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.
The present study represent the histological and histochemical structure of the esophagus of laughing dove Streptopelia senegalensis, one of the wild birds, which feed on the seeds( grainvorous).The result showed that the esophagus long tubular quit wide and highly distensible organ situated at the right side of the nick , lie between pharynx and stomach it was divided into cervical and thoracic part , the cervical part longer than the thoracic part, and the crop was merely enlargement fusiform in shape which located at the entrance of the thorax. Esophagus parts showed that composed of four layer ;the mucosa, sub mucosa, muscular and adventitia or serosa, the mucosal layer was arranged in folds which was longer in the c
... Show MoreThe current study included a detail morphological study of all parts of the two species of the genus Tropaeolum L. (Tropaeolumceae) cultivated in different gardens, the roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruit were studied in detail, also the pollen grains were studied, and there are photographs for all that parts were putted. A specimens of that taxa were studied in some Iraqi herbaria. The study found that there are many characters were used in differentiation of two species under study.
After its 35-year occupation of Japan and the US occupation, Korea has set its sights on a long-term goal of building its country and establishing its foundations, unobtrusive and unchecked by the problems and wars that have stood in the way of its goal, surpassing all odds and achieving the best results. The most powerful Asian and global economies, which gained the respect of the world and its appreciation of the experience has become referred to as boys
This paper details the process of designing, analysing, manufacturing, and testing an integrated solid-state hydrogen storage system. Analysis is performed to optimise flow distribution and pressure drop through the channels, and experimental investigations compare the effects of profile shape on the overall power output from the fuel cell. The storing of hydrogen is given much attention in the selection of a storage medium, and the effect of a cooling system to reduce the recharging time of the hydrogen storage vessel. The PTFE seal performed excellently, holding pressure over 60 bar, despite requiring changing each time the cell is opened. The assembly of the vessel was simple and straightforward, and there was no indication of pressure
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The study aims to find out the impact of expectations and perceptions in determining the position of the customer service quality received by him. Represent the expectations and perceptions customer’s key of service quality determinants. The customer's requirements and needs main pivot, who must be built all events and activities and efforts of service organizations, including the hotel and organizations that operate in an environment known as highly competitive , intensification and complexity of the conditions set by the customer and increasing day after day. The study sample of three Luxury hotels in Kurdistan region of Iraq a model. The use of service quality m
... Show MoreInvestigation of mesomorphic properties of new 1,3,4-thiadiazolines (which are synthesised via many steps in Scheme 1) was carried out in this study. These compounds are designed to have a heterocyclic unit, a carboxylate linkage group and a polar ether chain at the end of the molecule adjacent to the benzene ring, which enhance the dipolar interactions forces (varied from one to eight carbons) to investigate the association properties of their phases. The structure of the target compounds and the intermediates were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass and FTIR spectral techniques. Polarised microscopic studies revealed that all the compounds in the series exhibited enantiotropic liquid crystalline properties. This was further confirmed using
... Show MoreAlmost human societies are not void of poverty, as the latter accompanied the emergence of humanity, and it, thus, represents an eternal problem. To advance an individual's reality and raise the level of the poor social classes, social security networks have been established. Such networks operate in society following social systems and laws to provide food, and material support. Besides, such networks help to rehabilitate the individual academically and vocationally. They empower vulnerable groups through the establishment of courses and workshop, provide (conditional) subsidies related to the health and educational aspects in order to achieve the sustainable development goals of (2030), and apply developmental roles of social safety ne
... Show MoreScientists are investigating the efficacy of different biosorbents for promoting economic and environmental viability in purifying contaminants. Among the primary by-products of biodiesel production is waste microalgae biomass, which has the potential to be used as a cheap biosorbent for the treatment of pollution. In the present study, the biomass left over after extracting the chlorella vulgaris was used to test the potential biosorption of CIP from simulated aqueous solutions. Bisorbent's ability was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Analysis with a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer revealed that C
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