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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Abstract
The present paper attempts to detect the level of (COVID-19) pandemic panic attacks among university students, according to gender and stage variables.
To achieve this objective, the present paper adopts the scale set up by (Fathallah et al., 2021), which has been applied electronically to a previous cross-cultural sample consisting of (2285) participants from Arab countries, including Iraq. The scale includes, in its final form, (69) optional items distributed on (6) dimensions: physical symptoms (13) items, psychological and emotional symptoms (12) items, cognitive and mental symptoms (11) items, social symptoms (8) items, general symptoms (13) items and daily living practices (12) items
... Show MoreBackground: Uncontrolled hyperphosphatemia is the main difficulty facing staff treating patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis. Sevelamer and calcium-containing phosphate binders have been associated with cost burden and tissue calcification, respectively. Therefore, the current trial was targeted to investigate the efficacy of a new phosphate binder, ferric citrate, in a sample of Iraqi patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis. Keywords: Ferric citrate, Hemodialysis Phosphate binder
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One of the most common procedures in oral surgery is the removal of impacted mandibular third molars, often followed by pain, swelling, alveolitis, and trismus. Purpose. To compare the outcomes of the intrasocket application of 1% hyaluronic acid oral gel (HA) and advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) on the expected postoperative complications, pain, swelling, and trismus follow the surgical extraction of the impacted mandibular third molar. Material and Methods. A randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, Dental Teaching Hospital. Healthy patients who required surgical removal of the impacted mandibular third molar were divided randomly into three groups. The extraction site of the group
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This study aims to expand the traditional model in calculating the break-even point to include the cost of capital invested and the funds employed in industrial companies through a change in the traditional model and the effect of adopting the advanced model of the break point on the operational leverage in planning profits in industrial companies. Where, the analysis of the break-even point and the operational leverage of the tools important by the management, which is used in the field of planning profits. A parity analysis in its sophisticated model will help in planning profits and determine the optimal size of production that maximizes profits. For its part, the operational leverage helps to make decisions regarding the expansion of
... Show MoreTransition metal complexes of Co(II) and Ni(II) with azo dye 3,5-dimethyl-2-(4-nitrophenylazo)-phenol derived from 4-nitoaniline and3,5-dimethylphenol were synthesized. Characterization of these compounds has been done on the basis of elemental analysis,electronic data, FT-IR,UV-Vis and 1 HNMR, as well as magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements. The nature of thecomplexes formed were studies following the mole ratio and continuous variation methods, Beer ' s law obeyed over a concentrationrange (1x10 -4 - 3x10 -4 M). High molar absorbtivity of the complex solutions were observed. From the analytical data, thestoichiomerty of the complexes has been found to be 1:2 (Metal:ligand). On the basis of physicochemical data tetrahedral
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The electric submersible pump, also known as ESP, is a highly effective artificial lift method widely used in the oil industry due to its ability to deliver higher production rates compared to other artificial lift methods. In principle, ESP is a multistage centrifugal pump that converts kinetic energy into dynamic hydraulic pressure necessary to lift fluids at a higher rate with lower bottomhole pressure, especially in oil wells under certain bottomhole condition fluid, and reservoir characteristics. However, several factors and challenges can complicate the completion and optimum development of ESP deployed wells, which need to be addressed to optimize its performance by maximizing efficiency and minimizing costs and uncertainties. To
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One of the artificial lightweight aggregates with a wide range of applications is Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate. Clay is utilized in the production of light aggregates. Using leftover clay from significant infrastructure development projects to manufacture lightweight aggregates has a favorable environmental impact. This research examines the expanded clay aggregate production process and the impact of processing parameters on its physical and mechanical qualities. It also looks at secondary components that can be used to improve the qualities of concrete with expanded clay aggregates. The effect of the quantity of expanded clay aggregate on the fresh, hardened, and durability qualities of concrete is also studied.
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