Unit 27

● English Idioms
●● Introduction
　　The English language abounds in idioms like any other highly developed tongues. They consist of set phrases and short sentences, which are peculiar to the language in question and loaded with the native cultures and ideas. Therefore, idioms are colourful, forcible and thought?provoking. Strictly speaking, idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meanings of individual elements, for example, fly off the handle (become excessively angry) and put up with (tolerate). In a broad sense, idioms may include colloquialisms, catchphrases, slang expressions, proverbs, etc. They form an important part of the English vocabulary. This chapter will deal with idioms in terms of their characteristics, classification and uses.

●● Characteristics
　　9.1 Characteristics of Idioms

●●● Semantic Unity
　　9.1.1 Semantic Unity
　　Being phrases or sentences, idioms each consist of more than one word, but each is a semantic unity. Though the various words which make up the idiom have their respective literal meanings, in the idiom they have lost their individual identity, i.e. their meanings are not often recognizable in the meaning of the whole idiom. Likewise, the part of speech of each element is no longer important. Quite often the idiom functions as one word. For instance, till the cows come home, which comprises a conjunction till, an article the, a noun cow, a verb come and an adverb home, means `forever' and functions as an adverb, thus replaceable by the word `forever'. The same can be said of keep in mind (remember), take off (imitate), to no avail (useless), like a breeze (easily) and so on.
　　The semantic unity of idioms is also reflected in the illogical relationship between the literal meaning of each word and the meaning of the idiom. Many idioms are semantically inexplicable. For example, How do you do is a common form of greeting used by people when they first meet. Literally it means `In what way do you do things', which is far from its idiomatic usage. Similarly, wear one's heart upon one's sleeve which means `show one's feelings plainly' is literally impossible. Rain cats and dogs which is used in the sense of `rain heavily' literally makes nonsense.
●●● Structural Stability
　　9.1.2 Structural Stability
　　Unlike free phrases, the structure of an idiom is to a large extent unchangeable. First, the constituents of idioms cannot be replaced. Take in a brown study for example. Used as a free phrase, we can say in a brown (red, green, white, etc.) study or in a brown study (room, den, hall, studio, cell, etc.). However, as an idiom to mean `deep in thought', the structure is fixed. In the same way, lip service (support only in words, not in fact) is not to be changed into * mouth service; kick the bucket (die) into * kick the pail or *strike the bucket; bury the hatchet (come to friendly or peaceful terms) into * bury the ax.
　　Secondly, the word order cannot be inverted or changed. For example, by twos and threes and tit for tat are not to be turned into by threes and twos and tat for tit. Similarly, the lion's share is not to be replaced by the share of the lion though it is a common practice in free phrases.
　　Thirdly, the constituents of an idiom cannot be deleted or added to, not even an article. For instance, out of the question means 'impossible'. If the article the is deleted, the idiomaticity will be lost and it will signify `no question' instead. In question (being considered) on the other hand does not allow the addition of the as * in the question, because the latter is no longer an idiom.
　　Finally, many idioms are grammatically unanalysable. For example, diamond cut diamond (two parties are equally matched) is grammatically incorrect, for normally the verb cut should take the third person singulars as the subject diamond is singular. Meanwhile there exists a structurally similar idiom Like cures like, in which -s cannot be deleted. (as) sure as eggs is eggs (quite certainly) may serve as another example. The verb is in the idiom should be are to agree with grammar. However, we use it as it is. It is grammatically wrong, but idiomatic and widely accepted.
　　It should be pointed out that the idiomaticity of idioms is gradable and may best be thought in terms of a scale, with the 'true' idioms established at the upper end and regular combinations at the bottom. In between are the 'semi-idioms'. By true idioms we mean that the meaning of the idiom cannot be deduced from those of the individual constituents such as step up used in 'His promotion stepped up (improve or enhance) their social status.' and in the raw used in 'The boys are playing in the river in the raw (naked).' By regular combinations we speak of the regular collocations such as make friends with, break silence and smooth tongue, the meanings of which are understood from the literal meanings of the constituents. In between we have idioms like turn over a new leaf (begin a new life), as cool as a cucumber and draw the curtain (end or conceal), whose meanings are in a way related to the meanings of the constituents but are not themselves explicit. The fixity of idioms depends on the idiomaticity. The more idiomatic the idioms, the more fixed the structure. Many of the idioms of the lower scale do allow some changes. For example, break silence can be changed into keep silence to express the opposite meaning. Put on the coat can be replaced by put it on in the actual context. These variations of idioms will be discussed in the sections to follow.