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!