Transcript What is AN IDIOM?

What is AN IDIOM?
It is a group of words with a special
meaning which is different from the
meanings of the separate words.
For example, to show a leg ,
regardless of what the separate words
might suggest means TO GET UP.
TYPES OF IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS
There are various types of IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS.
Some of them are based on:
 PAIRS OF WORDS
 NUMBERS
 NATIONALITIES
 NAMES
 FOOD
 COLOUR
 PARTS OF THE BODY
 ANIMALS
 CLOTHES
 WEATHER
 INSTRUMENTS
 COMPOUND




ADJECTIVES
ALLITERATION
IRREGULAR VERBS
SIMILIES
PREPOSITIONS
PAIRS OF WORDS
e.g. safe and sound
(undamaged, safe)
sick and tired(enough of sth)
NUMBERS
e.g. to have second thoughts
(to form an opinion after
reconsidering sth)
a four-letter word (a taboo
word)
NATIONALITIES
NAMES
e.g. to go Dutch (share the cost
e.g. Jack of all trades (sb who
of the meal, tickets etc)
has an ability to do a lot of
different jobs)
Indian summer (the
period of warm weather
towards the end of the
summer or in the autumn)
every Tom, Dick or
Harry (everyone and
anyone, an ordinary person)
FOOD
e.g. a piece of cake (sth very
easy)
PARTS OF THE
BODY
e.g. to be two-faced (to be a
hypocrite)
full of beans (full of life
to see eye to eye with sb
and energy)
(to agree)
COLOUR
e.g. out of the blue
ANIMALS
e.g. a bookworm (sb who
(unexpectedly)
spends plenty of time reading)
to see red (to be extremely
a rat-race (a competition for
angry)
success)
CLOTHES
INSTRUMENTS
e.g. a blue-collar worker (sb e.g. as fit as a fiddle (in perfect
who does hard, dirty work)
health)
to pull one’s socks up
to blow one’s own
trumpet (to praise oneself)
(to mobilise and improve
one’s work)
WEATHER
e.g. to feel under the
weather (to feel unwell)
come rain or shine
(always)
COMPOUND
ADJECTIVES
e.g. broad-minded (willing to
accept opinions of other people)
single-handed (alone,
without anyone’s help)
SIMILES
ALLITERATION
( the repeated use of the same letter
or sound)
e.g. wishy-washy (thin, watery
coffee, tea)
(an
expression which describes one
thing by comparing it with
another)
e.g. as drunk as a lord (very
sing-song (a repeated rising
drunk)
and falling of the voice in
speaking)
as alike as two peas in a
pod (very alike)
IRREGULAR
VERBS
e.g. to beat about the bush
(to avoid saying directly what
one wants to say)
to make up one’s mind
(to take a decision)
PREPOSITIONS
e.g. down the drain (wasted)
out of date (no longer in
use or fashion)
PHRASAL VERBS,
COLLOCATIONS and
SAYINGS can also be classified
as IDIOMATIC
EXPRESSIONS.
EXAMPLES OF PHRASAL
VERBS
(groups of words which consist usually of a verb and
preposition):
 to get away with (avoid punishment)
 to look down on (to despise)
EXAMPLES OF COLLOCATIONS
(groups of words which naturally go together
through common use):
 a heavy smoker (sb who smokes a lot)
 peace of mind (freedom from troubling
thoughts)
EXAMPLES OF SAYINGS
(well-known wise statements):
 The best things in life are free. (You can’t
buy the most precious things like freedom,
happiness, friendship etc)
 Life is no bed of roses. (There are problems in
life)