Idiom
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Illustration: The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing (c. 1887) by Odilon Redon, a dictum from the Pensées (1669) by Blaise Pascal.
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An idiom is an expression (i.e., term or phrase) whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through common use. In linguistics, idioms are widely assumed to be figures of speech that contradict the principle of compositionality; however, some debate has recently arisen on this subject.
Examples
The following sentences contain idioms. The fixed words constituting the idiom in each case are bolded:
- a. She is pulling my leg. - to pull someone's leg means to trick them by telling them something untrue.
- b. When will you drop them a line? - to drop someone a line means to send a note to someone.
- c. You should keep an eye out for that. - to keep an eye out for something means to maintain awareness of it.
- d. I can't keep my head above water. - to keep one's head above water means to manage a situation.
- e. It's raining cats and dogs. - to rain cats and dogs means to rain very heavily (a downpour).
- f. Oh no! You spilled the beans! - to spill the beans means to let out a secret.
- g. Why are you feeling blue? - to feel blue means to feel sad.
- h. That jacket costs an arm and a leg. – an arm and a leg means something is very expensive.
Each of the word combinations in bold has at least two meanings: a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. Such expressions that are typical for a language can appear as words, combinations of words, phrases, entire clauses, and entire sentences. Idiomatic expressions in the form of entire sentences are called proverbs if they refer to a universal truth.
- h. The devil is in the details.
- i. The early bird catches the worm.
- j. Break a leg.
- k. Waste not, want not.
Proverbs such as these have figurative meaning. When one says "The devil is in the details", one is not expressing a belief in demons, but rather one means that things may look good on the surface, but upon scrutiny, problems are revealed.
See also
- Adage
- Befudiom
- Catena
- Chengyu
- Cliché
- Dictum
- Collocation
- Principle of compositionality
- Dependency grammar
- Double negative
- Figure of speech
- List of idioms in the English language
- Idiom in English language
- Comprehension of Idioms
