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.
In this work a study and calculation of the normal approach between two bodies,
spherical and rough flat surface, had been conducted by the aid of image processing
technique. Four kinds of metals of different work hardening index had been used as a
surface specimens and by capturing images of resolution of 0.006565 mm/pixel a good estimate of the normal approach may be obtained the compression tests had been done in strength of material laboratory in mechanical engineering department, a Monsanto tensometer had been used to conduct the indentation tests. A light section measuring equipment microscope BK 70x50 was used to calculate the surface parameters of the texture profile like standard deviation of asperity peak heights
Soil improvement has developed as a realistic solution for enhancing soil properties so that structures can be constructed to meet project engineering requirements due to the limited availability of construction land in urban centers. The jet grouting method for soil improvement is a novel geotechnical alternative for problematic soils for which conventional foundation designs cannot provide acceptable and lasting solutions. The paper's methodology was based on constructing pile models using a low-pressure injection laboratory setup built and made locally to simulate the operation of field equipment. The setup design was based on previous research that systematically conducted unconfined compression testing (U.C.Ts.). Th
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Objective: To assess the impact of pregnant women’s depression state upon their pregnancy outcome Methodology: A descriptive purposive study was used to assess the impact of pregnant women’s depression state on their pregnancy outcomes. The study was conducted from (22nd \ September \ 2020 to 15th \ February \ 2021). A non-probability sample (purposive sample) was selected from 100 women. Data were collected through an interview with the mother in the counseling clinic, during the third trimester of pregnancy, as well as after childbirth in the labour wards to assess the outcome of pregnancy. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages). Results: The most important thing observed in this study was the ne
... Show MoreTo investigate the effects of losartan and enalapril on serum uric acid in hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome, one hundred and twenty six newly diagnosed mild hypertensive patients, having markers of metabolic syndrome included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (60 patients) was given losartan (50 mg/ day) and group 2 (66 patients) enalapril (20 mg/ day) for a duration of 2 months. A control group of seventy apparently healthy individuals were included. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome related to the American National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III. Serum uric acid levels were measured bef
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Background: preparation of root canals is an important step in root canal treatment. Mechanical instrumentation of root canals cause an irregular layer of debris, known as the smear layer. As a result, several studies reported that preferring the removal of the smear layer. Objective: To study the influence of the energy (100 mJ) of Erbium, Chromium: Yttrium Scandium Gallium Garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser at short pulse duration (60 μs) on smear layer removal of apical third after using Photon induced photoacoustic streaming technique. Materials and methods: Eighteen straight single-rooted mandibular premolars were used. The roots length were uniform to 14mm from the anatomic apex and
... Show MoreCoagulation - flocculation are basic chemical engineering method in the treatment of metal-bearing industrial wastewater because it removes colloidal particles, some soluble compounds and very fine solid suspensions initially present in the wastewater by destabilization and formation of flocs. This research was conducted to study the feasibility of using natural coagulant such as okra and mallow and chemical coagulant such as alum for removing Cu and increase the removal efficiency and reduce the turbidity of treated water. Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) was carried out for okra and mallow before and after coagulant to determine their type of functional groups. Carbonyl and hydroxyl functional groups on the surface of
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Breast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were
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