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A Study of the Problems of Learning and Translating Idioms
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Idioms are a very important part of the English language: you are told that if you want to go far (succeed) you should pull your socks up (make a serious effort to improve your behaviour, the quality of your work, etc.) and use your grey matter (brain).1 Learning and translating idioms have always been very difficult for foreign language learners. The present paper explores some of the reasons why English idiomatic expressions are difficult to learn and translate. It is not the aim of this paper to attempt a comprehensive survey of the vast amount of material that has appeared on idioms in Adams and Kuder (1984), Alexander (1984), Dixon (1983), Kirkpatrick (2001), Langlotz (2006), McCarthy and O'Dell (2002), and Wray (2002), among others. The paper concentrates on idioms as a learning-translation problem; it makes no claim to be comprehensive or academically rigorous. Leech (1989) defines an idiom as follows: “An idiom is a group of two or more words which we have to treat as a unit in learning a language. We cannot arrive at the meaning of the idiom just by adding together the meanings of the words inside it. E.g.John and Mary usedto be hardup (='They had very little money'.)”(P.186) To be more exact, an idiom is a sequence of words which is semantically and syntactically restricted, so that they function as a single unit. From a semantic point of view, the meanings of the individual words cannot be summed to produce the meanings of the idiomatic expression as a whole. Thus, fly off the handle, which means lose one's temper, cannot be understood in terms of the meanings of fly, off, or handle. The idiom phrase hot air, which means empty or boastful talk, is neither hot nor air; with hot air we are dealing with a set phrase where the meaning cannot be suggested on the basis of the two constituent words. The idiomatic meaning of spill the beans in So who spilt the beans (=told the secret) about her affair with David? has nothing to do with beans or with spilling in its literal sense. The foreign-language learner is left trying to figure out where and how the beans were spilt. From a syntactic viewpoint, the constituent parts of an idiom often do not permit the usual variability they display in other contexts. The point to be emphasized here is this: most idioms do not lend themselves easily to manipulation by speakers and writers; they are invariable and must be learned as wholes, but concord ofnumber, person and gender in the idiom phrase is still necessary, i.e. the verbs must be put into the correct form, and pronouns must agree with their antecedents: I don't give a hoot for her opinion! 2 • She doesn't give a hoot for my opinion! etc.)║He won, but only by the skin of his teeth2• She won, but only by the skin of her teeth• Iwon, but only by the skin ofmy teeth,I had to run for the train, and caught it by the skin of myteeth, etc.║He kept pullingmy arm, throwing me off my balance 2 • She kept pulling his arm, throwing him off his balance • We kept pullingher arm, throwingher offher balance, etc.2 The present paper is divided into five parts, as follows: Part I: An Overview; PART II: Learner’s Difficulties with Idioms; PART III: Some Pedagogical recommendations and Suggestions about Idioms; Part IV: Activities to Practice Idiomatic Expressions; Part V: Summary and Conclusion.

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Publication Date
Fri Jan 23 2026
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
Immunohistochemical expression of MMP1 and TIMP1 as markers of migration in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the head and neck region (A comparative study)
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Background: Malignant lymphoma is a term that describes primary tumors of the lymphoreticular system, almost all of which arise from lymphocytes.MMP-1 is the most ubiquitously expressed interstitial collagenase, a subfamily of MMPs that cleaves stromal collagens. It is also called collagenase-1.TIMPs which inhibits MMP activity and thereby restrict extracellular matrix breakdown, TIMP-1 is a stromal factor that has a wide spectrum of functions in different tissues. Material and Methods: This study was performed on (68) formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks, histopathologically diagnosed as lymphoma (head and neck lesions). Immunohistochemical staining of MMP1and TIMP1 was performed on each case of the study sample. Results: The expressio

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Publication Date
Thu Mar 01 2012
Journal Name
Advances In Materials Physics And Chemistry
Study the Effect of Irradiation Time and HF Concentration on Porosity of Porous Silicon and Study Some of the Electrical Properties of Its Based Device
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ABSTRACT Porous silicon has been produced in this work by photochemical etching process (PC). The irradiation has been achieved using ordinary light source (150250 W) power and (875 nm) wavelength. The influence of various irradiation times and HF concentration on porosity of PSi material was investigated by depending on gravimetric measurements. The I-V and C-V characteristics for CdS/PSi structure have been investigated in this work too.

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Publication Date
Wed Oct 02 2024
Journal Name
International Development Planning Review
DESIGNING AN AUXILIARY DEVICE AND ITS IMPACT ON LEARNING THE SKILLS OF ANGULAR SUPPORT AND OPEN SUPPORT FOR HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS ON THE PARALLEL APPARATUS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS FOR BUDS
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Publication Date
Sun Jan 01 2023
Journal Name
International Journal Of Research In Social Sciences & Humanities
The Impact of Strategic Improvisation on Organizational Health: An Analytical Study of the Opinions of a Sample of the Leaders of the Dhi Qar Health Department
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The current research aims to identify the level of impact of strategic improvisation as an independent variable on organizational health. The dependent variable in the Department of Health of Dhi Qar to reach appropriate mechanisms in order to reach appropriate mechanisms and recommendations proposed to contribute to the achievement of organizational health in the Department of Health of Dhi Qar (the research department) and based on the importance of the subject of research in government institutions and the important and service role of the Department of Health of Dhi Qar in the Iraqi society. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted in the completion of the research based on the opinions of the leaders in the surveyed depa

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Publication Date
Fri Apr 12 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
Core competencies and Their Role in Enhancing Organizational flexibility: An Analytical Study of the Views of a Sample of Employees in Presidency University of Mosul
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Abstract

The study aims to identify the levels of core competencies dimensions and types of organizational flexibility in the investigated organization, as well as to determine the nature of the relationship and the impact of core competencies dimensions with the process of organizational flexibility. Thus, a number of research questions were presented to express the research problem as follows:

  • What is the level of the investigated individuals' awareness to core competencies and organizational flexibility across their dimensions and types in the investigated organization?
  • To what extent are core competencies and organizational flexibility available in the Organiz

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Publication Date
Wed Jun 24 2020
Journal Name
Bulletin Of The Iraq Natural History Museum (p-issn: 1017-8678 , E-issn: 2311-9799)
A STUDY OF PHYSICAL AND ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HEAVY METAL ACCUMULATION OF JUNCUS RIGIDUS DESFONTAINES, 1798 (FAMILY, JUNCACEAE) IN BASRAH PROVINCE, SOUTHEREN OF IRAQ
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This study was carried out to determine the heavy metal accumulation of Juncus rigidus Desfontaines, 1798 from three different regions of the Basrah Province in Southern of Iraq. Specifically, the concentrations of lead, nickel, and cadmium were determined in the roots, culms and leaves of the plant. The results indicated that the highest accumulation of the heavy metal was recorded in lead (Pb) 12.50± 3.58 mg kg-1and then in nickel (< 0.30). The lowest value was recorded for cadmium (< 0.05). As well, lead concentrations in J. rigidus varied in different locations and parts of the plant from undetectable in control to 12.66, 19.33, and 9.80 mg kg-1 in leaves, culm, and roots respective

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Publication Date
Sun Feb 05 2023
Journal Name
مجلة تكريت للعلوم الادارية والاقتصادية
The role of strategic auditing of human resources management in crystallizing organizational capabilities: A prospective study at the University of Baghdad
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دور التدقيق الاستراتيجي لإدارة الموارد البشرية في بلورة القدرات التنظيمية دراسة استطلاعية في رئاسة جامعة بغداد

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Publication Date
Thu Feb 06 2020
Journal Name
Political Sciences Journal
Self-immuniztion: integration of Russian strategic performance a study in the geopolitical orientation circles "of the stage of president putin"n
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In the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Federal Republic of Russia witnessed a setback in the overall strategic performance of the country, as it went through a stage of performance flop between the orientation towards Europe in the era of President Boris Yelsen (1991-1999), or the change of direction towards Eurasia, as the Russian Federation managed After President Vladimir Putin assumed power in 2000, from rebuilding the same state and preserving national unity and social cohesion, as well as building a phased military doctrine that made clear moves in Russian strategic thought and future directions towards regions of eternal importance in Russian strategic perception Lack of a set of motivations based on it:

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Publication Date
Sun Dec 01 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
The Determinants of Total Factor Productivity Growth: an Analytical Study of a Cross Section of Countries for the Period (2003-2016)
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            This study tests the effect of a large number of independent variables that control the growth of the total productivity, which amounted to 112 variables, gathered from what is mentioned in the specialized theoretical and applied literature. The data for these variables were taken from global reports of sound international organizations and reliable databases covering the period 1991-2016. The data of the dependent variable, the growth of the total factor productivity, were taken from the database of the world development indicators. The study covered 61 countries for which data were available. The study included three regression models to explain

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Publication Date
Wed Jun 03 2015
Journal Name
Al-kindy College Medical Journal
Aneurysmal bone cyst of the lateral end of clavicle in a twelfth year old girl Case study
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Introduction: An aneurysmal bone cyst are enigmatic lesion of unknown cause and presentation and are difficult to distinguish from other lesions, it is a benign, but expansible tumor like lesion that generally occurs in the long bones. An aneurysmal bone cyst arising from the flat bone like clavicle is rare . Case presentation: We report a 12-year-old girl child with an aneurysmal bone cyst of the lateral third of left clavicle treated with enblock resection. The pathologic findings confirmed the diagnosis of aneurysmal bone cyst. The patient has been followed up for one year with no evidence of recurrence . Conclusion: En bloc resection can be curative and provide good results for this rare type of clavicle tumour.

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