On the Classification and Usage of English Idioms

1、On the Classification and Usage of English Idioms【Abstract】“IDIOM-anexpressionintheusageofalanguagethatispeculiartoitselfeithergrammaticallyorinhavinameaningthatcannotbederivedfromtheconjoinedmeaningsofitselements.ForEnglishlearners，correctunderstandingandapplicationofEnglishidiomsarehelpfultoimprov

2、ethelearnersabilitytograspthetargetlanguagetextsandconversations，aswellastheacquisitionofEnglishlanguageandculturalbackgroundknowledge.ThispaperprovidesaclearframeworktohelpEnglishlearnersunderstandanduseidiomsproperlybyclassifyingEnglishidioms.【Keywords】English;idiom;classification;usage【作者簡介】李梦辰19

3、88-，男，汉族，安徽铜陵人，池州学院，助教，硕士研究生，研究方向：商务英语教学研究、跨文化交际。【基金工程】工程编号：池州学院2020年校级科学研究人文一般工程：中华文化“走出去战略下皖南民俗文化元素外宣翻译策略研究CZ2020RW13。1.IntroductionAlllanguageshavephrasesorsentencesthatcannotbeunderstoodliterally.Evenifyouknowthemeaningofallthewordsinaphraseandunderstandallthegrammarofthephrasecompletely，themean

4、ingofthephrasemaystillbeconfusing.Aphraseorsentenceofthistypeissaidtobeidiomatic.Idiomsareatypeofformulaiclanguage.formulaiclanguageconsistsoffixedexpressionswhichyoulearnandunderstandasunitsrathrthanasindividualwords.Idiomsarefixedcombinationsofwordswhosemeningisoftendifficulttoguessfromthemeaningo

5、feachindividualword.Ithasanon-literaloridiomaticmeaning.WewillneedtobeabletounderstandalotofidiomsifyouwanttoreadEnglishfiction，newspapersormagazinesorunderstandTVshows，filmsandsongs.AccordingtotheresearchonEnglishidioms，theauthordividesthemintothefollowingcategorieswithexamples.2.RhetoricalphrasesT

6、herearedozensofrhetoricaldevicesinEnglish，andthecommonrhetoricaldevicesformcertainfixedpatternofidiomaticexpression，whichisacommoncategoryinidioms.Similesareexpressionswhichcomparetwothings;theyalwaysincludethewordsasorlike.Youcanusesimiliestomakeyourspokenandwrittenenglishmorecolourfulandyourcompar

7、isonsmorepoweful.Forexample：Isleptreallywell，soIfeelasfreshasadaisythismorning.extremelyfreshandfullofenergy.IdontwanttogointhecarwithLizzie.Shedriveslikeamaniac！drivesfastandbadly.Becarefulwhenusingsimiles，sincetheyhavestrongmeaningsandareoftenusedinahumorousorsarcasticway;e.g.Mymothersexplanations

8、areasclearasmud.notclearatall.Euphemismsareatypeofidiomusedtoavoidsayingwordswhichmayoffendorbeconsideredunpleasant.Theyareusefultolearn，astheywillhelpyoucommunicateusinglanguagewhichisappropriateforthesituationyouarein.Euphemismsareusedinseveraloccasions：totalkaboutsubjectswhichmayupsetoroffend，suc

9、hasdeath;toavoidusingdirectwordsforbodyfunctions;forhumorouseffectwhentellinganecdotes.Whatcallsforspecialattentionisthatitoftenusedbythemediaorpoliticalinstitutionstotonedownunpleasantsituations.Forexample：Manysoldiershavemadethesupreme/ultimatesacrificefortheircountry.died.3.SymmetricalstructureBi

10、nomialsareatypeofidiominwhichtwowordsarejoinedbyaconjunctionlinkingword，usuallyand.Theorderofthetwowordsisfixed.Forexample，wealwayssayblackandwhite，notwhiteandblack：Managingclimatechangeisntablackandwhiteissue.separateandclear.Thewordscanbe：3.1synonymswordswhichmeanthesame：Sarasworkisalwaysveryneata

11、ndtidy.3.2opposites：Ifyougoforcheaperspeakers，thesoundqualitymaybeabithitandmiss.sometimesgood，sometimesbad3.3thesameword：Theyfinishedtheraceneckandneckequal3.4rhyming：Tablesinthecanteentakealotofwearandtear.damagethrougheverydayuse3.5alliterative：Afterthematchtheplayerslegswereblackandblue.verybrui

12、sed3.6joinedbywordsotherthanand：thetrafficwasbumpertobumperallthewaytothecoast.veryheavyAnotherkindofsymmetryexistsinidioms，i.e.trinomials，whichareasimilartypeofidiom，inwhichthreewordsarejoined，e.g.Ivelookedhere，thereandeverywherformyglassesbutcantfindthem.everywher.4.FixedstatementsFixedstatementca

13、nbeheardorsaidineverydayconversation.“Getyourskatesoncarriesthemeaningof“hurryup.“Mumstheword，means“Ipromisenottotellasecret.Itsworthmentioningthatproverbalsobelongstothatcategory，whichareshortsentenceswhichrefertosomethingmostpeoplehaveexperiencedandwhichgiveadviceorwarnings.Asatypeofidioms，itsform

14、isfixed，anditisnotalwaystoguessthemeaningfromlookingattheindividualwordsintheproverb.Intheseconversations，thesecondspeakerusesaproverbtorepeatandsumupwhatthefirstspeakersays，forexample：A：Ronfounditimpossibletogetanewjob，sohesetuphisownbusiness.B：Yes，well，necessityisthemotherofinventionifpeoplereally

15、needtodosomethingtheywillfindawaytodoitAclichéisacommentthatisoftenusedincertaincommon，everydaysituations.Itisacommentthatmostpeoplearefamiliarwithandisthereforenotoriginal.Clichésareoftenusedineverydayconversationandtheyarealsofrequentlyplayedwithinadvertisingslogansandnewspaperheadlines.

16、Forexample：Itsnotoveruntilthefatladysings.Youcannotbesurewhatwillhappenuntiltheveryendofsomething，oftenasportsevent.Theexpressionreferstoalongoperawhichendswithafemalesingingthefinalsong.Itisbestnottouseclichésinformalwritingorwhenyouwanttoexpressnoriginalorcomplexidea.Asweallknow，Englishinclud

17、esmanywordsfromotherlanguages.Theidiomaticexpressionsmaycomefromotherlanguages.AftertheforeignwordshavebeenintegratedintoEnglish，theyhaveformedafixedexpression，thusalargenumberofcommonsayingsofforeignwordsalsoexistinEnglish.Adhoc，anidiomoriginatedfromLatin，meansthatsomethingisnotplannedbutarrangedor

18、donewhenneeded.Afaitaccompli，aFrenchidiom，meansadecisionthathasbeenmadeoracompletedactionthatcannotbechanged.5.NeologismidiomsManyEnglishidiomshaveverydeeprootsinhistoryandculture.Theyhavetheiroriginsintraditionalskills，suchassailingandinsuchthingsasancientmyths，literatureandwar.However，newidiomsevo

19、lveallthetimefromTV，advertising，politicsandbusiness.Theseidiomsoftenquicklybecomeexpressionsunderstoodandusedbymanypeopleintheireverydaylives.Someoftheseidiomswillbepopularforafewyearsbutthengetforgotten;othersmaylast.Forexample：IsMadonnastillthefirstladyofthepop？Here“thefirstladyofreferstotheexpert，orthebestbyanalogywithhowthewifeofaUSpresidentisreferredtoastheFirstLady;“Imfedupwithhimbigtime.here“bigtimemeans“extremely.6.ConclusionEnglishidiomsareanimportantpartoftheEnglishlanguage.Becauseofthestrongculturalcharacteristicsitcarries，idiomaddsobstaclesanddifficultiesforEnglishlearner