IDIOMS

Ivo Pejkovi ivo.pejkovic@yahoo.com

"The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms explains over 7,000 idioms current in British, merican and ustralian !nglish, helping learners to understand them and use them "ith confidence# The Cambridge Dictionary of merican Idioms, based on the $00 million "ords of merican !nglish text in the Cambridge International Corpus, unloc%s the meaning of more than &,000 idiomatic phrases used in contemporary merican !nglish# 'ull(sentence examples sho" ho" idioms are really used#"1 The variety of expressions, created by using different words presenting different meanings, in English language is enormous. Not only that the language itself consists of various standards, but more important it has around 700 000 words which can be composed into combinations providing us with the possibility to play with them and change their context in the given situation. !n this way the creation of idioms and idiomatic phrases is in motion. !dioms are considered to be expressions, words or phrases that have figurative meaning. The word origin " history are explained through further examination# ")&**, "form of speech peculiar to a people or place," from +#'r# idiome, from ,#,# idioma "a peculiarity in language," from -%# idioma "peculiarity, peculiar phraseology," from idioumai "I ma%e my o"n," from idios "personal, private," prop# .particular to oneself,/ from 0I! 1s"ed(yo(, suffixed form of base 1s2"3e(, pronoun of the third person and reflexive 2referring bac% to the sub4ect of a sentence3, also used in forms denoting the spea%er5s social group, "2"e our(3selves" 2cf# 6%t# svah, vestan hva(, 7#0ers# huva "one5s o"n," %hva(data "lord," lit# "created from oneself8" -%# hos "he, she, it8" ,# suescere "to accustom, get accustomed," sodalis "companion8" 7#C#6# svo4i "his, her, its," svo4a%u "relative, %insman8" -oth# s"es "one5s o"n8" 7#9# si% "oneself8" -er# 6ein8 7#Ir# fein "self, himself"3# Idiomatic is first attested )7)$#"$ The literal meaning of idioms is usually not understandable or possible to exist, but through common use it gets clear what is meant to be said by their usage. %oo&ing at idioms from the perspective of %ignuistics, they are said to be "figures of speech contradicting the principle of compositionality"'. They are considered to be very hard to comprehend when heard for the first time. "Idioms are odd duc%s# They seem to act very much li%e normal language, but they are :uite different in many "ays# It;s been said that .If natural language had been designed by a logician, idioms "ould not exist/ 20# 9# <ohnson( ,aird in a fore"ord to a collection of "or%s on idioms3# But exist they do, and not only that,
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28.11.2009. : http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ 29.11.2009.: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/idiom 29.11.2009. : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom

they represent a rich vein in language behavior, so they cry out for explanation# Though they have been dismissed by many theorists to various extents, some have seen the need for theories of language to ade:uately explain the behavior of idioms, and, moreover, the potential for "hat analysis of idioms can tell us about language itself#" = The nature of idioms is li&e of an adage, the more you hear them the more you learn and later on use them. (oreover, they are hard to translate to another language because their meaning often gets missunderstanded or stale. !n exspression )n pins and needles , &nowing only the meaning of pins and needles can not give the true meaning# to be anxious or nervous, especially in anticipation of something. This phrase can be translated to some other languages without loosing it*s meaning. +or example, in ,roatian language it is said -iti na iglama which actually means the same. -ut if we ta&e an expression li&e )n the fence which refferes to someone who is undicided, in translation to ,roatian it is said Na ogradi and does not provide us with the same thing. The understanding of idioms is therefore best developed when each one of them is used in the language and the culture where it was originally created. (any idiomatic expressions are based on methapors. "9ative spea%ers use these expressions so fre:uently in everyday situations that they may not be a"are of their figurative nature, unless they experience a communication brea%do"n "ith a nonnative spea%er#" & .sage of idioms in English language is very flexibile. Than&s to that, we are able to even create our own phrases with our message hidden inside. There are really no rules. !nstead, there are common usages that have been accepted over time and are now considered correct standard English. ,reation of idiomatic phrases is usually done through comparison of feelings, emotions, reactions etc. with the situation which provides them. The already given example )n pins and needles is a reflection of our reactions if we were in the actual situation, laying or sitting on pins and needles. (any idioms are hard to recogni/e because they are so involved with the common language that it is sometimes impossible to indentify them. )ne of them are the time idioms li&e it*s time to or time and time again . !n the sentence !t*s time to go to the dentist for your annual che&0up. it is relatively hard to spot the time idiom, because the phrase it*s time to go is used to often in English language that it*s idiomatic meaning is already starting to blend with the exact meaning in a way that it*s gramatical form stantds for the meaning. !t stoppes to be a figurative and starts to be actual definition, in this
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Iffi ! ". #2002$ %eeking the nat&re of idioms: ' %t&dy in Idiomatic %tr&ct&re. (a)erford *o edge.
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,y-ik! .. #2009$ "eaching and earning idioms: "he /ig 0ict&re. 1ni)ersity of *a ifornia! %anta *r&-.

example# trying to express some urge or need to do something which is already waiting for a longer period to be done. 1e can say that idioms are slowly evolving and penetrating deep into the core of laguages spreading the hori/ons of creativity and the richness of them. 2dults and children use idioms fluently and fre3uently in their mother tongue. Therefore they are aware of the importance of idioms in learning and using them every day. They &now that the use of idiomatic expressions is a mar& of good English. Needless to say, more exposure to the language through reading and listening is necessary, because as we said, especialy regarding idioms, phrases and words must be learnt to be used afterwards. -y doing that the posibilities in using a language in general are endless.

4eferences#
$5.11.$006. # http#77idioms.thefreedictionary.com7 $6.11.$006.# http#77dictionary.reference.com7browse7idiom $6.11.$006. # http#77en.wi&ipedia.org7wi&i7!diom !ffil, T. 8$00$9 :ee&ing the nature of idioms# 2 :tudy in !diomatic :tructure. ;averford ,olledge. <y/i&, E. 8$0069 Teaching and learning idioms# The -ig =icture. .niversity of ,alifornia, :anta ,ru/.