English Lexicology_unit 30


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Exercise

Pick out the idioms used in the following sentences and restore their original forms:
1. "Well, it's the old story of the stitch in time," he said.
2. Fleur's head was lost in the tool-box, but her voice was heard saying: "Too many cooks, better let me."
3. But not many other people held that view discerning his finger still very large in every pie-so much so that there often seemed less pie than finger.
4. I'm thinking of putting up a "Silence is golden" placard in his office. Nobody can hear themselves think.
5. They four had one likeness: their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
6. He quotes them extensively nevertheless, together with other equally suspect evidence, because otherwise he would have no straw with which to make his bricks.
Answer

1. the stitch in time = a stitch in time saves nine.
2. too many cooks = Too many cooks spoil the broth.
3. his finger still very large in every pie…less pie than finger = have a finger in the pie
4. silence is golden = Speech is silver, silence is golden.
5. a wheel in the middle of a wheel = wheel within wheels
6. have no straw with witch to make his bricks = make bricks without straw　　close

Complete each of the idioms with only one word.

wind and
break and
top and
rules and
hard and
short and
over and
off and
shoulder shoulder
milk water

wheeling and
town and
time time
rise and
puff and
peace and
ebb and
neck neck
moan and
now never

Answer

wind and weather 　　　wheeling and dealing
break and enter　　　　town and gown
top and tail　　　　　　time after time
rules and regulations 　　rise and fall
hard and fast 　　　　　puff and blow
short and sweet 　　　　peace and quiet
over and above 　　　　 ebb and flow
off and on 　　　　　　 neck and neck
shoulder to shoulder 　　moan and groan
milk and water 　　　　 now or never　　　　　　　　　　close

1. Raise the awareness of variations in idioms; 2. Learn the common changes in idioms; 3. Be able to appreciate the effect of variations.

Main points

Variations of Idioms

Replacement

Addition or deletion

Position-shifting

Shortening

Dismembering

TOP

Unit 30

●●● Variations of Idioms
　　9.3.3 Variations of Idioms
　　Characterized by semantic unity and structural stability, idioms do not allow changes as a rule. But structural stability is not absolute. When idioms are used in actual context, they do experience grammatical changes such as different forms of verbs, agreement of personal pronouns and number and so on. Occasionally, we may find changes in constituents of idioms: addition, deletion, replacement, position-shifting, dismembering, etc.

●●●● Replacement
　　1. Replacement
　　In some idioms, a constituent may be replaced by a word of the same part of speech, resulting in synonymous or antonymous idioms.
　　(1) Verb, e.g. make [cut] a figure, make [pull off] a great coup, catch [get, seize, take] hold of, keep [break] one's word, take [lose] heart.
　　(2) Noun, e.g. down in the bushes [mouth], a drop in the ocean [bucket], on the increase [decrease], in the know [dark], die in harness [one's boots]
　　(3) Adjectives, e.g. in good [high, fine, full] feather, on a large [big, vast] scale, by all [no] means, take long [short] views.
　　(4) Adverb or preposition, e.g. drop in [over, by], give a handle for [to], turn on [off], go with [against] the stream, by [in] the lump.
　　(5) Article, pronoun, numeral, e.g. flea in one's [the] ear, lay a [one's] course, talk thirteen [nineteen] to the dozen, in a [some] sort, come off one's [the] high horse.

●●●● Addition or deletion
　　2. Addition or deletion
　　In some instances, some constituents can be added or deleted, which does not affect the meaning of the idioms, e.g. behind [the] bars, [for] all night, for good [and all], as broad as [it is] long, thank one's [lucky] stars, from [the bottom] one's heart, etc.

●●●● Position-shifting
　　3. Position-shifting
　　The positions of certain constituents in some idioms can be shifted without any change in meaning, e.g. day and night = night and day, young and old = old and young, pin back sb's ears = pin sb's ears back, turn the radio up = turn up the radio, do sb a favour = do a favour for sb, play sb a trick = play a trick on sb, fortune's wheel = wheel of fortune, lie near sb's heart = lie near the heart of sb.

●●●● Shortening
　　4. Shortening
　　This occasionally occurs in proverbs and sayings, where only a part of them is used instead of the whole, e.g. the last straw = It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back, velvet paws = Velvet paws hide sharp claws, Jack of all trades = Jack of all trades and master of none. The following are a few examples in actual use:
[74] "But for whom is any weather 'worse'? Sunbathers? Skiers? Tomatoes? Ducks? Obviously any weather is good for some people and purposes, so why label it? It's an ill wind."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--- The Observer
　　It's an ill wind is the short form for It's an ill wind that blows no body good (few situations or events are so unwelcome or disastrous that nobody at all gets any benefit or profit from them).
[75] "I don't think the walls need re-painting; but needs must, I suppose, if I'm to get any peace."(ODCIE)
　　Needs must is part of, Needs must when the devil drives, which means 'circumstances make it necessary or unavoidable.'
[76] " 'I'm a bit of a rolling stone down the avenues of medicine,' he explained."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--- Doctor in Love
　　A rolling stone comes from A rolling stone gathers no moss, meaning 'a person who moves a lot from place to place, from job to job does not accumulate property, real friends, or social ties.'

●●●● Dismembering
　　5. Dismembering
　　It is what I mean by breaking up the idioms into pieces, an unusual case of use of idioms particularly in literature or popular press to achieve special effect. For example:
[77] "The leopard! But he did change them, Dinny."
　　"He did not, Auntie: he had no spots to change."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--- Galsworthy
　　In this dialogue, the idiom The leopard never changes his spots is used humorously. However, the original idiom is broken up and hardly recognizable unless we put the pieces together.
[78] "Conway would have preferred to talk in Chinese, but so far he had not let it be known that he spoke any Eastern tongue; he felt it might be a useful card up his sleeve."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--- J. Hitton
　　'Be a useful card up his sleeve' is a personal variant of have a card up one's sleeve. It is well used here to indicate that Conway is a person of wisdom, knowing how to take the advantage of the situation and manipulate people.
[79] "Generally speaking, he is a misfit, a round peg in the squarest of holes."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--- Observer
　　A round peg in the squarest of holes is based on the idiom of a square peg in a round hole, here deliberately transformed by the author to emphasis the point that the person in question is not in the least fit for the job.
Instances like this are not too difficult to find, but are not examples to follow on the part of the learner. While aware of the variations, we as learners should always keep in mind the characteristics of idioms and learn idioms as they are and use them as they are used in an idiomatic way.