Date； 2007.01.19(Fri)
What are Idioms?
Idioms appear in every language, and English has thousands of them, they are often confusing because the meaning of the whole group of words taken together has a little, often nothing, to do with the meanings of the words taken one by one.
For instance “let the cat out of the bag” means to reveal a secret. Today the phrase has nothing to do with a cat or a bag, but hundreds of years ago it actually did.
In order to understand a language, you must know what the idioms in that language mean. If you try to figure out the meaning of an idiom literally, word by word, you will get befuddled. You have to know its “hidden” meaning.
Idioms come from all different sources, from the Bible to horse racing, from ancient fables to modern slang. Sometimes famous authors and storytellers made them up to add spark to their writings. The authors were popular， so the expressions they created became popular． Often , however， we don't know the name of the first author or speaker who used a particular expression.
Some idioms came from Native - American customs (“bury the hatchet”) and others
From African - American speech (“chill out”). Some became popular because they rhyme (“snug as a bug in a rug”) or have alliteration (“spick - and – span”).
Some idioms originated as colloquialisms (informal speech) or slang (casual, playful, nonstandard language). Some were well - known proverbs and adages (short sayings that express practical, basic truths). Some popular idioms began as folksy sayings used in particular regions of the country and spoken in local dialects. Many came from other countries, although most of the idioms are Americanisms. Some idioms go back in time to the ancient Greeks and Romans, thousands of years ago. Others are more recent. Word experts who study origins of idiomatic expressions don't always agree on exactly where each one came from. In this section of my page (blog) I’ll try to include the most common used and accepted by natives, so “keep tabs on it”, all right!, see you next time. Bye!
For instance “let the cat out of the bag” means to reveal a secret. Today the phrase has nothing to do with a cat or a bag, but hundreds of years ago it actually did.
In order to understand a language, you must know what the idioms in that language mean. If you try to figure out the meaning of an idiom literally, word by word, you will get befuddled. You have to know its “hidden” meaning.
Idioms come from all different sources, from the Bible to horse racing, from ancient fables to modern slang. Sometimes famous authors and storytellers made them up to add spark to their writings. The authors were popular， so the expressions they created became popular． Often , however， we don't know the name of the first author or speaker who used a particular expression.
Some idioms came from Native - American customs (“bury the hatchet”) and others
From African - American speech (“chill out”). Some became popular because they rhyme (“snug as a bug in a rug”) or have alliteration (“spick - and – span”).
Some idioms originated as colloquialisms (informal speech) or slang (casual, playful, nonstandard language). Some were well - known proverbs and adages (short sayings that express practical, basic truths). Some popular idioms began as folksy sayings used in particular regions of the country and spoken in local dialects. Many came from other countries, although most of the idioms are Americanisms. Some idioms go back in time to the ancient Greeks and Romans, thousands of years ago. Others are more recent. Word experts who study origins of idiomatic expressions don't always agree on exactly where each one came from. In this section of my page (blog) I’ll try to include the most common used and accepted by natives, so “keep tabs on it”, all right!, see you next time. Bye!
Date； 2006.12.07(Thu)
“Spill the beans”
Idioms appear in every language, and English has thousands of them, they are often confusing because the meaning of the whole group of words taken together has a little, often nothing, to do with the meanings of the words taken one by one.
For instance “let the cat out of the bag” means to reveal a secret. Today the phrase has nothing to do with a cat or a bag, but hundreds of years ago it actually did. It says that Centuries ago in England you might buy a costly pig at a farmer’s market. But if the merchant was dishonest and put a worthless cat in to the bag instead of the piglet, you might not find out until you go back home and let the cat out the bag. Because of this frequent situation the idiom states. There’s another more common expression that’s means the same and you might have heard, “spill the beans”, this one also means to give away a secret, and the theory of this idiom go back to the ancient Greeks and their society. People voted by putting a white been or a black been in to a jar (white=yes, Black=no). The beans been supposed to be counted in secret, but if somebody accidentally (or purposefully) knocked over the jar and spill the beans, the secret vote will be revealed.
Secrets are something that intrigues anybody, so let’s take care to not spill the beans to someone we don’t want. See you next time. Bye!
For instance “let the cat out of the bag” means to reveal a secret. Today the phrase has nothing to do with a cat or a bag, but hundreds of years ago it actually did. It says that Centuries ago in England you might buy a costly pig at a farmer’s market. But if the merchant was dishonest and put a worthless cat in to the bag instead of the piglet, you might not find out until you go back home and let the cat out the bag. Because of this frequent situation the idiom states. There’s another more common expression that’s means the same and you might have heard, “spill the beans”, this one also means to give away a secret, and the theory of this idiom go back to the ancient Greeks and their society. People voted by putting a white been or a black been in to a jar (white=yes, Black=no). The beans been supposed to be counted in secret, but if somebody accidentally (or purposefully) knocked over the jar and spill the beans, the secret vote will be revealed.
Secrets are something that intrigues anybody, so let’s take care to not spill the beans to someone we don’t want. See you next time. Bye!
Date； 2006.08.27(Sun)
Have to do with
Idioms are an important part of English. When you are learning English, there are some Idioms that you need to remember. Even if you don’t use them yourself, you need to understand them when you hear them.
Let’s talk about some of them that I’m sure you will hear and see often. We’ll begin with a very common one – have to do with.
Fist of all, I need to explain the meaning. This idiom means to “be concern with, related to.” It shows some relationship or connection. I think that if we look at some examples, I’ll be easier to understand. The price of oil has to do with supply and demand. The price is determined by how much oil is available, and how much people want it. Many people say that success has to be with hard work. They believe that how successful you are is related to how hard you work.
You also see other words in combination with this idiom：something, anything, nothing, a little, a lot and a few others, they describe how strong or week the relationship is. I know a man who works for a bank here in Osaka. Even though he works for a bank, his job has nothing to do with money itself. He works in the IT (information technology) section. He doesn’t have anything to do with the bank financial matters. I know exactly what he does, buy I’d say it has something to do with computers or Internet security. I'm sure that hard work has a lot to do with how successful you are in life, but at the same time I think that success has a little to do with luck. Some people work hard all their lives but are never successful. Maybe luck has a little to do with it.
Have you ever had a big disagreement or argument with someone and broken off your relationship? If your answer is yes, then you can use this idiom to describe that situation. You can tell people who ask, “I don’t have anything to do with him any more.”
Or “We don’t have anything to do with each other anymore.” Your listeners will understand that you had broken off your relationship.
Make sure you read my next article it might have something to do with idioms. See you then!
Let’s talk about some of them that I’m sure you will hear and see often. We’ll begin with a very common one – have to do with.
Fist of all, I need to explain the meaning. This idiom means to “be concern with, related to.” It shows some relationship or connection. I think that if we look at some examples, I’ll be easier to understand. The price of oil has to do with supply and demand. The price is determined by how much oil is available, and how much people want it. Many people say that success has to be with hard work. They believe that how successful you are is related to how hard you work.
You also see other words in combination with this idiom：something, anything, nothing, a little, a lot and a few others, they describe how strong or week the relationship is. I know a man who works for a bank here in Osaka. Even though he works for a bank, his job has nothing to do with money itself. He works in the IT (information technology) section. He doesn’t have anything to do with the bank financial matters. I know exactly what he does, buy I’d say it has something to do with computers or Internet security. I'm sure that hard work has a lot to do with how successful you are in life, but at the same time I think that success has a little to do with luck. Some people work hard all their lives but are never successful. Maybe luck has a little to do with it.
Have you ever had a big disagreement or argument with someone and broken off your relationship? If your answer is yes, then you can use this idiom to describe that situation. You can tell people who ask, “I don’t have anything to do with him any more.”
Or “We don’t have anything to do with each other anymore.” Your listeners will understand that you had broken off your relationship.
Make sure you read my next article it might have something to do with idioms. See you then!
Date； 2006.08.27(Sun)
keep tabs on..
I know a man who speaks English well.
Even he does't need it, he takes lessons of english with me just to keep his English level sharply, talking with him in one of the lessons he asked me something he read in a newspaper article about evian (bird) flu. There was a phrase in the article, "keep tabs on," that he didn't understand. I told him it means to "watch closely," and then I thought it would be a good topic to put in my blog.
"Keep tabs on" is a perfect example of what an Idiom is. in fact, when I look the word "idiom" in My dictionary, "keep tabs on" is the example it gives. Even though you may know all the individual words in an idiom, you might not understand the meaning until someone tells you or you look it up in the dictionary.
As I said before, It means to wach something closely, and that waching usually takes place over a longer period of time . The newspaper about avian flu the man read was about the problem in England. It said the goberment should KEEP TABS ON the workers in poultry processing plants. (poultry means the chickens, turkeys,ducks or geese, raised for meat or eggs.) It suggested periodic health check-ups and supervision by health officials.
Here are some more examples. It seems like every time you watch the news on TV, you hear some story about a child who was abducted (kidnapped). Many parents want to keep tabs on their children. They give them cell phones with a GPS (Global Positioning System) feature. That way they know exactly were they are every minute of the day. If your children or teenagers use the Internet, you should keep tabs on the sites they visit. Lately It seems like I'm spending too much money; there's not enough left over at the end of the month. Maybe I should keep tabs on my spending.
More and more japanese are investing in the stock market these days. they keep tabs on the prices of their stocks; they check them regulary.
And one final example: The goverment of Japan is going to start taking fingerprints and photos of foreingers who enter Japan. Many people don't like it, but it is one way to keep tabs on who is in the country.
I wonder if anyone is keeping tabs on me. I'd better be more careful. See you next time. Bye!
Even he does't need it, he takes lessons of english with me just to keep his English level sharply, talking with him in one of the lessons he asked me something he read in a newspaper article about evian (bird) flu. There was a phrase in the article, "keep tabs on," that he didn't understand. I told him it means to "watch closely," and then I thought it would be a good topic to put in my blog.
"Keep tabs on" is a perfect example of what an Idiom is. in fact, when I look the word "idiom" in My dictionary, "keep tabs on" is the example it gives. Even though you may know all the individual words in an idiom, you might not understand the meaning until someone tells you or you look it up in the dictionary.
As I said before, It means to wach something closely, and that waching usually takes place over a longer period of time . The newspaper about avian flu the man read was about the problem in England. It said the goberment should KEEP TABS ON the workers in poultry processing plants. (poultry means the chickens, turkeys,ducks or geese, raised for meat or eggs.) It suggested periodic health check-ups and supervision by health officials.
Here are some more examples. It seems like every time you watch the news on TV, you hear some story about a child who was abducted (kidnapped). Many parents want to keep tabs on their children. They give them cell phones with a GPS (Global Positioning System) feature. That way they know exactly were they are every minute of the day. If your children or teenagers use the Internet, you should keep tabs on the sites they visit. Lately It seems like I'm spending too much money; there's not enough left over at the end of the month. Maybe I should keep tabs on my spending.
More and more japanese are investing in the stock market these days. they keep tabs on the prices of their stocks; they check them regulary.
And one final example: The goverment of Japan is going to start taking fingerprints and photos of foreingers who enter Japan. Many people don't like it, but it is one way to keep tabs on who is in the country.
I wonder if anyone is keeping tabs on me. I'd better be more careful. See you next time. Bye!
Date； 2006.08.27(Sun)
Care for, Care about
Some people who are learning English are too worry about making mistakes. They hesitate to say something because they are afraid of making a mistake. Don’t worry so much. Practice every chance you get and try to learn from your mistakes. Let’s look at two phrases today that people often confuse: “care for” and “care about”.
Basically speaking, there’s two ways “care for” is used. The first one is in situations such as “the doctor cares for his patient.” The doctor gives help to his patient. I don’t think you’ll hear this meaning used very often in conversation; it seems fairly formal to me. The other meaning is more common. “Care for” shows “a liking” for something or someone. When you are talking about things is always used in negative form. Here are a few examples. I didn’t care for the movie. I didn’t like it very much. She didn’t care for the restaurant. She didn’t like the restaurant I choose. He doesn’t care for classical music. I guess he likes pop or jazz. But you can also used in a positive sense when you are referring to people. I someone says “I care for you,” be happy. That person likes you.
Parents care for their children. People who are romantically involved care for each other. One more way you’ll hear it used is in offers, as in “Would you care for piece of chocolate.
The phrase “care about” is different. It means “to be concerned or interested.” Some people care about politics; others don’t care about it at all. The first group is very interested in politics; the second group doesn’t think is important. I friend of mine is an avid baseball fan. He tells me what an exciting game it is. I never know what to say. The only sport I care about is soccer.
I think some people get confused by these two phrases because in some cases they overlap. Take a look at these two examples. Parents care for their children. They love them. Parents care about their children. They are concern about them and interested in their lives.
That’s all the room I have for now, like I said at the beginning of this writing, you shouldn’t care about mistakes too much. See you next time Bye!
Basically speaking, there’s two ways “care for” is used. The first one is in situations such as “the doctor cares for his patient.” The doctor gives help to his patient. I don’t think you’ll hear this meaning used very often in conversation; it seems fairly formal to me. The other meaning is more common. “Care for” shows “a liking” for something or someone. When you are talking about things is always used in negative form. Here are a few examples. I didn’t care for the movie. I didn’t like it very much. She didn’t care for the restaurant. She didn’t like the restaurant I choose. He doesn’t care for classical music. I guess he likes pop or jazz. But you can also used in a positive sense when you are referring to people. I someone says “I care for you,” be happy. That person likes you.
Parents care for their children. People who are romantically involved care for each other. One more way you’ll hear it used is in offers, as in “Would you care for piece of chocolate.
The phrase “care about” is different. It means “to be concerned or interested.” Some people care about politics; others don’t care about it at all. The first group is very interested in politics; the second group doesn’t think is important. I friend of mine is an avid baseball fan. He tells me what an exciting game it is. I never know what to say. The only sport I care about is soccer.
I think some people get confused by these two phrases because in some cases they overlap. Take a look at these two examples. Parents care for their children. They love them. Parents care about their children. They are concern about them and interested in their lives.
That’s all the room I have for now, like I said at the beginning of this writing, you shouldn’t care about mistakes too much. See you next time Bye!
Date； 2006.08.27(Sun)
Look forward to
Some people have the wrong idea about idioms. They think hat idioms are very informal and are only used in casual conversation. This is not the case. You’ll find many common idioms in newspapers, books and speeches by government officials. Take, for instance, “look forward to.” I often see and hear and see it used. This is one idiom you need to know
When you say you are looking forward to something, it means you are “thinking in some future event with pleasure eager anticipation.” Sorry that explanation seems more difficult than the idiom itself. Let’s look a few examples. I’m a pretty sociable person; I like parties and getting together with people. I’m going to a party This Saturday. I can wait. I’m looking forward to the party. Most people are exited about going on vacation; they are anger to go. They look forward to their trips. Here’s one more example. If you work Monday through Friday, I’m pretty sure you look forward to the weekend.
All three of this examples used nouns as the things you were looking forward to, but you can also use “look forward to” with verbs. When you do, you have to use the gerund, the –ing form. I’m looking forward to attending the party this Saturday. Don’t say you are looking forward to attend the party, that’s a mistake. Most people look forward to going on vacations. Office workers look forward to relaxing (having fun) on weekends.
Everything in the future is not always happy. Add a “not” to this idiom and you can used for this things, too. Shy people do not look forward to parties. I have to go to the dentist. I’m not looking forward to it. Most people don’t look forward to going to the dentist. Office workers do not look forward to Mondays.
Don’t confuse this idiom with the adjective “forward-looking.” It means to be concerned with, prepared for the future. You’ll see in things like: a forward-looking proposal to increase jobs, a forward looking plan to deal with emergencies, and so on.
What are you looking forward to? I’ll have another common idiom, hint or something interesting in my next article for you next time. I look forward to seeing you here. Bye!
When you say you are looking forward to something, it means you are “thinking in some future event with pleasure eager anticipation.” Sorry that explanation seems more difficult than the idiom itself. Let’s look a few examples. I’m a pretty sociable person; I like parties and getting together with people. I’m going to a party This Saturday. I can wait. I’m looking forward to the party. Most people are exited about going on vacation; they are anger to go. They look forward to their trips. Here’s one more example. If you work Monday through Friday, I’m pretty sure you look forward to the weekend.
All three of this examples used nouns as the things you were looking forward to, but you can also use “look forward to” with verbs. When you do, you have to use the gerund, the –ing form. I’m looking forward to attending the party this Saturday. Don’t say you are looking forward to attend the party, that’s a mistake. Most people look forward to going on vacations. Office workers look forward to relaxing (having fun) on weekends.
Everything in the future is not always happy. Add a “not” to this idiom and you can used for this things, too. Shy people do not look forward to parties. I have to go to the dentist. I’m not looking forward to it. Most people don’t look forward to going to the dentist. Office workers do not look forward to Mondays.
Don’t confuse this idiom with the adjective “forward-looking.” It means to be concerned with, prepared for the future. You’ll see in things like: a forward-looking proposal to increase jobs, a forward looking plan to deal with emergencies, and so on.
What are you looking forward to? I’ll have another common idiom, hint or something interesting in my next article for you next time. I look forward to seeing you here. Bye!