct translation or calque from an older Yiddish language idiom. While many idioms are clearly based in conceptual metaphors such as "time as a substance", "time as a path", "love as war" or "up is more", the idioms themselves are often not particularly essential, even when the metaphors themselves are. For example "spend time", "battle of the sexes", and "back in the day" are idiomatic and based in essential metaphors, but one can communicate perfectly well without them. In forms like "profits are up", the metaphor is carried by "up" itself. The phrase "profits are up" is not itself an idiom. Practically anything measurable can be used in place of "profits": "crime is up", "satisfaction is up", "complaints are up" etc. Truly essential idioms generally involve prepositions, for example "out of" or "turn into". It is likely that every human language has idioms, and very many of them; a typical English language commercial idiom dictionary lists about 4,000. When a local dialect of a language contains many highly developed idioms it can be unintelligible to speakers of the parent language; a classic example is that of Cockney rhyming slang. But note that most examples of slang, jargon and catch phrases, while related to idioms, are not idioms in the sense discussed here. Also to be distinguished from idioms are proverbs, which take the form of statements such as, "He who hesitates is lost." Many idioms could be considered colloquialisms. In Spanish language, the word '':es:idioma'' (= :es:lengua) means ''language'', and this is often reflected in their Second language English—using ''idiom'' to refer to language. ==Parlance== Parlance is a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language. ==See also== * wiktionary:Category:Idioms * List of idioms in the English language ==External links== *http://www.GoEnglish.com *[http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/ Idiom page at Dave's ESL Café] *[http://www.briggs13.fsnet.co.uk/idiomslist.htm List of idioms by James Briggs] *[http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/idioms.html Self-study Idiom Quiz by The Internet TESL Journal] *[http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/amerispeak.htm Amerispeak - expressions of our American ancestors] *Idioms Quizzes - [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2228&CurriculumID=16 Idioms Quiz 1] [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2283&CurriculumID=16 Idioms Quiz 2] [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2262&CurriculumID=16 Idioms Quiz 3] [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/showCurriculum.php?curriculumID=16 More Quizzes] ---- In music terminology, idiomatic refers to parts or pieces which are written both within the natural physical limitations of the instrument and human body and, less so or less often, the styles of playing used on specific instruments. simple:Idiom Linguistics
Idiom
***Open question for discussion: Expressions: "Too many cooks spoil the broth." or "Too many Chiefs, not enough indians" Are these true idioms or mere colloquial metaphors? Both seem much more literal than most true idioms? Come to think of it, a metaphor is a comparison. Surley they're not ultra-short parables. Talk amongst yourselves. -A.Sprankell 6/22/05 20:07 ---- Would it be proper to have a list of idioms? user:zanimum ::No, because, that's part of the function of the wikipedia itself - see idiom dictionary ---- A small bundle of questions: # Do children, like foreigners, have trouble acquiring idioms? # Is "virtually all idioms are peculiar to their own language" perhaps a misleading claim? It seems that romance languages have a number of idioms that more or less directly correspond to an idiom in another romance language. Presumibly, as a rule of thumb, the more historically distant the languages, the more distant the idioms, and the fewer they'll have in common. # What American and British English Differences has to say about "could care less" and "couldn't care less" suggests that former expression derived from the latter. (The latter is present in Britain and America, while the former is present only in America.) Is this a compelling argument? Should we include it? It'd be nice to say ''something'' about how idioms arise, and "mutating" from a non-idiom seems to be one way this happens. (Of course, "could care less" might not be an idiom from certain perspectives.) # There are expressions such that A) if you don't know what they mean, the meaning doesn't seem to follow from the parts, but B) if you ''do'' know what they mean, the meaning more or less does. (Some people would say the meaning is "motivated", but not "determined", from the component meanings.) It's easy to come up with short examples (perhaps "house boat", "mechanical pencil", "abstract algebra", or "generative linguistics"). Maybe someone (perhaps me, at another time) can provide better or longer examples. In any case, are these phrases also called idioms? --User:Ryguasu 05:00 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC) ---- Moved from article text to here: :There are thousands of idioms -- far too many to list here. It has been suggested that someone start a Wiki on this subject alone. It seems more a discussion issue than an encyclopedic article on something in the real world. Not sure, though ... User:Atorpen 05:05 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC) ::: Already covered under idiom dictionary. Wikipedia is already serving as one of these, and the Wiktionary won't replace this function in its current form. ---- :A second meaning is in relation to one's language, and can be applied in specific graduations, for example, one's city, one's county, or one's country; a dialect may be referred to as an idiom. Can someone clarify, perhaps by providing a definition of this sense? I really have no clue how to use the word "idiom" in this sense, and this definition doesn't help me. --User:Ryguasu :I'll do some more research and get back to you on this. What I meant was what you meant, I think, with: "idiom of the Americans," but that ''did'' sound weird. Think of it this way: in America, anyway, Minnesotans up north talk differently than Texans down south, and who 'talk different' than Californians out west. This is what I meant. Still, that's not at all what this article is about, at least at this point, and seems as if this definition would belong better in wiktionary. Maybe. Unsure. :In answer to 1) above, I seem to remember that children don't have trouble picking up idioms - its part of their learning the language. I think. :) User:Atorpen ----- Don't remove 'redundant' See Also links. Most See Also links are 'redundant'. The purpose of the 'See Also' is to point out the most closely related or confused concepts. It is entirely correct to make distinctions in the text and include a link, and then include another link at the bottom to underscore the relatedness or confusedness. Most articles don't have enough See Also links. While the in-context link is usually enough, for some articles, those most commonly confused or closely related or providing more information on the same topic, it's appropriate to actually suggest that they read those other articles. Some concepts are very central and so have up to ten 'See Alsos', most of which are referenced in the text too. :Agreed. The idiom dictionary link is a good one. User:Atorpen ----- I think that they should be replaced with expressions that "actually make sense" ==Removed== "Some people nonetheless lament the existence of idioms, and argue that they should be replaced with expressions that "actually make sense". Others don't care, while some deeply appreciate the existence of idioms." - see weasel terms, passive voice - yuck. -User:Slack 04:12, 6 May 2004 (UTC) == More removed text == In my recent edit I removed: :''The term can be applied in specific graduations, for example, one's city, county, state, or country'' because its original purpose in the article had become almost completely obscured (see April 2004 version), and: :''Indeed, much of human language is idiomatic in structure: even the most formal of structures contain characteristics, such as general linguistic typology, which categorically distinguish it from other languages.'' because it seemed to be using the word ''idiom[atic]'' in a sense not directly related to the rest of the article. - User:Dcljr 03:44, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
I
IA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Idiom:
Idiom
Idiom
Idiomas_Watson
Idiomatic
Idiomatic_equivalence
Idiomatic_expression
Idioms
Idioms
Idiom_dictionary
Idiom_dictionary
Idiom_List
Idiom_Neutral
Idiom_Neutral
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