Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 148

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
2
1. Argument.
2
2. Structure of the Paper ..
5
1. INTRODUCTION TO LEXICOLOGY.
7
1.1. Language and Speech: General Overview
7
1.2. Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics..
9
2. WORD STUDY.
13
2.1. The Word. Morpheme .Meaning. Root. Stem. Affix..
13
2.2. Word Groups: Collocation. Phrasal Verbs. Sayings. Proverbs.
18
2.3. Association. Comparison. Resemblance: Metaphor. Metonymy. Synecdoche
26
2.4. Expressiveness in Language: Colloquial Language. Clich. Jargon. Argot.
Slang. Euphemism 29
2.5. The Context 41
3. IDIOMS.... 44
3.1. Definitions.
44
3.2. Origin of Idioms
48
3.3. The Importance of Idioms.
52
3.4. Features of Idioms.
53
3.5. The Problem of Translation......
54
4. METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY.
58
4.1. Teaching Methods
58
4.2. Teaching Vocabulary
62
4.3. Word-Memorizing Techniques.
63
4.4. Planning and Preparation..
68
4.5. Lesson Plan 72
5. TEACHING IDIOMS THROUGH ROLE-PLAY.
75
5.1. Role-playing as a Teaching Strategy
75
5.2. Class Activities Using Methods of Teaching Idioms
78
5.3. Testing Idioms 87
APPENDIX..
93
A. English Idioms Related to
93
B. Practising is Knowing.. 126
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

143
146

INTRODUCTION
1. Argument
`
Learning a language means mastering all the four language skills-reading, writing,
listening and speaking. In order to acquire these skills, one has to learn vocabulary and
grammatical structures; but grammar cannot be learned without grasping some basic
vocabulary first. Learning vocabulary in particular is becoming informed about the words,
their function and meaning, their language and semantic relations.
Several methodological approaches to language teaching have developed since the
late 19th century, and they relied mostly on the teaching and learning of grammatical
structures. There has been a revival of interest in vocabulary teaching in recent years due to
the recent availability of computerized databases of words and the development of new
approaches to language teaching which are more `word-centred` ( Thornbury: vi )
Typical techniques in acquiring a foreign language vocabulary mainly reside in
drilling exercises (at a lower level, e.g. a certain pattern is repeated in several utterances),
reading exercises (i.e. vocabulary is used in context and the meaning of new words is
deduced from it), working with the dictionary, writing exercises (i.e. producing written
`texts` of different length in which newly learned vocabulary is being used ), etc.
Acquiring a wide variety of idioms is a feature of a very rich vocabulary that
students can get during the learning process. English is known to be the richest language
concerning the number of its words. Belonging mainly to the informal language, idioms can
be both a challenge and an efficient way to communicate, especially in day-to-day
situations. On the other way, Romanian students may find this way of learning idioms and
idiomatic expressions a `bridge` between their mother tongue and English, as second
language, given the fact that, at a certain point, they are tempted to find equivalents in their
first language, appealing both to translation or interpretation.
Concerning the `role-playing` method of acquiring English in an interactive and
efficient way, students will be very interested to use their knowledge in practising speaking
skills, basically. The teacher`s main role is to monitor the students` activity during their
conversations, allowing them to act their roles. The dialogues can be both pre-prepared or
on-the-spot. Pedagogically speaking, such a method is recommended to those students who

are shy and have difficulty in communicating their thoughts. Once they are in their
character`s shoes they are ready to communicate and feel at ease in interacting with the
others.
Pair-work teaching method is among the most usual and most efficient types of
activities used in practising the language. This modern method gives the students the
opportunity to get very involved during the activity, but it also has a main drawback, that is
the blockage in communication, due to either the student`s personality or their lack of
motivation.
It is even harder nowadays to motivate students in learning a foreign language. As
long as they stay in school they see `learning` as something compulsory and therefore
resent it as such. It is much later in life, when they confront with the labour market or when
they become interested in emigrating, that they find an intrinsic motivation for learning a
foreign language.
As a teacher, I have witnessed this lack of motivation with students and I have also
noticed that, while in school, they are difficult to persuade about the advantages and
opportunities the mastery of a foreign language has to offer. Although it has been said that
students become motivated when they have to perform in real life-like situations, their
interest will only last until the task has been fulfilled, except if they actually have to face
such situations.
There are several techniques I have attempted to class so as to get my students
interested in using the English language: providing them with various types of vocabulary
exercises, selecting reading texts on topics of their choice, doing lots of listening activities,
getting them involved in projects (writing informal articles or poetry for the school
magazine, making posters) school competitions and recitals. Many of them are keen on
listening; some of them like doing written vocabulary exercises; fewer are interested in
reading in English, while a very small number of students prefer writing tasks.
Role-playing as learning activity provides a favourable environment of expression
for all students, for the better ones as well as for the weaker ones, before all a chance to
participate. Students, generally speaking like to be `someone else`, or some of them like
drama and acting. I have also been looking for a good method of providing my students
with easy and efficient way of acquiring idioms in learning English, such as introducing
new vocabulary with the help of pair-work and dialogues. Textbooks as a resource, on the
other side, do not offer such type of activities but in a very small amount. This led me to the
decision of looking for more resources, of studying various types of tasks based on learning
3

idioms through role-play for different levels of study or different language skills, and more
importantly, of using them in class as a means of language teaching.
The `role-playing` can be used in the practical part of the lesson, after the
presentation and before the production, or it can cover a whole class in which the teacher
aims to get the students involved in speaking activities. Memorizing a list of idioms or
expressions is not always the best solution to learn a foreign language, but using them in
conversation can be both a funny and an easy way to remember them. Students will
probably remember such activities as being extraordinary for a long time.

2. STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER

This paper is intended to demonstrate the large applicability of acquiring idioms in


learning the English language as a foreign language and an efficient method of learning,
that of role-playing. Although there are lots of resources of introducing the idiomatic
expressions in learning English, the role-playing method is still very little used in class as
there might appear some disturbances among students and the teacher must be well
prepared to face and avoid such unpleasant situations. Knowledge can be acquired not only
through classical methods of learning but also through modern ones, students are always
opened to trying something new. The conclusion will point out that greater emphasis should
be placed on teaching idioms, as features of spoken, informal English and role-playing, as
an interactive way of learning the English language.
The paper has five main parts, each of them dealing with different aspects of
vocabulary, the last one focusing on the topic of my thesis. I have been using such types of
activities in class during my research and I have been noticing how they have been used by
students.
The first part, Introducing to Lexicology, is a short introduction into the language
and a historical approach of using the language as a means of communication.
The second part, the Word, is a short insight into the lexical aspects of the English
language, starting with the definition of the word and the meaning of the words as lexical
units. It continues with a brief analysis of morphemes as the minimum carriers of meaning
and with the semantic changes the word undergoes depending on context and co-text. In the
Expressiveness subchapter I attempted a short comparison between clich, jargon, argot,
slang, euphemism as features of informal language.
The third main part of my paper is the main issue of the topic, introducing idioms,
referring to definitions, their origin, their importance, and the last but not the least issue, the
problem of translation, establishing to what extend should the mother tongue be used in
learning the English language as a foreign language.
5

The fourth part constitutes the Methodological Aspects of Teaching Vocabulary,


Teaching Methods. Here I took into consideration the different principles of language
teaching/language learning that an experienced and trained teacher has to have in mind
when designing the plan for the teaching learning process. The general frame of teaching
methods and approaches developed in the 20th century and which led to the appearance of
an Eclectic Approach- a combination of the positive aspects from all the previous ones, will
particularize into vocabulary learning techniques and activities that are presently being used
in foreign language classes. Planning and preparation refers to the setting of objectives that
are to be fulfilled and the sequences of stages in a foreign language lesson. Here, I also
included a lesson plan sample that can be taken into account when designing a lesson or an
activity within a lesson.
The fifth chapter deals with the teaching method using the role-play. Teaching
idioms through role-play represents the experimental stage and it is meant to prove the
applicability of role-playing as a useful technique in teaching idioms. Testing Idioms deals
with ways of assessing the knowledge acquired by students in order to further improve
teaching and learning techniques.
I have also considered that this paper can be used as a teaching aid in class, so the
Appendix contains two parts: English Idioms Related to (dealing with the explanations of
the meanings of a series of idioms and idiomatic expressions) and Practising is Knowing
( giving a wide range of exercises meant to be used on three different levels ).

1. INTRODUCTION TO LEXICOLOGY

1.1.Language and Speech: General Overview


Language is a system of arbitrary linguistic symbols. It consists of words
organized in a system of grammatical patterns established by long usage, understood and
used by a large social community in the process of communication. The system of any
language is the result of a long, spontaneous and gradual organization, characterized by
many changes made by innumerable generations in the practice of speaking. One cannot
study `language `in general, as there are only individual languages, e.g. English, Romanian,
Russian, languages being different from each other. When statements are made about
`languages in general, they refer to linguistics universals, theoretical entities which result
from a `philosophical` approach to language problems, which tries to identify a list of
common properties of several languages.
In his famous Cours de linguistique generale , Ferdinand de Saussure insisted
upon the concepts of langue, langage, and parole. The quotations will be given in the
English version of Saussure`s course: `But what is language (langue)? It is not to be
confused with human speech (langage), of which it is only a definite part, though certainly
an essential one. It is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of
necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body to permit individuals to
exercise that faculty`. (Ferdinand de Saussure, 1974, p.9). `Execution is always
individual, and the individual is always its master: I shall call the executive side speaking
(parole) (Ferdinand de Saussure, 1974, p.13).
Though Ferdinand de Saussure`s distinctions between language, seen as a system,
and speech and writing as actual manifestations of language were felt by some linguists as
being a little rigid, they have brought an important contribution to the development of
linguistics and in defining the research field of the science of language. According to
Saussure, `If we could embrace the sum of word-images stored in the minds of all
individuals, we could identify the social bond that constitutes language. It is a storehouse
7

filled by the members of a given community through their active use of speaking, a
grammatical system that has a potential existence in each brain, or, more specifically, in the
brains of a group of individuals. For language is not complete in any speaker; it exists
perfectly only within a collectivity. In separating language from speaking we are at the
same time separating: (1) what is social from what is individual; and (2) what is essential
from what is accessory and more or less accidental. Language is not a function of the
speaker; it is a product that is passively assimilated by the individual. Speaking, on
the contrary, is an individual act. It is willful and intellectual`. (Ferdinand de Saussure,
1974, pp 13-14)
Saussure conceived language as the social side of speech, as the achievement of a
social and cultural collectivity, of a mass of people. It is true that every speaker must learn
the system of the language he speaks, the vocabulary of that language, and the set of
patterns that constitutes its grammatical rules. Although any speaker must follow the
structure of the language, and he must use its vocabulary, no individual is able to acquire
during his life-time the complete vocabulary of a language or to use all the possibilities of
combination of that language. The complete inventory of words and possible grammatical
combinations is mastered only by the whole community speaking that language.
For all these reasons, later linguists tried to enlarge Saussure`s theory and they
created some other linguistic notions that correspond to the Saussurian dichotomy. Such
notions are code (corresponding to language) and message (corresponding to speech). The
generative-transformational grammar introduced two other notions: competence and
performance. According to Noam Chomsky, `A distinction must be made between what the
speaker of a language knows implicitly (what we call his competence) and what he does
(his performance). A grammar, in the traditional view, is an account for competence. It
describes and attempts to account for the ability of a speaker to understand an arbitrary
sentence of his language and to produce an appropriate sentence on a given occasion. The
competence of the speaker-hearer can, ideally, be expressed as a system of rules that relate
signals to semantic interpretations of these signals. The problem for linguistic theory is to
discover general properties of any system of rules that may serve as the basis for human
language, that is to elaborate in detail what we may call, in traditional terms, the general
form of language that underlines each particular realization, each particular natural
language.` ( Chomsky, Noam, 1975, pp 9-10 ) In the Chomskyan theory, the relation
8

between competence and performance is a central problem, as `Performance provides


evidence for the investigation of competence. At the same time, a primary interest in
competence entails no disregard for the facts of performance and the problem of explaining
these facts. On the contrary, it is difficult to see how performance can be seriously studied
except on the basis of an explicit theory of the competence that underlines it, and, in fact,
contributions to the understanding of performance have largely been by-products of the
study of grammars that represent competence.` (Chomsky, Noam, 1975, p. 10)
Though Noam Chomsky owes much to Saussure, it is evident that in his approach
he tries to remedy what he considers to stand against the development of his theory. While
Saussure focuses on the study of language as a system, Noam Chomsky points out that `a
generative grammar is a system of rules that relate signals to semantic interpretations of
these signals. It is descriptively adequate to the extent that this pairing corresponds to the
competence of the idealized speaker-hearer. The idealization is ( in particular ) that in the
study of grammar we abstract away from the many other factors ( e.g. memory limitations,
distractions, changes of intention in the course of speaking, etc. ) that interact with
underlying competence to produce actual performance.` ( Chomsky, Noam, 1975, p. 12 )
1.2.Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics
Lexicology is that branch of linguistics which studies the vocabulary of a given
language and deals with the structure, history and meaning of its words.
The term lexicology is of Greek origin. It derives from the words lexicos, meaning `word`
and logos `science`, `teaching`, `branch of learning`. Sometimes in British and American
universities the phrase word study is used synonymously with the term lexicology, but
lexicology is nowadays more comprehensive, as it includes the study of word equivalents,
i.e. phrases.
General lexicology considers words and phrases belonging to various languages,
the study having thus a general character. It tries to establish linguistic universals (pattern
of structural features) considered to common borrowing during various stages of
development, evolution in the meaning of words, morphological and syntactical traits and
their modifications, etc. The diachronic approach permits a better understanding of a
language, by identifying basic tendencies of development in the past, and considering
prospects for future development.
9

The correct understanding of the history of a language is important in achieving a


sound conception concerning the linguistic problems, avoiding arbitrary interpretations
regarding `superior` and `inferior` forms of language. No linguistic form can be considered
`superior` to others from a strictly linguistic point of view. The social status of linguistic
forms is different from their linguistic function. Dialectal words, for example, are in no
respect inferior to standard ones, serving communication within the limits of a national
language, or international communication. The difference is in the status, but, as far as
`correctness` is concerned, they are equal to each other.
The tendency of specialization, manifested in all fields of human activity, explains
why lexicologists may be divided into specialists in the earlier periods of language
development, and researchers specialized in present-day evolution of languages. Though
the former group might seem to adopt only the diachronic approach to language problems,
they use, in fact, both methods of research, pointing out the characteristic traits of each
stage of development. On the other hand, the researcher of present-day English must take
into consideration the latest developments in language, though his work is basically
synchronic, the diachronic view-point cannot be ignored. Language has a past, a present
and a future, and any linguistic theory, including the lexicological one, cannot ignore them
without missing the point.
The diachronic approach prevails in the study of etymology, the branch of
lexicology that studies the word origins.
The words if a language may be either of a native origin ( including coinages based
on internal resources ), or they may be borrowed from other languages ( including
translation loans, that is words and phrases coined on the basis of the native lexical
resources, but according to foreign patterns ).
The etymological study of words comprises phonological, morphological and
semantic aspects, as it may deal with phonological changes that took place in a language
(both in native and in borrowed words), paradigmatic relations among words, and changes
of meaning.
The synchronic approach prevails in the lexical morphology of present-day
English, which studies lexical units, phraseology, word-building (e.g. derivation,
10

composition, contraction, blending, back formation) and in semantics (the branch of


lexicology that studies the meanings of words and phrases. The diachronic approach can be
involved in the study of the changes in their meaning).
Semantics, which has acquired the leading place in modern lexicology, may be, in
its turn, divided into morphosemantics ( connected with morphological aspects of wordmeaning ), lexicosemantics ( connected with the meaning of lexemes ), and syntactic
semantics, also called semantic syntax ( which studies the taxonomic hierarchies, i.e. the
way sememes must be combined in order to form meaningful and not nonsensical
utterances.
Lexicologistics deals with the expressive side of a language, discussing the stylistic
values of the various lexical strata in a language, the function of figures of speech, and
other similar aspects concerning the vocabulary of a language.
Another important branch of lexicology is lexicography, which deals with the
compiling of dictionaries. Interest in lexicological study has been very much stimulated by
the work of lexicographers, who needed a theoretical support in their work. The history of
English lexicology is closely connected with the development of lexicology in England, but
nowadays the recent developments in semantics determine modifications in the work of
dictionary makers, suggesting new lines of evolution, which are already evident in planning
of the dictionaries of the future.
There are schools of linguistics which were only diachronic. They follow the
methods of research work imposed by the representatives of the comparative method, such
an example being offered by the school of semantic reconstruction, by etymologists from
all over the world, and by those who study semantic primitives, largely discussed by
Descartes, Pascal and Leibnitz in the 17 th century and revived in the 20 th century (E. Sapir,
Swadesh, M. Bierwisch, Zolkovskij, E. Coseriu ). Other schools favour the synchronic
approach, e.g., the Prague School ( Roman Jakobson ),the structural American school
(Leonard Bloomfield, Ch. Hockett, Kenneth L. Pike ), and the German school of linguistics
represented by J. Trier, L.Weisgerber and E. Leisi, or the English school represented by R.
Quirk, S. Greenbaum and J. Svartvik, as well as the transformational generative grammar
school of Noam Chomsky and his followers.
11

The dispute between synchronic and diachronic researchers has never stopped since
the appearance at the end of the 19th century of synchronic descriptive linguistics and its
rapid development at the beginning of the 20th century. Henry Sweet, the Oxford
phonetician who inspired Bernard Shaw in creating the famous character Henry Higgins in
`Pygmalion`, demonstrated in 1876 the need for a synchronic approach: `Before history
must come a knowledge of what exists. We must learn to observe things as they are,
without regard to their origin, just as a zoologist must learn to describe accurately a horse or
another animal. Nor would the mere statement that the modern horse is a descendant of a
three-toed marsh quadruped be accepted as an exhaustive description.. Such
however is the course being pursued by most antiquarian philologists`. (Apaud Valerie
Adams, 1973, p. 4)
Because of its large field of research and complexity of its study, lexicology plays
an important part in the development of linguistics and it occupies an outstanding place
among social sciences. Its contribution to the understanding of the processes of
communication is essential, and the modern developments in the field of semantics have led
to rapid progress in computational linguistics, including the field of mechanical translation.
Future progress in the field of lexicology will permit this discipline to increase its
contribution to the development of social life and the evolution of new technological
devices meant to facilitate communication.

12

2. WORD STUDY
2.1. The Word. Morpheme. Meaning. Root. Stem. Affix.
The Word
The definition of the word, as we can find it in Webster`s Encyclopedic Dictionary
sounds as follows:
`a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written
representation, that can stand as a complete utterance or can be separated from the elements
that accompany it in an utterance by other such units. Words are composed of one or more
morphemes with relative freedom to enter into syntactic constructions, and are either the
smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined
under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent which distinguishes
blackbird from black bird. Words are typically thought of as representing an indivisible
concept, action, or feeling, or as having a single referent, are usually separated by spaces in
writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages`.
(1996: 1643)
According to The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles it is `
An element of speech: a combination of vocal sounds, or one such sound, used in a
language to express an idea (e.g., to denote a thing, attribute, or relation), and constituting
an ultimate minimal element of having a meaning as such`.
Webster`s Third New International Dictionary defines it as `A speech sound or a
series of speech sounds that symbolises and communicates a meaning without being
divisible into smaller units capable of independent use: linguistic form that is a minimum of
form`, `the entire set of linguistic forms produced by combining a single base with various
inflectional elements (as affixes) without change in the part of speech`.
According to Dicionarul limbii romne, the word is ` an element of human speech
(consisting of a phoneme or a complex of phonemes) to which a meaning is attached, which

13

is liable to grammatical usage, and which can be understood by human group structured in
a historical community`.
No matter how short or long a word is, i.e., of how many morphemes it consists,
we cannot identify it in a sequence of words that make a discourse, unless it is known by us
in advance. This implies the knowledge of the language within which words are identified,
or else they remain unrecognised. This is due to the fact that each word has a double face:
symbol and reference. Other terms expressing this relationship are significant and signifie,
form and meaning, or expression and content. All these terms highlight the same idea.
Morpheme
Morphology is the study of morphemes and their arrangements in forming words.
Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units which may constitute words or parts of
words. They are `smallest` or `minimal` in the sense that they cannot be broken down
further on the basis of meaning, as Katamba puts it : `morphemes are the atoms with which
words are built` ( Katamba 1994, p. 34 quoted in Jackson and Amvela 2000, p. 2 ). They
are` meaningful ` because we can specify the kind of relationship they have with the nonlinguistic world.
We consider the following items: cat, child, with, sleeping, armchairs, farmer. A
close examination shows that cat, child and with cannot be analysed further as `sleep + ing`,
` `arm + chair +s`, and `farm + er`. The items cat, child, with, sleep, -ing, arm, chair, -s,
farm, and er are all morphemes. Some are simple words such as cat, child, with, sleep,
arm, chair, and farm, while others are only parts of words such as ing, -s, and er. On the
one hand, they are minimal, since they cannot be broken down into further meaningful
units; on the other hand, they are meaningful, because they can establish a stable
relationship between each item and the non-linguistic world of experience. For example, the
references of cat, farm, and chair can be explained by pointing or acting out the meaning as
in `This is a chair`, or `That is a farm`, `It is a domestic animal that goes `` miaow```. The
meaning of with may be given as `in company of`, `in antagonism to`; that of s as `plural`;
while that of er may be expressed as follows: `-er combines with the preceding lexical
item to designate things or persons with a function describable in terms of the meaning of

14

the preceding morpheme`. For example, the meaning of er in farmer and dreamer is
describable in terms of those of farm and dream with which the morpheme er is combined.
Morphemes that can occur alone as individual words are `free` morphemes. Those
that can occur only with another morpheme are `bound` morphemes. Thus, the morphemes
`cat`, `farm`, are free, while`-ing`, `-s`, and `-er` are bound, indicated by the hyphen (-).
Any concrete realization of a morpheme in a given utterance is called a `morph`. Hence, the
forms cat, chair, farm, -ing, -s, and er are all morphs.
An examination of a number of morphs may show that two or more morphs may
vary slightly and still have the same meaning. For example, the indefinite article may be
realized either as a or as an, depending on the sound (not the letter) at the beginning of the
following word. Morphs which are different representations of the same morpheme are
referred to as `allomorphs `of that morpheme (from Greek allo `other` and morph `form` ).
For example:
a context vs. an index
a battle vs. an apple
a union vs. an onion.
The allomorphs a, and its counterpart an are mutually exclusive and are said to be
in complementary `distribution`- the total set of linguistic contexts in which a given form
occurs, sometimes under different morphological shapes. For example, the distribution of
the indefinite article described above may be defined as: a before consonant sounds (e.g. a
battle) and an before vowel sounds (e.g. an apple).
We now turn our attention to the relation between morphology on the one hand, and
simple, complex, and compound words on the other. Simple words such as door, knob wild
animal are all free morphemes. They are therefore morphologically unanalysable. Complex
(or derived) words such as spoonful, wildish, reanimate, mentally, farmer are formed from
simpler words by the addition of affixes or some other kind of morphological modification.
The limiting case for complex words is that of zero modification or conversion as in
answer, call, and question, which may be either nouns or verbs, or clean, dirty, and dry,
which may be either adjectives or verbs, without the addition of further sounds/letters.
Compound words, or simply compounds, are formed by combining two or more words

15

( free morphemes) with or without morphological modification, e.g. door-knob,


cheeseburger, pound saver, wild-animal-tamer. It should be pointed out that the distinction
between word compound (solid and hyphenated) and phrasal compound (open) is not very
clear in English. This fact is reflected by the inconsistency with which spaces and hyphens
are used with compounds in written English (Jackson and Amvela, 2000, pp. 3-4)
Meaning
Meaning differentiation dictates almost everything at all the other levels of the
language, starting with the status of phonemes and finishing with the purpose of
communication, discourse, stylistic function and translation equivalent.
There are at least two possible types of meaning which can be conveyed by both
morphemes and words: a functional meaning and another sort of meaning, which, for
words, could be called lexical meaning, whereas with morphemes it is called derivational
meaning.
Functional meaning is a feature shared by both words and morphemes which
signals that some grammatical category operates at that point in the utterance. For instance,
the appearance of -ing signals the presence of the progressive aspect; -s has the triple
meaning: plural, genitive and third person singular Indicative Present. Such words as the,
an, signal definiteness or non-definiteness of what follows.
Derivational meaning is exclusively an attribute of morphemes and signals the
morpho-syntactic group to which a word containing that morpheme belongs. For example,
-ness signals a noun, generally an abstract one; -ly differentiates the great bulk of adverbs
and a few adjectives from the rest of the words; -ate shows a verb denoting activity of
doing something with an optional repetitive nuance. These are not what could be called full
lexical meanings because they do not denote notions.
Lexical meaning, notional meaning or full meaning is only an attribute of words
and refers to the concept (notion or object whose mental image they evoke). The
contradiction relies in the fact that some words consist of a morpheme, but there is only a
homonymy between morphemes and words consisting of a morpheme. A morpheme is
characterized fundamentally by its combinatory valence, that is, by its liability to be
16

attached to other morphemes, which thus become stems. A word does not have any
combinatory valence; it is a set structure to which nothing can be added and from which
nothing can be removed any more. (Ttaru, 2002, p. 12)
Root
The root is the basic morpheme from which a word is derived by phonetic changes
or replacive (as in mouse mice, drive - drove driven), which is irreductible from a
morphological viewpoint, is common to all words from the same association group (family
of words), and bears the meaning of the word. In the association group synonym,
synonymic, synonymics, synonymity, synonymicon, synonymies, synonymy, the root is
synonym, because it is the element which remains after the removal of all endings.
Roots are, thus, the necessary and sufficient structural constituent for a word to
exist; they are free forms if they are homonymous to a word in the language and carry the
notional meaning on this word into the new word they form.
Stem
The stem is the part of an inflected word that takes part in the formation of new
word, usually a more complex one in its structure, and which remains unchanged
throughout a given inflection. The stem may be either identical with the root, or derived
from the root with the help of a formative suffix.
Affix
The affix is an addition to the stem or root in order to build a new word. It is a
prefix when the addition stands at the beginning of a word, and it is a suffix when the
addition stands at the end of a word. The process of using affixes is called affixation. It is a
very productive way of word-building in English. Affixes are all bound forms and they can
be derivational or functional, according to the type of meaning they convey and to their
function.
When one affix has been stripped away from the word, what we obtain is the stem
of that word. Or, putting it conversely, the stem of a word is that part of it from which one
can obtain the given word by adding one more affix to it.
17

Ttaru explains the meaning of stem in the following example ( 2002, p. 23 ):


For instance, should we consider the word imponderability, one possible stem of
this word is- ponderability, while another is imponderability-, The first stem is
homonymous to a word, consequently it is free. Should we consider its homonym,
ponderability, its stem is ponderabil-, a bound stem, at first sight, if one does not consider
the fact that, because of etymological reasons (), the homonymy with ponderable is not
apparent.
Roots are, consequently, what remains of a word after all affixes have been
removed and their fundamental characteristic is that they are not further divisible into other
constituent parts that should have a meaning. Unless they are combining forms, roots have
notional meaning. They can form new words by becoming stems.

2.2. Word Groups: Collocation. Phrasal Verbs. Sayings. Proverbs


Collocation
Within the area of corpus linguistics, collocation defines a sequence of words or
terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance. The term is often used in
the same sense as linguistic government.
Collocations defines restrictions on how words can be used together, for example,
which prepositions are used with (` governed by` ) particular verbs, or which verbs and
nouns are typically used together. An example of this (from Michael Halliday) is the
collocation strong tea. While the same meaning could be conveyed through the roughly
equivalent powerful tea, the fact is that tea is thought of being strong rather than powerful.
A similar observation holds for powerful computers, which is preferred over strong
computers.
Collocations are example of lexical units. Collocations should not be confused with
idioms although both are similar in that there is a degree of meaning present in the
collocation or idiom that is not entirely compositional. With idioms, the meaning is
completely non-compositional whereas collocations are mostly compositional.
18

Collocation extraction is a task that extracts collocations automatically from a


corpus, using computational linguistics.
Common features
There is an arbitrary restriction on the substitution of the elements of a collocation.
We can say highly sophisticated, and we can say extremely happy. Both adverbs have the
same lexical functions, that is adding the degree, of magnifying the impact of the adjectives
(sophisticated, happy). However, they are not interchangeable. Still, other adverbs, such as
very can replace both highly and extremely.

Syntactic modifiability
Unlike the majority of idioms, collocations are subject to syntactic modification.
For example, we can say effective writing and write effectively.
Expanded definition
If the expression heard often, transmitting itself mimetically, the words become
`glued` together in our minds. `Crystal clear`, `middle management`, `nuclear family` and
`cosmetic surgery` are examples of collocated pairs of words. Some words are often found
together because they make up a compound noun, for example `riding boots` or `motor
cyclist`.
Collocations can be in a syntactic relation (such as verb-object: `make` and
`decision`, lexical relation (such as antonymy), or they can be in no linguistically defined
relation. Knowledge of collocations is vital for the component use of a language: a
grammatically correct sentence will stand out as ` awkward` if collocational preferences are
violated. This makes collocation an interesting area for language teaching.
Collocations may be set expressions and free combinations. Set expressions are a
succession of words that must be learned as if they were a single word. They cannot be
divided into their constituent elements without destroying their meaning. Between their
parts of a set expression there is an intrinsic connection, i.e., its elements cannot be replaced
by other elements without changing the meaning of the remaining elements. The meaning
19

of a collocation is usually expressed by a single word. From a grammatical point of view,


collocations are complex parts of speech.
Phrasal Verbs
A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and adverb, or
a verb with both an adverb and a preposition, any of which are part of the syntax of the
sentence, and so they are a complete semantic unit. Sentences may contain direct and
indirect objects in addition to the phrasal verb. Phrasal verbs are particularly frequent in the
English language. A phrasal verb often has a meaning which is different from the original
verb.
According to Tom McArthur: `.. the term `phrasal verb` was first used by Logan
Pearsall Smith ( 1925 ), in which he states that the OED Editor Henry Bradley suggested
the term to him.`
Alternative terms for phrasal verb are `compound verb`, `verb-adverb
combination`, `verb-particle construction`, Am. E. `two-part word/verb` and `three-part
word/verb` (depending on the number of particles ), and multi-word verb ( McArthur, 1992,
pp. 72-76 ).
Prepositions and adverbs used in a phrasal verb are also called particles in that they
do not alter their form through inflections (are therefore uninflected: they do not accept
affixes). Because of the idiomatic nature of phrasal verbs, they are often subject to
preposition stranding.
Phrasal verbs in informal speech
Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the
more formal Latinate verbs, such as `to get together` rather than `to congregate`, `to put off`
rather than `to postpone`, or `to get out`, rather than `to exit`.
Literal usage
Many verbs in English can be combined with an adverb or a preposition, and
readers or listeners will easily understand a phrasal verb used in a literal sense with a
preposition: `He walked across the square`.
20

Verb and adverb constructions can also easily be understood when used literally:
`She opened the shutters and looked outside`.
`When he heard the crash, he looked up`.
An adverb in a literal phrasal verb modifies the verb it is attached to, and a preposition
links the verbs to the object.
Idiomatic usage
It is, however, the figurative or idiomatic application in everyday speech which
makes phrasal verbs so important.
`I hope you will get over your operation quickly`.
`Work hard, and get your examination over with`.
The literal meaning of `to get over`, in the sense of `to climb over something to get
to the other side`, no longer applies to explain the subject`s enduring an operation or the
stress of an examination which they have to overcome. It is when the combined meaning of
verb plus adverb, or verb plus preposition is totally different from each of its component
parts, that the semantic content of the phrasal verb cannot be predicted by its constituent
parts and so becomes much more difficult for a student learning English to recognize.
In her introduction to Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, What This Dictionary
Contains, Rosemary Courtney includes a third category.
Idioms which are formed from phrasal verbs, such as let the cat out of the bag.
These idioms are printed in heavy type. Idioms have a meaning which is different from the
meaning of the single words, and usually have a fixed word order. (Courtney, 1989).
Courtney then cites among many other examples in the dictionary such phrases as:
to add insult to injury, to add fuel to the flames, to leave someone in the lurch, to scare
someone out of their wits etc.
Phrasal verb pattern
A phrasal verb contains either a preposition or an adverb (or both), and may also
combine with one or more nouns or pronouns.
Particle verbs
Phrasal verbs that contain adverbs are sometimes called `particle verbs`, and are
related to separable verbs in other Germanic languages. There are two main patterns:
intransitive and transitive. An intransitive particle verb does not have an object.
21

`When I entered the room he looked up`.


A transitive particle verb has a nominal object in addition to the adverb. If the object
is an ordinary noun, it can usually appear on either side of the adverb, although very long
noun phrases tend to come after the adverb:
Switch off the light.
Switch the light off.
Switch off the lights in the hallway next to the bedroom in which the president is sleeping.
With some transitive particle verbs, however, the noun object must come after the
adverb. Such examples are said to involve `inseparable` phrasal verbs:
The gas gave off fumes. (not `The gas gave fumes off `).
According to Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, AnglaisFrancais, (1998), still other transitive particle verbs require the object to precede the
adverb, even when the object is a long noun phrase:
`I cannot tell the dogs apart`. (not `I cannot tell apart the dogs`. )
`I cannot tell the bulldogs and the pugs who look like them apart`.
However, some authors (Fraser, Bruce, 1976, p.19) say that the particle must be
adjacent to the verb whenever the noun phrase is lengthy and complicated. With all
transitive particle verbs, if the object is a pronoun, it must, with just one type of exception,
precede the adverb.
Switch it off. (not `Switch off it.`)
The smell put them off. (not `put off them.` )
They let him through. (not `they let through him.` )
The exception (Fraser, Bruce, 1976, pp.17-20) occurs if direct object is
contrastively stressed, as in
Figure out THESE, not THOSE.
Gorlach Gorlach ( 2004, p. 40 ) asserts that the position of the nominal object before
or after the adverb has a subtle effect on the degree to which the phrase has resultative
implication, as seen in this example involving the simple verb eat and the phrasal verb eat
up:
to eat the apple ( neutral for result ).
to eat up the apple ( greater possibility for result ).
to eat the apple up ( compulsory claim for result ).

22

Prepositional verbs
Prepositional verbs are phrasal verbs that contain a preposition, which is always
followed by its nominal object. They are different from inseparable transitive particle verbs,
because the object still follows the preposition if it is a pronoun:
On Fridays, we look after our grandchildren.
We look after them. (not `look them after`. )
The verb can have its own object, which usually precedes the preposition.
She helped the boy to an extra portion of potatoes.
With pronouns: She helped him to some.
Prepositional verbs with two prepositions are possible:
We talked to the minister about the crisis.
Phrasal-prepositional verbs
A phrasal verb can contain an adverb and a preposition at the same time. Again, the
verb itself can have a direct object:
no direct object: The driver got off to a flying start.
direct object: Onlookers put the accident down to the driver`s loss of concentration.
Phrasal verbs and modifying adverbs
When modifying adverbs are used alongside particle adverbs intransitively (as
particle/adverb positions):
`He unhappily looked round`.
`He looked unhappily round`.
`He looked round unhappily`.
The particle adverb here is `round` and the modifying adverb is `unhappily`.
(`Round` is a particle because it is not inflected-does not take affixes and alter its form.
(`Unhappily` is a modifying adverb because it modifies the verb `look` ). With a transitive
particle verb, the adverb goes either before the verb or after the object or particle,
whichever is last:
`He cheerfully picked the book up`.
`He picked up the book cheerfully`. ( not `picked cheerfully up the book` )
23

`He picked the book up cheerfully`.


Prepositional verbs are different from transitive particle verbs, because they allow adverbs
to appear between the verb and the preposition|
`He cheerfully looked after the children`.
`He looked after the children cheerfully`.
`He looked cheerfully after the children`.
Phrasal verbs combined with wh-clauses and that-clauses.
Sentences which include verb+particle+object(s)+wh-clauses
`The teacher tries to dictate to his class what the right thing to do is`= transitive
verb+preposition (dictate to) + indirect object (his class) + wh-clause ( what the right thing
to do is ).
`My friends called for me when the time came`=transitive verb+preposition (called for)
+pronoun (me) +indirect object ( his class )+wh-clause ( when the time came ).
`Watch out that you don`t hit your head on the low beam`.=intransitive verb+adverb ( watch
out )+that-clause ( that you don`t hit your head on the low beam.)
Phrasal verbs combined with verb-ing forms:
`You can`t prevent me from seeing her.`= transitive verb+pronoun (prevent me)
+preposition ( from )+verb-ing form ( seeing )+pronoun ( her ).

Sayings and Proverbs


Sayings and proverbs belong to the same literary genre as the aphorism, the
maxim, the apophthegm and the paradox.
While aphorisms, maxims and paradoxes usually imply known authorship, even if
the user does not know their author, proverbs are common property. Sometimes they are
nothing other than aphorisms, maxims, etc. which gained a large circulation and a fixed
form. In Shakespeare`s plays there are several aphorisms which circulate as proverbs. It is
not sure whether Shakespeare borrowed them from popular wisdom or if, on the contrary,
Shakespeare`s large popularity determined their adoption and changed into common
property.

24

Another important source of proverbs is folk-lore. That is why many proverbs and
sayings may be met in different languages with little modifications, while others are
entirely different. Religion, and especially the `Bible`, ancient and medieval culture and
social life of many nations favoured the sharing of a large stock of proverbs, while the
characteristics of every nation and the specific national language structure encouraged
differences in expression.
The term proverb is the more specific of the two, stressing the epigrammatic
character of the statement and that it is a popular byword. Saying is more general, pointing
out first that it is something that is said: this way it can be attributed to a specific person or
be a commonly repeated and generally accepted statement, e.g., a proverb.
Most English sayings and proverbs cannot be translated into Romanian word by
word; they must be replaced by the Romanian equivalent word by word; they must be
replaced by the Romanian equivalent of the idiom, e.g.,
`A bad excuse is better than none`- `Mai bun o scuz ticluit dect una nerostit`,
`A bad penny always comes back`- `Banul ru ntotdeanu se ntoarce`
`A fool knows more in his own house than a wise man in another`s` - `Un prost tie mai
multe despre casa sa dect un nelept despre casa altuia.`
`All is not gold that glitters`- `Nu tot ce zboar se mnnc`,
`Don`t cry over spilt milk` - `Ce-i fcut e bun fcut`,
`As you make your bed, so you shall lie on it` - `Cum i aterni, aa vei dormi`,
`Where there`s a will, there`s a way` - `Cine vrea, poate`.
`You can`t have your cake and eat it too` - `i cu varza uns i cu slnina n pod nu se
poate`. ( Dent, 1969 ).
Proverbs are more obvious in speech and writing because there is an incongruity
between the literal meaning of a proverb and the context to which it refers. When we say
`You can`t have your cake and eat it` we are not usually referring to literal cake. We are
using the proverb as a graphic way of saying to someone that they have to choose one of
two options; they cannot have the advantages of choosing both. Proverbs represent a
common cultural fund of folk knowledge and wisdom that we can call on to warn or
reprimand someone in the assurance that they will accept the basis of this common wisdom
where a more direct personal approach would fail. Or we use proverbs to comment on or
25

come to terms with life`s experiences; e.g. `You can`t win them all`, said as a consolidation
following a disappointment or failure. Here are some examples of prverbs: e.g. A bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush is used when we may have the opportunity of some
advantage immediately but might prefer to wait for a supposed greater though by no means
certain advantage in the future. People who live in glass houses shouldn`t throw stones it
is used when speaking of someone who supposedly suffers from the same fault they are
criticizing in another. A stich in time saves nine is used to persuade someone to take
immediate action before procrastination may mean that a task will be more difficult and
complex than it is now.

2.3.Association. Comparison. Resemblance: Metaphor. Metonymy. Synecdoche


Metaphor
Figures of speech have been associated for a long time with the idea of semantic
change. Aristotel in `The Poetics` considered that to make good metaphors implied an eye
for resemblance, which was considered a mark of genius.
Since the Stagirite`s remark, the logico-rhetorical classifications have proliferated.
They show unquestionable didactic advantages, but, on the other hand, they fail in
explaining the cause of semantic changes. The importance of the study of metaphoric
transfers of meaning was pointed out by Vossler, who said that`it is metaphor which must
be the sole concern of the linguist in his investigation of semantic change` (quoted by
Stephen Ullman, 1967, p. 208)
Two things can be connected by human mind in various ways. A first obvious type
of association is that represented by simile, e.g., as old as the hills, as good as gold, a heart
as hard as flint, cheeks like roses.
Metaphor also involves the process of comparison, but it is not an explicit one, in
which there is an exchange between the meanings of two words. In a metaphor, a word is
used to mean something different from what it usually means, this phenomenon being
possible because of an implied resemblance.
26

According to C. K. Ogden and I.A. Richards (p. 111), `Whenever a term is taken
outside the universe of discourse for which it has been defined, it becomes a metaphor, and
may be in need of fresh definition. Though there is more in metaphor than life, we have
here an essential feature of symbolic metaphorical language`.
In another definition, I. A. Richards (1936, p. 93) considers that ` In the simplest
formulation, when we use a metaphor we have two thoughts of different things active
together and supported by a simple word, or phrase, whose meaning is resultant of their
interaction`. I.A. Richards draws attention upon the danger of interpreting metaphor only as
a `verbal matter, a shifting and displacement of words, whereas fundamentally it is a
borrowing between intercourse of thoughts, a transaction between contexts. Thought is
metaphor, and it proceeds by comparison, and the metaphors of language derive therefrom`.
Stephen Ullman ( 1966, p. 152 ) reinforces this idea on a related plane when he says
that ` many of the most convincing images in poetry and even in prose are inseparable
from the idea they express, and the latter could never have arisen without the metaphor in
which it is embodied. Perhaps one should go even further. Language and thought are not
only indissoluble intertwined, but they may actually stimulate each other..`
Linguistic metaphors have in most cases a different functional status. They do not
replace names, but they are the names themselves, as the thing talked about has no other
name. When one talks of a radar beam, or a razor`s edge, of a bluebell, a rainbow, a
forget-me-not, of a scarecrow, when one says that somebody `has been brain-washed`, or
that `somebody said a left-handed compliment`, when one calls somebody a Shakespeare, a
Robinson Crusoe, a Machiavelli, etc., there is practically no way of saying the same thing
in another way, except by using a metalinguistic process. Even when there are synonymic
forms, they can be other metaphors.

Metonymy and Synecdoche


The term metonymy comes from the Greek meta, meaning `change`, and onyma,
meaning `name`. Synecdoche is of Greek origin, too, coming from syn, meaning `together`,
and ekdechesthai, meaning `to receive`. Metonymy is a more general term than synecdoche,
27

including the latter when used in a broad sense. Various sources consider that metonymy
consists in the use of the name of one thing for that of something else, with which it is
usually associated. This can be a significant attribute of an object, or another object
organically connected to the former.
Metonymical semantic changes are based on relations which have already been
established between things and words, that is to say, there is a connection between a word
or phrase and the object or idea to which it refers. The metonymy board and bed means
`food served at table and lodging`. Board was used for a long time with the meaning ` a
table used for meals`, a bed is an essential element in the accommodation for rest at night,
i.e., for `lodging`. The transfer of names is evidently based on conceptual associations of
the contiguity type, and not on those of similarity type. The relations between the elements
are not established through a mental process that links independent things. In metonymy the
two elements are in a certain proximity, or contact.
Though various modern studies concentrate mainly on the referential function on
metonymy, on its providing understanding and linguistic substitution by offering access to
another concept, one should never forget that language rejects perfect synonymy, no matter
in what field it tends to manifest itself. There is absolutely no reason to create a new
linguistic symbol, be it metonym, unless there is the slightest difference in connotation,
which concerns the expressive side of language. Obviously the one who says `He has
chosen the bottle` has something more to say than that somebody is a user of alcoholic
drink. Even if the stylistic implications may be sometimes overlooked by the long use of
some metonyms, their creation and even their subconscious use by speakers has certain
stylistic implications. To illustrate it, one will call somebody a Philistine only one
condemns a person who is unreceptive to or hostile towards culture and arts. Without the
expressive dimension, any discussion of metonymy becomes academic, purely theoretical
or speculative and rigid.
Metonymies can affect idiomatic phrases as well. Some general examples are: to
earn one`s bread and butter/ crust, to give somebody a light, to give somebody a lift, to lose
one`s head, to know one`s own mind, as good as gold, etc.

28

Synecdoche is a special type of metonymy, consisting in the use of the part for the
whole, of a place what it represents, and of the whole for the part, or the genus is used for
the species and vice versa e.g.
army for `soldier`
eye, face for `person`
hand for `worker` and `work`
roof for `house`
printer`s ink for `printed text`
sail for `ship`, e.g.
He has no roof over his head.
He is a Conservative. (a member of the Conservative Party )
I remember all my Latin. (The Latin language which I was taught.)
It`s a road of blood and violence.
`Rome is a madman`s dream` (`the political power`, G. B. Shaw )
`I have left far behind the world, the flesh, and the devil`.(` the society`, `the dodily
pleasures`, `the temptation`, G.B. Shaw )
In such examples the individual object possesses the characteristics of the class to
which belongs or vice versa.

2.4. Expressiveness in Language: Colloquial Language. Clich. Jargon. Argot. Slang.


Euphemism
The first aim of any language is communication. When uttering a sentence, any
speaker tries to convey information and he does this by using words, which reveal their
meaning in different contexts. But any language has some linguistic features by means of
which any speaker may convey more than information. By using them he may express an
attitude, suggest a certain atmosphere or achieve a certain effect. All these elements belong
to the expressive side of language. In Stephen Ullmann`s words: `Everything that
transcends the purely referential and communicative side of language belongs to the
province of expressiveness. ( Ullmann, 1967, p. 101 )
29

No effective colouring can be rendered by any speaker apart from those which are
expressed by language, which is a collective and historical creation. On the other hand,
language provides the speaker with the necessary means to express his emotions and
attitudes, or with the means capable of creating the desired contextual atmosphere. These
means are found in the phonological, lexical and syntactical field, out of which any speaker
chooses the necessary means, according to his skill in using the given language. According
to the above mentioned fields, the stylistic study is commonly accepted as sharing three
aspects: the stylistics of the sound, the stylistics of the word, and the stylistics of the
sentence. ( Ullmann, 1967, p. 111 )

Colloquial Language
No living language is simply one set of words which can be used the same way in
all situations. The nature of language is such that there are an infinite variety of different
ways to arrange its elements. What this means is that there are many ways to say the same
thing, depending on where you are, who you are talking to, and how you feel. You are all
advanced that you do not talk to a roommate the same way you would talk to your roommate`s mother. You do not talk to a bartender the same way you would talk to judge. You do
not refuse a panhandler with the same words you use to refuse a second helping of mashed
potatoes at a formal dinner. One of the main factors which determine which words and
structures are appropriate is the degree of formality of the situation in which you are using
the language.
One of the most frequently used registers in everyday life is usually called
colloquial language. It is commonly the point of reference on the imaginary scale on which
various linguistic styles are placed. Its position is given by its particular place among the
other registers, since it is common level on which people communicate in speech. Though it
has no much prestige in the eyes of some people, nobody can find a specific fault with it. It
consists of a large number of colloquialisms, that is, words and phrases that are sometimes
idiomatic, and though predominant in familiar and informal speech, it is generally avoided
in polite conversation and business correspondence. Perhaps this is why the use of
colloquialisms establishes a certain familiarity between the speaker and the listener.
30

Though having a particular usage in Great Britain and in the United States,
colloquialisms are understood by nearly everyone in the English-speaking world.
Clich
Clich has, together with jargon, the lowest level of expressive force, somewhere
around 0. The former is also held as the lowest in public esteem, though, from a practical
point of view, it is commonly used by anyone.
Clich consists of a trite or stereotyped phrase or expression. It has been often
mocked at in works of various writers, but, nevertheless, it is considered to play a
prominent part in public speeches of different types.
Cliches might be regarded as kinds of ossified collocations. In certain contexts the
mutual expectancy of lexemes has become fixed. The result is a loss of meaning, because
there is no longer an element of choice or contrast. For example we ridicule estate agents`
advertisements for describing houses as `desirable residences`. The lexeme residence, itself
a high style synonym for house, seems to be always accompanied by desirable in a fixed
expression, and we read it no longer as having the meaning `desirable`+`residence`, but
merely as a pharaphrase for house: it has become a clich of estate agents`jargon. Similarly,
in postal advertising in particular the noun owner is invariably accompanied by the
adjective proud: `You could be the proud owner of a`. Other examples of cliches are: a
real bargain, an unbeatable offer, a genuine price reduction, difficult decisions, dangerous
precedents, real progress, flat refusal.

Jargon
Jargon is the technical or even secret vocabulary, the characteristic idiom of
specialists or workers in a particular activity or in an area of knowledge. In its capacity of
vocabulary of a science, art, sect or profession, it has no expressive force for those who
speak it, but it has gained a certain prestige among outsiders. This is especially the case of
medical terms, the medical jargon being one of the most highly developed. Though we
cannot speak nowadays of the secret character of this jargon, the truth is that it is
31

unintelligible to those who have not been trained to understand it. Though all scientific
fields develop own jargons, these are usually more accessible than the medical one.
Nevertheless, terms which are usually understood only by specialists are rather frequent.
We are to illustrate this through some terms taken from:
a). the field of linguistics, a science which usually has a terminology that is easily
understood. Such terms are idiolect, idiosyncracy, metalanguage, portmanteau, fricative,
competence, performance, deep and surface structure, transformation, etc.
b). the field of literature, such as picaresque, bathos, acrostic, burlesque, causerie,
meiosis, simile, metaphor, metonymy, etc.
c). the law, e.g., adjudge, agreed verdict, aid and abet, assay, disapprobation, electee,
fraud, judgement-roll, nonconstitutional, nonliability, made and signed, null and of no
effect, successor and assigns, etc.
d). political thought, e.g., civil society, deterrence, good offices, jurisprudence, minimax,
monism, peace and quiet, understood and agreed.
Nevertheless, it would be an exaggeration to claim that every scientific branch has
its own jargon. In fact, many of them share a lot of terms. For example, stimulus-response
may be met at the same time in the medical jargon, in the jargon of biologists or in the
pedagogical jargon.
The nearer the professions, the more terms they will share e.g., writers, journalists,
editors, and printers. The former two, on the one hand, and the latter two, on the other hand,
have more terms in common than writers with printers, as only a part of a writer`s jargon
coincides with that of a printer`s.
By jargon the linguist often means a hybrid speech of different languages or of a
certain class. Sailors, for example, very frequently use such mixture with the words of the
natives.
A pretentious and exoteric terminology is often used in scientific papers, in which
Latin and Greek terms are abundant. This can easily fall into gobbledygook, the jargon of
bureaucrats, which usually aims at concealing thoughts and makes language difficult to be
understood by outsiders.

32

In elevated conversation, fashionable words and phrases, especially taken from


French and Italian, reflect the taste of particular groups of people. It might be worth
mentioning that this tendency is by no means as common or widespread as it used to be,
because of the gradual decline in the status of French as the language of culture and
refinement par excellence.

Argot
The terms cant and argot are frequently used with the same sense as jargon. Cant
usually replaces three terms: argot, jargon and slang, being thus the most ambiguous of
them all.
Argot usually denotes the special vocabulary and idiom of a particular social group,
class or profession (we may speak of the argot of sports, the argot of teen-agers), but very
frequently it refers to the special vocabulary and idiom used by some underworld groups,
e.g., burglars, pickpockets, beggars, etc.
If jargon, understood as a professional language ( e.g., terms such as case,
pathology, Wassermann, blood count, etc. ) has no expressive force, argot, understood as
the speech of some underworld groups is, on the contrary, very expressive. The stylistic
value of this vocabulary is very high, as words usually express the speaker`s attitude, which
justifies the extensive use of metaphor.
SLANG
Slang is a subset of a language used by one particular group. It consists of words
and expressions which will not be found in the dictionary, and can be distortions of existing
words or entirely invented terms. It is used in informal situations. It is not appropriate in
formal situations.
Slang is used by all kinds of people who share situations or interests. The group
which uses these words are always in the minority, and often use slang to set themselves
apart to make it difficult for ordinary people to understand them. When a particular new
expression is known and used by a large majority of the population, it is no longer slang,
33

but part of the regular language or usage. Note: Slang and Informal English are NOT the
same. Some slang can be used in informal situations, and some of the words that can only
be used in informal situations are not slangs.
Slang fulfils at least two different functions, depending on whose point of view
you take. For the groups that use slang, it is a way to set themselves apart, to express
themselves in a distinct and individual way, and sometimes to keep secrets from being
known by others. But for the society in general and the development of the language, slang
performs another role. For the language, slang is like a linguistic laboratory, where new
words and forms can be tested out, applied to a variety of situations, and then either
abandoned or incorporated into the regular language. It is like a trial period for new words.
If they allow people to say something that cannot be said using traditional language, and a
majority of people accept them, then these words and expressions join their regular
language.
After a period of between a few months and many years, slang is used by limited
groups with something in common. The far majority never reach the popularity and level of
use to become regular words, and are soon forgotten and not used. A few reach widespread
usage and can be found in each new edition of the popular dictionaries. Many of the words
we use everyday and can be found in the dictionary began life as slang. Even Shakespeare
used slang.
` The most significant characteristic of slang overlays with a defining characteristic
of jargon: slang is a maker of in-group solidarity, and so it is a correlate of human groups
with shared experiences, such as being children at a certain school or of a certain age, or
being a member of a certain socially definable group, such as hookers, junkies, jazz
musicians, or professional criminals. (Keith Allan and Kate Burridge: Forbidden Words,
Cambridge University Press, 2006) `Slang serves the outs as a weapon against the ins. To
use slang is to deny allegiance to the existing order, either jokingly or in earnest, by
refusing even the words which represent conventions and signal status, and those who are
paid to preserve the status quo are prompted to repress slang as they are prompted to
repress any other symbol of potential revolution`. (Sledd, 1965)

34

`When we refer to food as `grub`, it is perhaps hard to realize that the word
goes back to Oliver Cromwell`s time; from early 18th century come `mob` and also `knock
off`; to finish and from early 19th century, the sarcastic use of `clear as mud`.( Paul Beale,
editor of Partrige`s Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English ,
Routledge,1991)
Examples of slang (John Ayto, 1998 ):
Onion (1890) especially in the phrase `of one`s onion` mad, crazy. H.G Wells: `He came
home one day saying Tono Bungay till I thought he was clean off his onion`.
Pommy, pommie, pom( 1912 ). Mainly Australian and New Zealand; often applied
speciafically to an English immigrant; possibly short for obsolete `pommygrant`, a jocular
blend of pomegranate and immigrant.
What`s your name (1757). Used in addressing a person whose name is not known or
remembered. William Faulkner: `Is that so? Look here, Mister What`s your name` (1942).
Babe (1898) Origin and mainly US; applied to both men and women; baby in same sense.
Stanley Kauffman: `This Mrs. Adair. has such hotsy-totsy cottages.. Yesterday this
Adair babe has an ad in the paper`.( 1952 )
Dude (1883) Origin and mainly US; over-refined man, dandy. Martin Amis: `I think my dog
go bite of them white dudes` (1984)
Kid (1690) - young goat, with the sense `child`. Lord Shaftesbury: `Passed a few days
happily with my wife and kids`. ( 1841 )
Bud (1614) Recorded in British English in the 17 th century, but now only used in American
English, where it re-emerged in the mid 19 th century; perhaps representing a childish
pronounciation of `brother`. W.R. Burnett: `Gamblerswould often hand him a quarter
and say: keep it, bud`. ( 1963 )
Dough (1851) money with its Origin in US: Times` I`m going back to business and make
myself a little dough`. (1966)
Cabbage (1903) Mainly North American; often applied specifically to paper money; from
the notion of being green and crisp, like a dollar bill.
Lolly (1943) British, lollipop, apparently with reference to the notion of the Government
giving away money `like lollipops`. Gwen Moffat`: There`s only one person bringing in the
lolly in that house`. (1973)

35

Peanuts (1936) Origin US; applied especially to inadequate payment; something small or
trivial. Scotsman: `A salary of $3000 a year is peanuts for a man at the top of his
profession` (1973)
An arm and a leg (1956) - to be expensive. Daily Mirror` She needed half a million dollars
to help pay palimony to Judy Nelson. Her lesbian affair cost an arm and a leg`. (1992)
To pay through the nose (1672) - to pay a high price. The Guardian: `You pay through the
nose for the show, often menus give no choice, and you are taken to the cleaners for wine
and extras.` (1992)
To cram (1810) - to study hard. Origin university slang used to denote intensive teaching or
study in preparation for an exam; from the notion of forcing knowledge into someone. E.J.
Worboise: `She can cram for an examination`. ( 1881 )
Hang (1300). Used in a range of mild oaths usually expressing irritation or impatienceexecute by suspending from a rope. A.P. Herbert: ` I`m fizzy and fiery and fruity and tense,
so let`s have a sundae and hang the expense`. ( 1927 )
For God`s sake (1300 ) Standard English in early use, but now often as an expletive. Joyce
Cary: `For God`s sake, don`t talk ballocks, Johnsons`. (1939)
Call it a day ( 1919 ) denoting stopping or abandoning what one is doing; call it half a day
in same sense ( 1838 ).John Braine` We`ll call it a day. Don`t think badly of me`. (1967)
Trendy (1962) Sometimes used derogatorily, from trend+-y; fashionable
One foot in the grave (1632) - old James Payn:` He has twenty thousand a year.. And one
foot in his grave` (1886)
Anno Domini (1885)-old, applied to years of the Christian calendar; from the notion of the
passing of the years.
Like a shot (1809) - fast W.E Norris: `If I could hear of any chance of employment
elsewhere, I`d take it like a shot`. ( 1894 )
Hit the jack-pot (1944): Implying success due to luck; from the notion of winning a large
(accumulated) prize in gambling or a lottery.
Fleas and itches (1967) Australian rhyming slang for picture, with an allusion to the vermin
infesting cheap cinemas. D.O`Grady: `When too tired, a man was able to visit the openair fleas-n`itches.` ( 1968 )
Snap (1894) Origin US; applied usually to an informal or casually taken photograph; short
snapshot from the notion of taking an instantaneous photograph.

36

Forks ( a 1700 ) fingers, dated; applied especially to the fingers as used for picking
pockets, from earlier sense-prongs of a fork. Harrison Ainsworth: `No dummy hunter had
forks so fly`. ( 1834 )
Beer belly (1942), beer gut (1976) Used to refer to an abdomen enlarged by drinking beer.
Rolling Stone: `Woods pauses to tuck his shirt between a beer belly and a silver belt
buckle`. (1969)
(1969)
Guts intestines: Orig., a standard term, but now colloquial when applied to human beings.
Blockbuster (1946) applied to something large in scale and effect; from earlier sense, aerial
bomb capable of destroying a whole block of buildings.
King Kong (1955) Used as a nickname for anyone of outstanding size or strength; from the
name of the ape-like monster featured in the film King Kong (1933)
Cockney Rhyming Slang
It is a type of slang in which words are replaced by words or phrases they rhyme
with.
Rhyming slang has the effect of obscuring meaning of what is said from outsiders. It
is not clear whether this is intentional, to hide one`s meaning from the law, or to exclude
outsiders, or whether it is just a form of group bonding. The way rhyming slang works does
tend to exclude those not `in the know`, as the substitution of one word for another often
relies on reference to a key phrase, which, for the slang to be understood, must be known
jointly by those communicating. For example, to get from `Hamsteads` to `teeth`, one must
be aware of Hampstead Heath.
There is no reason to suppose that there was any great conspiracy in the formation
of rhyming slang. English speakers, in common with other languages, enjoy rhyming.
Evidence of this are the numerous double-word forms (reduplications), created from
nonsense words and coined for no better reason than for the hell of it. For example, `hoitytoity`, `higgledy-piggledy`, `namby-pamby`, `nitty-gritty`, `itsy-bitsy` etc.
Rhyming slang is an exuberant linguistic form and tends to flourish in confident,
outgoing communities. That is certain true of Victorian England, which is where it
originated. The earliest example of rhyming slang that we can find is in the English writer
37

Edward Jerringham Wakefield`s: Adventures in New Zealand, 1845, in which he includes


an account of the journey from the UK to the Southern Hemisphere: `The profound
contempt which the whaler express for the lubber of a jimmy-grant, as he calls the
emigrant`. Who Jimmy Grant was is not clear.
The first to record rhyming slang in any systematic way were Ducange Anglicus ,
in: The Vulgar Tongue. A Glossary of Slang, Cant, and Flash Phrases, used in London from
1839 to 1859, and by John Camden Hotten, in: A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant and
Vulgar Words, 1859.
Anglicus includes these examples, all dated 1857:
Apples and pears- stairs
Barnet-Fair hair
Bird- lime, time
Lath-and-plaster-master
Oats and chaff- footpath
Hotten`s book includes:
Bull and cow a row
Chevy Chase- the face
There may have been many examples for dictionary makers to record by the 1850s
but, like most slang, these were street level terms and not in general usage. Charles Dickens
wrote an article on slang in: Household Words in 1853 and made no reference to rhyming
slang.
Hotten was the first to apply the name `rhyming slang` to the form, in his 1859
dictionary: `The cant, which has nothing to do with that spoken by the coster-mongers, is
known in Seven Dials and elsewhere as the Rhyming Slang, or the substitution of words
and sentences which rhyme with other words intended to be kept secret. I learn that
rhyming slang was introduced about twelve or fifteen years ago`.
The slang form was not known in the USA until late in the 19 th century. There is an
example in the Lima Times Democrat, Sept 1894, entitled `The Slang of London`, which
describes rhyming slang at length and is clearly intended for an audience who are new to it:
`Rhyming Slang is peculiar to England and, I believe to London.`
38

Rhyming Slang did not become Cockney Rhyming Slang until long after many of
its examples had travelled world-wide. Cockney, according to the strict definition, refers to
those born within the sound of Bow Bells. Cockney Rhyming Slang is just shorthand for
London or English rhyming slang. As a name, `Cockney Rhyming Slang` is 20th century.
The term `cockney` originally meant someone who was born within the sound of
the Bow Bells of St. Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside, London, just down the road from
St. Paul`s Cathedral. In those days, all of the city of London would have been within that
sound.
Today, very few people would be born within the sound of Bow Bells. The area is
largely filled with banks, financial institutions and offices.
Rhyming slang always involves two words of the pair or phrase will rhyme with
the target word. So apples and pears will mean stairs, linen draper will mean paper.
In conversation, only the first word of the phrase will be used: `I`m just going up
the apples`, or `There`s not a sausage left`.
The meaning of the phrase is unlikely to have any relationship with the meaning
of the target word- it is the rhyme that is important.
At times, there can be a connection via humour, such as Mae West for chest, or trick
cyclist for psychiatrist.
Some rhyming slang words are used in everyday language without people realising their
origin, such as Use your loaf.
Words like `raspberry` and `Berk` are also used every day in polite society without
most people realising where they come from.
Rhyming slang started developing from around the late 18 th century and the early 19th
century.
There seems to be no definitive reason as to why it started, but the most popular
theories are:
1. It was developed as good-humoured joking by Cockneys so that outsiders, such as
the gangs of Irish navies working on canal and railway construction, could not
understand them.
39

2. It was started by thieves and criminals to communicate in public without being


understood by outsiders.
3. An oppressed developing a secret language as a defence measure to give them a bit
more inner strength.
In due course, rhyming slang has come from other sources. From Ireland come such
words as: Rory O`More- door, cowhide- wide; i.e. aware of, Glasgow boat- coat, chocolate
trifle- rifle; Australia and, to a lesser extent, America have proved to be good sources of
their own rhymes: Steel Rudds- spuds=potatoes, giddy goat- tote=totalizer, mad mick- pick,
lean and fat- hat.
There are a few rare examples of the last word, in the rhyming phrase being spoken
rather than the first word, such as `tart` in Jam tart for sweetheart, although now it tends to
carry a negative connotation. Another is coffee and cocoa for Say so (I should cocoa).
The origins of the rhyming phrases are many and varied. Most come from everyday
words and expressions, such as currant bun, fine and dandy, and Oxo cube. Other sources
are: music hall performers ( Gertie Lee, Kate Karney ); famous characters within London
circles and world-wide ( Charles James Fox, Harry Nash, Dr. Crippen ); places, particularly
around London ( Hampstead Heath, Albert Hall, Barnet Fair, Robinson and Cleaver- a
former London store ). Barnay Rudge for judge might be from the Dickens character or
from the late 18th century dance, the Barnaby. Bubble and squeak for beak comes from the
dish of fried cabbage and potatoes.
Euphemism
Taboo words and euphemisms are usually treated by lexicologists in close
connection, as neither could exist without the other.
The word taboo is of Polynesian origin, and it denotes words either forbidden to
profane use or banned or disapproved on grounds of morality or taste.
The word euphemism ( Gk. euphemismos `auspicious, sounding good` ), on the
other hand, denotes the substitution of an agreeable word for one that is taboo, harsh,
indelicate, and it is usually a less explicit and more delicate term.

40

The taboo fields of a vocabulary reflect the taboo fields of human life in a given
society at a given time. Political euphemism, which increases permanently, is used to
present things in a milder light, in order to become acceptable, e.g. the conquering of a
territory becomes the absorbing of an area. Authorities resort to euphemism to hide the
gravity of circumstances, as in hostage situation, sabotage situation, border incident, bad
cop, attend the hang-fair (`a public execution by hanging` ), make redundant.
Different peoples may have different taboo fields, but generally speaking, there are
some spheres on which most peoples impose the same ban: religion, swearing, parts and
functions on the body, dress, eating, physical disability, illness and death, some professional
activities and social status.
This enumeration of the major fields is significant of the attitude towards words and
of the expressive load of taboo words. The reasons for rejection may be various: fear
(especially connected with religious terms), the regard for one`s feelings (especially
connected with an unpleasant or painful reality), and decency (in the case of vulgar terms).
Among such euphemisms there are affair, liaison, gigolo, toy-boy, massage parlour.
Excitement and fun, on the other hand, are other people`s reasons for using them.

2.5.

The Context

Man does not use words alone, as entities, but incorporated in phrases, clauses, and
sentences, in certain structures meant to serve communication. Even when a word seems to
be used alone, it is in fact used in a one-word sentence. This one-word sentence is generated
in accordance with a certain circumstance or a series of events, and, in most cases, in a
context of other words which precede or follow it, with which it appears when it is taken
into consideration.
As already mentioned, a word may be polysemantic, the relation sound-meaning
remaining valid for each meaning. An example was given by the word pipe, which may
have several meanings. If we take into consideration the fact that most words are
polysemantic, and each meaning is revealed in certain circumstances, it will be obvious that
41

an inventory of any vocabulary can be only if taking into consideration the whole set of
contexts in which each word can appear. The context is a sine qua non of the encodingdecoding process.
The word context is of Latin origin. It comes from contextus, which had the
meaning `textures`, and means figuratively `union`, `structure`, and `connection`. The
definition offered by `The Shorter Oxford Dictionary on Historical Principles` `is the
parts which immediately precede or follow any particular passage of text and determine
its meaning.
Apart from this definition, which corresponds to our linguistic purposes and reveals
the narrow sense of the term, the context may be also defined in a broad sense as the
conditions in which something is used or exists, in other words a set of things, events,
gestures, etc., related in a certain way.
If the context is understood as an ensemble in accordance with which any speech must
be considered, one takes into account the intention of communication, which determines a
special organisation of words.
According to Tatiana Slama-Cazacu (p. 290), the role of the context is
a). to choose a certain word and to define more accurately its meaning if the word is a
polysemantic one,
b). to individualise the meaning by selecting from the generality of the notion that
particular aspect that agrees with the concrete object, contributing to the specification of
the meaning,
c). to complete the meaning through various shades created by the application of the
peculiarity to a certain matter situated in a characteristic frame,
d). to give the meaning so that there is only one possibility to understand it accurately,
or to express something in an economical way.
The context has a decisive role in distinguishing homonyms. Homophones such as:
fir `evergreen tree` and fur `hair covering animals`; flower `a part of the plant which
produces seeds` and flour `fine meal made from grain`, may be distinguished in speech
only by the different contexts in which they appear.

42

Word-order, considered as an element of context, contributes to differentiate


homophones belonging to different parts of speech, e.g., cell(N) `small room`,
`compartment in a larger structure`, etc. and sell(V) `give in exchange for money`;
dear(Adj) and dear(N); fare(N) and fair(Adj); heal(V) and heel(N); heard(V) and
herd(N); etc.
Language changes permanently through gradual changes in the meaning of words.
Many speakers tend to create new shades of meaning, and this process is facilitated by
the context in which the words are used. Nevertheless, the tendency to impose new
meanings and shades is often stopped by the old and strong patterns existing in any
language, which do not permit themselves to be replaced easily by new ones. For
example, the word meat once meant `food`, in `One man`s meat is another man`s
poison` (Proverb), now meaning `flesh animal used for food`, the term remaining in the
same semantic field. As a result, the context cannot be upheld as being absolute. It
cannot help the encoder to pass beyond the possibilities of variation of each word, that
is to say, it is subject to the possibilities of variation which are characteristic of the
nucleus of each word.
According to S.I. Hayakawa, (p. 64): `A dictionary definition. is an invariable
guide to interpretation. Words do not have a single correct meaning; they apply to
groups of similar situations, which might be called areas of meaning. It is for defining
these areas of meaning that a dictionary is useful. In each use of any word, we examine
the particular context and the extensional events denoted (if possible) to discover the
point intended within the area of meaning`.
Ambiguity in words plays different functions in various contexts. Ambiguity may
have the worst results in scientific writings or discourses, as their primary function is
that of precise communication. Misunderstanding in such cases makes communication
impossible, and renders the idea meaningless. But in literature in general, and in any
forms of poetry in particular, the various meanings of a word or phrase can acquire may
contribute to the general poetic effect, or suggest a more comprehensive interpretation
of a statement.

43

3. IDIOMS
3.1. Definitions
An idiom can be defined as a phrase which has a different meaning from the
meaning of its separate components. One of the characteristics is that you cannot normally
change the words, their order, or the grammatical forms in the same way as you can change
non-idiomatic expressions.
The Encarta World English Dictionary gives 4 definitions for the word idiom:
1. fixed expression with non-literal meaning: a fixed distinctive expression whose
meaning cannot be deduced from the combined meaning of its actual words.
2. natural way of using language: the way of using a language that comes naturally to its
native speakers
3. stylistic expression: the style of expression of a specific person or group.
4. distinguish artistic style: the characteristic style of an artist or artistic group.
The word idiom comes from the Greek `idioma`, which means ` a peculiarity in
language` (Online Etymology Dictionary, http:/www.etymonline.com /index.php?
term=idiom)
Idioms are widely recognized to be a stumbling block in the acquisition of a foreign
language as an idiom is a combination of words that has a meaning different from ( and
usually more than) the added meanings of the individual elements based on the normal
rules of grammar and semantics.
English and American authors give so many often incongruous- definitions to
idioms and idiomatic English that it is by no means easy to disentangle their essential
features.
For William Freeman an idiom is` an establishment word or phrase with a
special meaning that is independent of the dictionary`s definition and frequently of the
rules of grammar as well... Idioms have become a fundamental part of our language;
44

they are frequently nothing more than vigorous abbreviations of common phrases..
They are a terror to any student with a logical and orderly mind. Many of them, indeed,
are beyond any common/ sensible explanation whatever Others are based on passages
from the Bible, Shakespeare, on proverbs, and in fact, on anything which can be
employed to convey one`s thoughts briefly and effectively`, etc (Freeman, 1945, pp.7273)
Treble and Vallins divide idioms into four groups:
a). Grammatical Idioms , those in which grammar and idioms agree, e.g. There is a
ladder there. There are several apples in the basket.
b).Ungrammatical Idioms, those in which grammar and idioms disagree, e.g. It`s
me .Who did you see? Than whom; try and go, more than pleased, in less than no time
c). Prepositional Idioms, implying the use of prepositions in idiomatic phrases; e.g. by
change, at least, after all, in fact, in time, for good, to fall out, to hold off, to lay in.
d). Metaphorical Idioms, based on metaphors: a broken reed; a sly dog; (An ABC of
English Usage, 1945)
.In Hornby`s Dictionary, idiom has two meanings: a). a group of succession of
words that must be learned as a whole because it is difficult or impossible to understand
the meaning from knowledge of the words considered separately; e.g. to give way; in
order to; to be hard put to it; b). a form of expression peculiar to a people, district,
group of people, country, or to one individual, as the French idiom ( - language);
Shakespeare`s idiom ( e.g, the method of expression used by him and peculiar to him).
Webster`s` New World Dictionary defines it as follows: a). the language or dialect of
a people, region class, etc., b). the usual way in which the words of a language are
joined together to express thought; c). an accepted phrase, construction, or expression
contrary to the usual patterns of the language or having a meaning different from the
literal; d). the style of an individual: as, the idiom of Carlyle.
In A Guide to the English Language we read: `Idioms are special forms of speech that
are peculiar to the instinct of a language Idiom is only a feeling for language,
which can guide unerringly It is, however, impossible to classify idioms, since they
are really innumerable`.

45

W.McMordie includes under `idiom` peculiar uses of particular words, and also
particular phrases or turns of expression which, from long usage, have become
stereotyped in English When we say of a woman that she has a tongue, we seem to
say something that does not give much information. But then this expression according
to its common usage in English means that the woman spoken of has a scolding
tongue
Again, on and upon are commonly equivalents, and are often interchangeable. Thus
we correctly say, either He acted on my advice or He acted upon by advice But
though we can idiomatically say, Carry on business, we cannot say, Carry upon
business; this last expression is meaningless. (W.McMordie, 1962, p.5)
As may be seen from the foreign examples, the criteria used by the respective authors
are different, e.g. Treble and Vallins speak about `grammatical` and `ungrammatical
idioms`, implicitly involving their `correctness` or `incorrectness`; in one of the
definitions, Hornby applies the semantic criterion; ` The Guide to the English
Language` resorts to psychological-linguistic criteria.
Idioms exist in all languages. They form an important part of everyone`s vocabulary
and are used both in formal and informal language. They are, however, much more
common in informal, spoken English. They should not be confused with slang, which is
very often inappropriate in certain social situations.
Not all fixed phrases are idioms. To exemplify, close the door is a common fixed
phrase, but it is not an idiom because each word in it is used in its standard meaning.
The phrase show somebody the door is an idiom, however because the phrase does not
mean There is the door! -it means make someone leave.
Many idioms are easy to understand. For example, sweep something under the
carpet. If one understands `sweep`, something, `under`, and `carpet` there is a very
good chance they will understand the figurative meaning of the idiom. Other idioms,
such as queer in the attic storey, may be more difficult to understand because of their
low frequency vocabulary.

46

Since the word idiom does exist and enjoys so wide a circulation, in English its two
meanings (idiom in the sense of `language` etc. has no concern here) might be
interpreted as follows:
-

in a broad sense, an idiom is a long-lived group of words characteristic of a


language ( sometimes impossible to translate ad litteram into another language),
comprising grammatical collocations and phrases ( fusions, units, and free
combinations) most of them being based on degraded metaphors;

in a strict sense, an idiom is a tantamount of a phraseological fusion.

An idiom is a word or phrase which means something different from what it says- it is
usually a metaphor. Idioms are common phrases or terms whose meanings are not literal,
but are figurative and only known through their common uses.
Because idioms can mean something different from what the words mean. It is difficult
for someone not very good at speaking the language to use them properly. Some idioms are
only used by some groups of people or at certain times. The idiom shape up or ship out,
which is like saying improve your behaviour or leave if you don`t, might be said by an
employer or supervisor, but not to other people.
Idioms are not the same thing as slang. Idioms are made of normal words that have
a special meaning known by almost everyone. Slang is usually special words that are
known only by a particular group.
To learn a language a person needs to learn words in that language, and how and
when to use them. But people also need to learn idioms separately because certain
words together or at certain times can have different meanings. In order to understand
an idiom, one sometimes needs to know the culture the idiom comes from.
To know the history of an idiom can be useful and interesting, but is not necessary
to be able to use the idiom properly. For example most native British English speakers
know that No room to swing a cat means ` there was not a lot of space` and can use the
idiom properly, but few know it is because 200 years ago sailors were punished by
being whipped with a whip called ` a cat o`nine tails`. A big space was cleared on the
ship so that the person doing the whipping had a lot of room to `swing the cat`.

47

A better understanding of an idiom is that it is a phrase whose meaning cannot be


understood from the dictionary definitions of each word taken separately. In this case, a
metaphor is not an idiom. The meaning of the saying `run like the wind` can be
understood by looking the words up in a dictionary and using some common sense and
imagination and the context of the phrase.
Idioms are the reflection of the environment, life, customs, cultural history, etc. of
the native speakers and are closely associated with their innermost spirit; they represent
an extremely interesting and valuable resource, equally challenging for non-native
speakers alike, for it improves their linguistic style.

3.2. Origin of Idioms


Generally speaking, an idiom may be defined as a combination of words that, upon
analysis of vocabulary and syntactical characteristics, either conveys no intelligible
meaning at all or this meaning differs from conventionally accepted sense may be
syntactically explained based on etymological and historical origins does not make the
expression in question less of an idiom.
Both in spoken and written discourse idioms and expressions are repeated without
any real thought of where they come from or why people use them. They are mostly
used without knowledge of history. We say things like no room to swing a cat, dead as
a doornail, every day, without knowing that the history of the expressions is so rich and
interesting.
Many of them can be traced back to the Bible, some to Shakespeare. Others
evolved from colloquialism and practices of the time. (http://www.suite 101.
com/content/sayings-and-idioms-al 136913)
Some idioms are so strongly tied to the culture and history of the people that
generated them that their surface structure tells a story that justifies the meaning in
their depth. A lot of idiomatic expressions reveal stories that suddenly give a sense
to their real meanings. An awareness of the source and the lexical area to which an
48

idiom belongs can illuminate its non-literal meaning and instill in the learner that
analytical meaning-decoding approach when having to confront other unknown
idioms.
Stylistic features of idiomatic expressions are also connected with their
origins. For example, idioms of Biblical origins are more frequent in written language,
while those originating from gambling usually belong to informal speech.
Consequently, there are many idioms with interesting backgrounds that go
unnoticed. Some are funny. Others are just plain strange. The derivation and meaning of
many figurative phrase can be traced back hundreds of years. However, by trying to
learn them, a person is on the right track.
Examples

of

Idioms/Idiomatic

Expressions

and

their

`roots`

http://www.siute 101.com/content/sayings-and-idioms-al 136913)


Barking up the wrong tree- This saying is of U.S. origin and is thought to have come
from hunting for raccoon. Believed to be from the 1830s, it was not common for this
nocturnal activity end up in a dog following a false scent and as a result, barking
mistakenly under a tree with no raccoon hiding in it.
Beat around the bush- Meaning to be evasive or indirect, this is another hunting
reference which dates back hundreds of years when hunting birds, a number of
participants in a hunting party would stir up the birds by literally beating bushes while
others waited ready to capture the fleeing birds.
Dead as a doornail- The origin of this idiom dates back to the 14th century. It was
used Shakespeare in 1590 in ` King Henry VI`. The exact reason behind the usage of a
doornail is not quite clear, but one explanation can be found in carpentry. A doornail is a
wide-headed nail that once hammered through, the protruding end of the nail would
normally be bent in to secure it and prevent its removal; hence the nail`s deadness.
Like the Dickens- Meaning `a lot` or in large amounts, this saying has nothing to do
with the writer Charles Dickens. A euphemism for devil or devilish, Dickens was likely
a shortened form of the word devilkins.
49

In a pickle- To be in a pickle is to find oneself in a difficult position. It seems that in


1611, Shakespeare was the first to use the actual phrase `in a pickle` in ` The Tempest`,
although the references to ` ill pickles` and `this pickle` can be traced to the 1500s.
Eating Humble Pie- During medieval times, humble pie or umble pie was an actual
dish made out of entrails- heart, liver, intestines and the like- that was served to servants
and lower classes. To have to eat humble pie means to be submissive or apologetic
especially when admitting a wrong. Similar to this is Eating crow.
Happy as a clam- The meaning of this saying is quite obvious, but why behind its
usage takes a little digging. This American saying used to half a second half: ` happy as
a clam at high tide `. Digging for clams has to be done at low tide in order to have any
success. At high tide, the clams safe and sound under the water making for a happy
clam.
A drop in the bucket- Meaning a small insignificant portion of the whole, this idiom
has its genesis in the Bible. Isaiah 40:15 (New International Version) reads` Surely the
nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; He weighs
the islands as though they were fine dust`.
By the skin of your teeth- Another Old Testament Biblical reference meaning to
barely or narrowly elude something. In lamenting his tribulations, Job 19:20 (King
James Version) states: ` My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh with the skin of
my teeth`.
A load of codswallop (http://clatters.tripod.com/idiom.htm)a lot of nonsense rubbish.
Codd was a Victorian businessman and wallop was a nineteenth century slang for beer.
In 1872 Hiram Codd went into business selling lemonade in green bottles sealed with a
marble stopper. Beer drinkers thought little of this new drink and gave it the derisory
nickname Codswallop.
Beyond the pale= outside of societies limits. Not acceptable conduct.
Pale comes from the Latin word `palum`, meaning `stake`. In early English this came to
mean a fence which surrounded something such as a cathedral or some other authority.
In later times it altered to the limit of political jurisdiction. Life within pale was
civilized, whereas beyond it was considered uncouth and barbaric. Hence one could be
said to be beyond the pale.
To put a spoke in someone`s wheel= deliberately hinder someone`s plans. Hundreds
of years ago cartwheels were made from solid wood. The front wheels of a cart would

50

have holes in them through which a spoke could be thrust in order to prevent or slow
the cart from running away downhill.
At the end of my tether= at the point of frustration or at the end of one`s endurance.
A tether is a rope which is used to restrict the freedom of grazing animals by tying one
end around their neck and the other to a stake in the ground.
To hang fire= to delay, to be pending
In days gone by when the main charge in an artillery piece was slow to fire it was
said to be `hanging fire`. Now the term is used to describe something which is held up
or delayed.
On the grapevine= gossip or rumour through an informal channel.
In the years after the invention of the Telegraph there was a mad rush to erect
telegraphs to as many places as possible in the shortest time. In 1859 Colonel Bee put a
line up between Placuville and Virginia City. He used trees to carry the wires instead of
telegraph poles. Their movement stretched and tangled the wires until they fell to the
ground, looking similar to the wild vines found in California. During the American
Civil War messages that were received via the telegraph that were thought to be misinformation or inaccurate were said to have arrived on the `grapevine telegraph`, a
mocking reference to Colonel Bee`s venture.
To kick the bucket= to die
In slaughterhouses, the rail on which pigs are hung after slaughter to drain off the
blood is known as the bucket bar. Muscles spasm after death sometimes lead to the dead
pig twitching as if to kick the bucket bar, hence the expression.
According to Oxford Dictionary of Idioms Second Edition, 2004 p. 159,`the bucket
in this phrase may be a pail on which a person committing suicide might stand, kicking
it away before they hanged themselves. Another suggestion is that it refers to a beam on
which something can be hung up; in Norfolk dialect the beam from which a slaughtered
pig was suspended by its heels could be referred to as a bucket.`
Though the list of commonly used sayings is more numerous than the day is long,
this brief list gives a little insight as to how these sayings began and exactly what it is than
they mean- even if not much light is shed on why they continue to be in such great use.

51

3.3.The Importance of Idioms


Taking into consideration that idioms are patterns of informal language, most of
the non-native speakers might find the acquiring of idiomatic expression quite awkward
and not `at hand`. Idioms are to be learned and acquired, mainly through lots of
practicing. Students start to get familiarized with the vocabulary of the English
language at an early age, involving the cognitive structure of mind through visual and
auditive techniques, then they develop their knowledge through productive methods
such as speaking and writing.
The spoken English appeals, mostly to speaking skills, which involves knowing
words and their meanings. Grammatical structures are understood with the help of
formal learning ( in school ), while the acquisition of expressions such as slang,
collocations, fixed phrases, proverbs and idioms are, most of the time taken from the
living language, the street language, that is the non-formal/informal learning.
Young people are more exposed to such situations, as they can get into contact
with different people belonging to different backgrounds or social status. They can face
a series of situations when they have to use a variety of vocabulary. They speak in a
certain way to their teachers, in a different way to their family, and far more differently
to their peers.
Let`s take a language student, attending daily classes. They study the grammar, the
formalities, the subtle differences between `look at` and `watch`. They produce lovely
coherent sentences and conversations. Take this student out of the classroom and away
from the textbooks, though, and they will encounter a world of language that breaks
those rules. In advertising, online, and in conversation, language becomes far less
structured. Taking the time to understand slang and informal speech might save
someone a whole lot of confusion.

52

3.4. Features of Idioms


Idioms are characterized by:
1. Lexical complexity
By lexical complexity of an idiom is understood that the meaning of an idiom is
not derivable from the meanings of its individual parts and that the constituents of the
idiom acquire a new meaning as a whole.
For example, the meaning of ` abed of nails` does not have anything to neither with
beds, nor with nails, it is an idiom referring to problematic or uncomfortable situation.
2. Invariability/ Fixed form
This means that the number of paradigmatic variants ( if there are any ) of an idiom
are limited. The characteristic of fixed form gives the impression that the idioms are not
flexible, but this is true only to a certain extent. Some idioms do have variants:
grammatical variants
-

make the bed/make up the bed

beat the bushes/beat around the bushes

lexical variants
-

hit the ceiling/hit the roof

keep you on the edge of your seat/keep you on the edge of your chair

syntagmatic variants
-

put your house in order/put your own house in order

geographical variants
-

skeleton in the closet ( American English )/ skeleton in the cupboard ( British


English )

3. Figurativeness/ Metaphorical meaning


Not all idioms are equally figurative. They can also be categorized in 3 distinctive
groups:
-

absolutely non-motivated idioms:

fence hanger ( = one who has not made a decision )


-

partially motivated idioms:

a fly on the wall ( = an unseen observer or listener )


53

motivated idioms:

not a dry eye in the house ( = everyone is crying or feels strong emotion ).
Many idioms are metaphorical expressions which are in common use. Metaphor is
a way expressing something by comparing it with something else that has similar
characteristics; it is concerned with using words in abstract ways rather than literal.
For example, in the case of the idiom blood on the carpet; blood is a metaphor used to
refer in a somewhat exaggerated way to a serious disagreement or its aftermath.
Metaphoric expressions might also provide a means to understand concepts which,
owing to their abstract nature, may be difficult to describe linguistically.
4. Conventionality
Idioms are conventionalized, that is, their meaning or use cannot be predicted, or at
least entirely predicted, on the basis of a knowledge of the independent conventions that
determine the use of their constituents when they appear separately from one another.
The meaning of an idiom is not straightforward composition of the meaning of its
parts (Dixon, 1997, p.48).
As an example, we could take a foot in the door, whose meaning has nothing to do with
putting your foot in the door (= a position from which further progress is possible).

3.5. The Problem of Translation


With more than 5000 languages spoken in the world today, the need for translation
and educated translators is evident-some might say even crucial. This need is reinforced by
the increasing mobility of people and ever growing internationality; never before have we
been as much in contact with other cultures and languages as we are today. The everincreasing exchange of information in such areas as economy, politics and science, makes
communication between different languages and cultures absolutely vital. As the world is
becoming more internationalized each day, also language skills are emphasized more than
ever. This phenomenon has resulted in the fact that the importance of translation enables
communication across cultural and linguistic boundaries and reinforces intercultural
understanding.
54

According to Newmark (1981, p. 3), the very signs of translation can be traced back
as far as 3000 B.C. A popular view is that translation is almost as old as language itself;
where there has been language, there has always been also translation. Despite the fact that
translation has become increasingly important in recent decades, translation still continues
to be somewhat undervalued. The common misconception seems to be that anyone who
masters another language in addition to their native one is also capable of producing
smooth translations between these languages quite easily and without any considerable
effort. As Bassnett and Lefevere (1998, p. 2) put it, people often assume that texts only need
to be transferred mechanically into another language with the help of dictionaries. And
since everyone can look up words from a dictionary, translators` work is often not much
valued or appreciated. However, we only need to take a look at some views on the goals of
translation to understand that the process of translation is not simple and straightforward a
matter as one might assume.
Translation is usually defined as a process of substituting a source language text by a
target language text, where the aim is to preserve the meaning and content of the original
text as accurately as possible. This is obviously an immensely simplified definition of a
process which might seem relatively simple on the outside, but is actually a much more
complicated process in reality.
Throughout the history of translation theory there has been constant debate about how
faithful the translation must be to the original text and how much freedom the translators
actually have in their work. Earlier the emphasis was on translating texts as literally as
possible, by carefully substituting each source language word by a target language word
which has `the same meaning`. Nowadays the purpose of translation is no longer to merely
match words of one language by those of another, but the stress is now rather laid on the
function of the text (Bassnett and Lefevere, 1998, p.3). Free translation is, thus, nowadays
preferred to literal translation. Free translation aims at conveying the informational content
of the message and preserving the style of the original, but it also takes equal notice of the
target language`s exigencies.
Nowadays it is also common accepted in translation theory that in order to preserve
the meaning of the message, the form must almost be altered to some extent. For instance
55

Nida and Taber (1969, p. 105) state that when a message in one language is transferred to
another language, it is the content which takes priority over the form, and must therefore be
retained at all costs. In other words, the meaning must be preserved at the expense of the
form. Translation should therefore always aim at conveying the meaning of the original
message as carefully as possible, even if it means transformations in the form or changes in
the syntactic structure. Of course, ideally, the original sentence structure should be
preserved, but due to differences between two languages, this is often simply not possible.

Translating idioms
In all languages there are a great number of idioms unique, language fixed
expressions whose meaning cannot be deducted from the individual words of the phrase.
Since each language has its own way of expressing certain things, idiomatic expressions are
always language-and culture-specific. An expression in one language may not exist in some
other language, or the language may have a very different expression to convey the same
meaning. This is why the translation of idioms may sometimes be rather problematic.
Due to the language-specific nature of idioms, their translation can be somewhat
challenging at times. Idioms must be recognized, understood and analyzed before
appropriate translation methods can be considered. One must, first of all, be able to spot
idioms from a text- it is absolutely crucial that a translator recognizes an idiom when s/he
sees one. The ability to identify idioms is of enormous importance, since their meaning
should never be understood literally. The translator must first analyze what the writer has
intended to say before s/he can even think of translating the expression. According to
Larson (1984, p. 143), the first crucial step in the translation of idioms is to be absolutely
certain of the meaning of the source language idiom.
Therefore the most important issue in translating idioms is the ability to distinguish the
difference between the literal meaning and the real meaning of the expression (Ingo 1990,
p. 248). This is why recognizing and being able to use idioms appropriately requires
excellent command over the source language.

56

It is, thus, only after identifying the non-literal meaning of the idiom that a translator
can even think of translating the expression into the target language. In addition to being
able to recognize idioms in a source text, the translator must also be able to use idioms
fluently and completely in the target language (Larson 1984, p. 116). Not only does a
translator need to master the source language, but s/he must also be able to express
him/herself in the target language fluently and smoothly. Larson (ibid.) stresses the
importance of the ability to use target language idioms naturally, because that ensures that
the translator can produce smooth and lively target language text as well as preserve the
stylistic features of the source text.
In general, translation theorists recognize three different translation strategies for
idioms: translating an idiom with a non-idiom, translating and idiom with an idiom, and
translating an idiom literally. .Nilda and Taber (1969, p. 106) exclude the literal translation
strategy and suggest three translation strategies for idioms: translating idioms with nonidioms, translating idioms with idioms, and translating non-idioms with idioms. Nida and
Taber (ibid.) claim that most frequently source language idioms can only be translated with
target language non-idioms, although they also admit that sometimes it is indeed possible to
match a source language idiom by an equivalent target language idiom. Nida and Taber
(ibid.) also point out that idioms and other figurative expressions usually suffer a great deal
of semantic adjustments in translation, since an idiom in one language rarely has the same
meaning and function in another language as such.
The most recommended translation strategy for idioms is translating them with a
natural target language idiom which has the same meaning as the original source language
idiom. Idioms should always be translated with a semantically and stylistically
corresponding idiom in the target language.
Bassnett-McGuire ( 1980, p. 24 ), on the other hand, suggests that idioms should be
translated on the basis of the function of the phrase: the source language idiom should be
replaced by a target language idiom that has the same meaning and function in the target
language culture as the source language idiom has in the source language culture. Newmark
(1981, p. 8) proposes yet another challenge for the translation of idioms: according to him,
the original source language idiom and its translation should be equally frequent in the two
languages. However, it seems somewhat impossible to carry out this recommendation in
practice, since it is rather difficult to estimate the frequency of certain expressions in certain
languages.
57

4. METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY


4.1. Teaching Methods
Methodology is the science of methods, or body of methods used in an activity.
There has been a continually growing awareness, over the last decades, of the
complexity of language teaching. A sound theoretical framework has been established,
including psychology, pedagogy and linguistics.
Foreign language teaching and learning is seen, from an interdisciplinary point of
view, as a science in its own rights, based on the relationship between theory and
practice. Within the conceptual framework offered by specialists, three concepts emerge
as fundamental: the foreign language, the teaching of a foreign language (TEFL or
TESL = teaching English as a second language- used as a medium of instruction in the
United States), and the learning of a foreign language.
Although it is rather difficult to break into two the teaching-learning process as
there is an organic, interactive relation between the carrier of language (the teacher) and
the receiver (the learner), teaching can be defined as the activities intended to bring
about the language learning. It concerns the teacher, starting from the linguistic
competence and pedagogical training, to the choice of the proper techniques and
procedures, and the use of the appropriate auxiliary materials.
The concept of learning, in the case of a foreign language, has to start from the
dispute on the way languages are learnt, as there has not been a theory clearly stated.
The two terms widely used in recent work, language learning and acquisition do not
make out the mechanism of mother tongue learning versus the mechanism of foreign
language learning. If learning, acquiring the mother tongue is a question of growth- that
is typical and mental development-, then language learning is not a matter of maturation
in which the learner internalizes a complex system of rules which relate auditive signals
to semantic values.
Learning a language freely and fully is a lengthy and effortful process. Teachers
cannot learn the language for their students. They can set their students on the road,
58

helping them to develop confidence in their own learning powers. Then they must wait
on the sidelights, ready to encourage and assist, while each student struggles and
perseveres with an autonomous activity. Some students learn not well even while the
teacher observes. For those who find the task more difficult, we should at least make
every effort to ensure that their language learning is an enjoyable and educational
experience.
The plea for a theory of language teaching rises from the need of making a foreign
language programme work efficiently. The question of foreign language teaching
methodology appeared as an issue only in the 19th century, with the integration of the
foreign language in the secondary school curriculum.
Methods and methodology in modern language teaching have depended on the
purpose of mastering the foreign language, the materials available and the priority of
objectives. These methods have been delineated in accordance with the linguistic
theories, the findings of psychological research, and last, with the socio-historical
condition of the times that brought about a particular interest in foreign language.
(Harmer 2007, p.63)
Where there was once a consensus on the `right` way to teach foreign languages,
many teachers now share the belief that a single way does not exist. It is certainly true
that no comparative study has consistently demonstrated the superiority of one method
over another for all teachers, all students and settings.
Presented here is a summary of eight language teaching methods in practice today:
the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Audio Lingual Method, the
Silent Way, Suggestopodia, Community Language Learning, the Total Physical
Response Method, and the Communicative Approach. Of course, what is described here
is only an abstraction. How a method is adopted in the classroom will depend heavily
on the individual teacher`s interpretation of its principles.
Some teachers prefer to practice one of the methods to the exclusion of the others.
Other teachers prefer to pick and choose in a principled way among the methodological
options that exist, creating their own unique blend. Here is a brief presentation of the
teaching methods as written by Doggett in the article Eight approaches to language
teaching, adapted from Diane Larsen-Freeman ( Doggett, 1986,pp. 3-6 )

59

The Grammar-Translation Method


The Grammar-Translation Method focuses on developing students` appreciation of the
target language`s literature as well as teaching the language. Students are presented with
target-language reading passages and answer questions that follow. Other activities
including translating literary passages from one language into the other, memorizing
grammar rules, and memorizing grammar rules, and memorizing

native-language

equivalents of target language vocabulary. Class work is highly structured, with the teacher
controlling all activities.
The Direct Method
The Direct Method allows students to perceive meaning directly through the target
language because no translation is allowed. Visual aids and pantomime are used to clarify
the meaning of vocabulary items and concepts. Students speak a great deal in the target
language and communicate as if in real situations. Reading and writing are taught from the
beginning, though speaking and listening skills are emphasized. Grammar is learned
inductively.
The Audio-Lingual Method
The Audio-Lingual Method is based on the behaviourist belief that language
learning is the acquisition of a set of correct language habits. The learner repeats patterns
until able to produce them spontaneously. Once given a pattern- for example, subject-verbprepositional phrase- is learned, the speaker can substitute words to make new sentences.
The teacher directs and controls students` behaviour, provides a model and reinforces
correct responses.
The Silent Way
The theoretical basis of Gattegno`s Silent Way is the idea that teaching must be
subordinated to learning and thus students must develop their own inner criteria for
correctness. All four skills- reading, writing, speaking and listening- are taught from the
beginning. Students` errors are expected as a normal part of learning: the teacher` silence
60

helps foster self-reliance and student initiative. The teacher is active in setting up situations,
while the students do most of the talking and interacting.
Suggestopodia
Lozanov`s method seeks to help learners eliminate psychological barriers to learning.
The learning environment is relaxed and subdued, with low lighting and soft music in the
background. Students choose a name and character in the target language and culture, and
imagine being that person. Dialogues are presented to the accompaniment of music.
Students just relax and listen to them being read and later playfully practice the language
during an `activation` phase.

Community Language Learning


In Curren`s method, teachers consider students as `whole persons`, with intellect,
feelings, instincts, physical responses, and desire to learn. Teachers also recognize that
learning can be threatening. By understanding and accepting students` fears, teachers help
students feel secure and overcome their feelings and thus help them harness positive energy
for learning. The syllabus used is learner-generated, in that students choose what they want
to learn to say in the target language.
Total Physical Response Method
Asher`s approach begins by placing primary importance on listening comprehension,
emulating the early stages of mother tongue acquisition, and the moving to speaking,
reading, and writing. Students demonstrate their comprehension by acting out commands
issued by the teacher; teacher provides novel and often humorous variations of the
commands. Activities are designed to be fun and to allow students to assume active learning
roles. Activities eventually include games and skits.

61

The Communicative Approach


The Communicative Approach stresses the need to teach communicative competence
as opposed to linguistic competence: thus, functions are emphasized over forms. Students
usually work with authentic materials, in small groups, on communicative activities, during
which they receive practice on negotiating meaning.

4.2. Teaching Vocabulary


How important is vocabulary? `Without grammar very little can be conveyed,
without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed`. This is how the linguist David Wilkins
summed up the importance of vocabulary learning. His view is echoed in his advice to
students from a recent coursebook ( Dellar H and Hocking D, Innovations, LTP, quoted in
Thornbury, 2002, p. 13 ): `If you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English
will not improve very much. You will see most improvement if you learn more words and
expressions. You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost anything with
words!`
How is vocabulary learned? Knowing a word is one thing- but how is that
knowledge acquired? In learning their first language the first words that children learn are
typically those used for labeling- that is, mapping words on to concepts- so that the
concept, for example, of dog has a name, dog or doggie. But not all four- legged animals
are dogs: some may be cats, so the child then has to learn how far to extend the concept of
dog, so as not to include cats, but to include other people`s dogs, toy dogs, and even
pictures of dogs. In other words, acquiring a vocabulary requires not only labeling but
categorizing skills.
Finally, the child needs to realize that common words like apple and dog can be
replaced by superordinate terms like fruit and animal. And that animal can accommodate
other lower order words such as cat, horse and elephant. This involves a process of
network building- constructing a complex web of words, so that items like black and
white, or fingers and toes, or family and brother are interconnected. Network building
serves to link all the labels and packages, and lays the groundwork for a process that

62

continues for as long as we are exposed to new words (and new meanings for old words that is, for the rest of our lives.
In what way is the development of a second language (L2) lexicon any different from
that of the first language (L1)? Perhaps the most obvious difference is the fact that, by
definition, second language learners already have a first language. And not only do they
have the words of their first language, but they have the conceptual system that these words
encode, and the complex network of associations that link these words one with another.
Learning a second language involves both learning a new conceptual system and
constructing a new vocabulary network- a second mental lexicon.
4.3. Word-Memorizing Technique
The following techniques are shortly described by Thornbury in How to Teach
Vocabulary ( Thornbury 2002, p. 24 )
-

Repetition: The time-honoured way of `memorizing` new material is through


repeated rehearsal of the material while it is still in working memory. However,
simply repeating an item (the base of rote learning) seems to have little long-term
effect unless some attempt is made to organize the material at the same time. But
one kind of repetition that is important is repetition of encounters with a word. It has
been estimated that, when reading, words stand a good chance of being remembered
if they have been met at least seven times over spaced intervals.

Retrieval: Another kind of repetition that is crucial is what is called the retrieval
practice effect. This means, simply, that the act of retrieving a word from memory
makes it more likely that the learner will be able to recall it again later. Activities
which require retrieval, such as using the new word in written sentences, `oil the
path` for future recall.

Spacing: It is better to distribute memory work across a period of time than to mass
it together in a single block. This is known as the principle of distributed practice.
This applies in both the short term and the long term. When teaching students a new
set of words, for example, it is best to present the first two or three items, then go
63

back and test these, then present some more, then backtrack again, and so on. As
each word becomes better learned, the testing interval can gradually be extended.
The aim is to test each item at the longest interval at which it can reliably be
recalled. Similarly, over a sequence of lessons, newly presented vocabulary should
be reviewed in the next lesson, but the interval between successive tests should
gradually be increased.
-

Pacing: Learners have different learning styles, and process data at different rates,
so ideally they should be given the opportunity to pace their own rehearsal
activities. This may mean the teacher allowing time during vocabulary learning for
learners to do `memory work`- such as organizing or reviewing their vocabularysilently and individually.

Use: Putting words to use, preferably in some interesting way, is the best way of
ensuring they are added to long-term memory. It is the principle popularity known
as Use it or lose it.

Cognitive depth: The more decisions the learner makes about a word, and the more
cognitively demanding these decisions, the better the word is remembered. For
example, a relatively superficial judgment might be simply to match it with a word
that rhymes with it: e.g. tango/mango. A deep level decision might be to decide on
its part of speech (noun, adjective, verb, etc). Deeper still might be to use it to
complete a sentence.

Personal organizing: The judgments that learners make about a word are most
effective if they are personalized. In one study, subjects who had read a sentence
about containing new words showed better recall than subjects who had simply
silently rehearsed the words. But subjects who had made up their own sentences
containing the words and read them aloud did better still.

Imaging: Best of all were subjects who were given the task of silently visualizing a
mental picture to go with a new word. Other tests have shown that easily visualized
words are more memorable that words that don`t immediately evoke a picture. This
suggests that- even for abstract words- it might help if learners associate them with
64

some mental image. Interestingly, it doesn`t seem to matter if the image is highly
imaginative or even very vivid, so long as it is self-generated, rather than acquired
`second-hand`.
-

Mnemonics: these are `tricks` to help retrieve items or rules that are stored in
memory and that are not yet automatically retrievable. Even native speakers rely on
mnemonics to help with some spelling rules: e.g. i before e except after c. as the
previous point suggests, the best kinds of mnemonics are often visual.

Motivation: Simply wanting to learn new words is no guarantee that words will be
remembered. The only difference a strong motivation makes is that the learner is
likely to spend more time on rehearsal and practice, which in the end will pay off in
terms of memory. But even unmotivated learners remember words if there have
been set tasks that require them to make decisions about them.

Attention/arousal: Contrary to popular belief, you can`t improve your vocabulary


in your sleep, simply by listening to a tape. Some degree of conscious attention is
required. A very high degree of attention ( called arousal ) seems to correlate with
improved recall. Words that trigger a strong emotional response, for example, are
more easily recalled that ones that don`t. This may account for the fact that many
learners seem to have a knack of remembering swear words, even if they have heard
them only a couple of times.

Affective depth: Related to the preceding point, affective (i.e. emotional)


information is stored along with cognitive (i.e. intellectual) data, and may play an
equally important role on how words are stored and recalled. Just as it is important
for learners to make judgments about words, it may also be important to make
affective judgments, such as Do I like the sound and look of the word? Do I like the
thing that the word represents? Does the word evoke any pleasant or unpleasant
associations?

Language is a social fact, a convention shared by all the members of a nation; it


relies on a generally known system of signs, i.e. the sounds, letters and words of the
65

language. The words and larger linguistic units (i.e. more complex signs) combine into
longer stretches of language-sentences and paragraphs. The meaning of the sentences is
given by the meaning of its individual elements, and by the way they combine to form the
larger stretches of discourse.
Consequently, learning vocabulary is basic to the learning of a foreign languageyou cannot communicate unless you know `the code`; you neither understand what others
are trying to explain, nor are you able to express your wishes, thoughts and feelings. That is
why, teaching vocabulary has been a central element in foreign language teaching; however
the way different generations of teachers approached teaching vocabulary has been quite
different.
When teaching idiomatic speech, the teacher must be careful about:
-the conventional nature of idioms, i.e. idiomatic phrases have been accepted as such by
all the members of the language community:
-the original/logical meaning of the phrase may be lost to the modern speaker, so that
we have to dig in the history of the language to find the explanations: e.g. to kick the
bucket=`to die`; the phrase probably comes from the practice of hanging people (i.e.
they actually kicked the bucket from under the person`s feet);
-different languages may use different phrases/phrase parts to refer idiomatically to the
same notion: blind as a bat- Romanian: `orb ca o crti` (mole)
-given the conventional nature of idioms, the students must not translate the phrase
word for word, but must find its idiomatic equivalent: e.g. to fall head over heels in
love=` a se ndrgosti lulea`; to make mountains out of mole-hills=`a face din nar
armsar`;
-the problem of stylistic appropriacy:
-some idiomatic expressions can function in neutral, formal, or even elevated speech:
e.g. against all odds; to catch sight ( of someone ); to grasp the meaning ( of
something); to keep a tight grip on one`s emotions; to lay hands ( on something ); to
lose heart; to run up a debt; to be on the right/wrong track; etc.
-however, most idioms are reserved to informal, or even slangy speech: e.g. out of the
blue ( =`suddenly` ); to be tickled pink (= `delighted` ); as drunk as a lord; to drive
someone crazy; to fling someone to the lions; to shed floods of tears; to wind someone

66

around one`s little finger ( = `to easily manipulate` ); to keep a white coin for a black
day; etc.
Idioms must be taught contextually, otherwise their exact meaning and stylistic
value cannot be conveyed. Similarly, thematic organization and presentation (e.g. animal
idioms, idioms related to money, to the weather, to laziness) can make the learning of
idiomatic phrases systematic and learner-friendly. In terms of practice, discrete-point
techniques can be useful, as they target each idiom specifically; through repetition, they
lead to learning and habit formation. (Vizental, 2008, pp.178-185)
The age of our students is a major factor in our decisions about how and what to
teach. People of different needs, competences, and cognitive skills; we might expect
children of primary age to acquire much of a foreign language through play, for example,
whereas for adults we can reasonably expect a greater use of abstract thought.
In what follows we will consider students at different ages as if all the members of
each age group are the same. Yet each student is an individual with different experiences
both in and outside the classroom. Comments here about young children, teenagers, and
adults can only be generalizations. Much also depends upon individual learner differences
and motivation.
If we accept that different intelligence predominate in different people, it suggests
that the same learning task may not be appropriate for all of our students. While people
with a strong logical/mathematical intelligence might respond well to a complex grammar
explanation, a different student might need the comfort of diagrams and physical
demonstration because their strength is in the visual/spatial area. Other students who have a
strong interpersonal intelligence may require a more interactive climate if their learning is
to be effective.
We have to start with the recognition of students as individuals as well as being
members of a group. Even when classes have been separated into different levels, not
everyone in the group will have the same knowledge of English. Some will be better writers
than others and some will have greater oral fluency than others.

67

We need to establish who the different students in our classes are. To ascertain their
language level, for example, we can look at their scores on different tests, and we can
monitor their progress through both formal and informal observation. This will tell us who
needs more or less help in the class. It will inform our decisions about how to group
students together, and it will tailor our teaching methods, the materials we use and the
production we expect to the level we are working with.
Students are generally described in three levels: beginner, intermediate and
advanced, and these categories are further qualified by talking about real beginners and
false beginners. Between beginner and intermediate we often class students as elementary.
The intermediate level itself is often sub-divided into lower intermediate and upper
intermediate and even mid-intermediate. (Harmer, 2001, pp. 37-48)
In the current chapter we are suggesting a number of activities to develop practical
skills of the idiomatic expressions acquisition according to three main levels of learners, i.e.
intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced.
There will be taken into consideration the level of the students` knowledge gained
in the previous years of studying English as a foreign language, their motivation and their
abilities to apply different types of idioms in every day life situations.
Starting from the theory that idioms/idiomatic expressions are mainly features of informal
language, the students are likely to use them in Spoken English.

4.4. Planning and Preparation


Before going into a lesson it helps to be clear about exactly what the teacher wants
to do. A lot is going to happen on the spot in the class one can never completely predict
how learners will respond to anything but the better prepared the teacher is, the more
likely it is that he/she will be ready to cope with whatever happens (Scrinever 1994, p.44 ).
There are some general areas to consider when planning:
-

The learners. Will they enjoy the lesson? Will they benefit from it?

The aims. What will the learners achieve? What am I hoping to achieve myself?

68

The teaching point. What is the subject matter of the lesson the skills or language
areas that will be studied and the topics I will deal with?

The teaching procedures. What activities will I use? What sequence will they
come in?

Materials. What texts, tapes, pictures, exercises, role-cards, etc. will I use?

Classroom management. What will I say? How will the seating be arranged? How
much time will each stage take? etc.
Planning principles
The two overriding principles behind good lesson planning are variety and

flexibility. Variety means involving students in a number of different types of activity


and where possible introducing them to a wide selection of materials; it means planning
so that learning is interesting and never monotonous for the students. Flexibility comes
into play when dealing with the plan in the classroom; for any number of reasons what
the teacher has planned may not be appropriate for that class on that particular day. The
flexible teacher will be able to change the plan in such situation. Flexibility is the
characteristic expected from the genuinely adaptable teacher.
Making the plan formal: background elements
In The Practice of ELT Harmer states:
Because there are different examination schemes for teachers and because
different institutions and trainers have different preferences it is impossible to say
exactly what a formal plan should look like, or what information should be given,
though [] there`s always a requirement for teachers to detail the procedure they intend
to follow. However, certain elements are almost always present. (2007, p. 371)
Aims: Perhaps the most important element of any plan is the part where the teacher
says what his aims are. These are the outcomes which teaching will try to achieve.
The best classroom aims are specific and directed towards an outcome which can
be measured. If we say My aim is that my students should/can by the end of the
class, we will be able to tell, after the lesson, whether the aim has been met or not.

69

Aims should reflect what we hope the students will be able to do, not we are going
to do. A lesson will often have more than one aim.
Class profile: A class description tells who the students are, and what can be
expected of them. It can give information about how the group and how the individuals
in it behave.
A detailed description will be appropriate with smaller groups, but becomes
difficult to do accurately with larger classes. However, a record of knowledge of
individual students, gained through observation, homework and test scores is invaluable
if we are to meet individual needs.
Assumptions: Some trainers and training exams like teachers to list assumptions
on which the lesson will be based. This means saying what the teacher assumes the
students know or can do.
Personal aims: Some trainers and teaching schemes ask teachers to list their
personal aims for the lesson as a way of provoking some kind of development and
reflection. Personal aims are those where the teacher seeks to try something out that has
never done before, or decide to try to do better at something which has eluded him
before. A personal name might be In this lesson I am going to give clearer instructions,
especially when I give the students the plan for composition writing.
Skill and language focus: Sometimes teachers say what language skills the
students are going to be focusing on in the aims they detail. Sometimes, however, the
teacher may want to list the structural functions, or vocabulary items separately so that
an observer can clearly see what the students are going to study.
Timetable fit: It is necessary to say where the lesson fits in a sequence of classes
what happens before and after it. An observer needs to see that the teacher has thought
about the role of this lesson within a longer programme.
Other information will be also included about the kind of activities the students have
been involved in (e.g. controlled or communicative, pairwork or groupwork ). All these
factors should influence the planning choices for the lesson.

70

Potential learner problems and possible solutions: a good plan tries to predict
potential pitfalls and suggest ways of dealing with them. It also includes alternative
activities in case the teacher finds it necessary to divert from the lesson sequence he had
hoped to follow.
Success indicators: A success indicator might be that students can confidently
produce prompted sentences about a certain vocabulary task. The point of including
success indicators is that the teacher can easily evaluate if the lesson aims have been
achieved.
We suggest a lesson plan as a model to use in class.

71

4.5. LESSON PLAN

Class: 11 A advanced
Number of Ss: 30
Textbook: Upstream advanced Unit 6 Lesson: A Job Well Done
Time: 50 minutes
I. Aims

To introduce vocabulary related to types of jobs, earning money, places of work

To agree & disagree in connection with job opportunities

To help Ss make a contextualized use of expressions related to professions and


money matters

To introduce phrasal verbs with get, work

To practice multiple choice listening skills

II. Objectives: at the end of the lesson the Ss should be able

To speak about jobs and money issues

To respond positively and negatively to various suggestions

To know certain typical English phrases in connection with various domains

III. Anticipation of problems

Ss may not know certain idioms or fixed phrases

Ss may not understand certain words or phrases from the listening part

Ss may not have a rich vocabulary concerning fields of work

IV. Teaching techniques

Conversation

Brainstorming

Asking & answering questions


72

Interaction ( pair work)

Phrase matching

Mind maps

V. Materials:

Textbook

Cd-player

Flash-cards

VI. Activities
Activity 1-Dicussion
Aim: to agree or disagree in connection with job opportunities
Activity
Interaction time
Ss. Look at the pictures and brainstorm what qualities and
S-S-S
10
qualifications are necessary for each. Write on board. (A. army officer

S-S-S

B. teacher C. bicycle repair man D. doctor) T. directs attention to the

S-S-S

min

list of certain jobs and asks Ss to decide which aspects apply to the jobs
shown in pictures.

Activity 2- Role-play
Aim: to act out dialogues based on role-play cards
Activity
Interaction Time
T gives Ss different cards containing situations based on different S-S
25
speaking topics and asks them to act out dialogues in front of the S-S
class.

min

S-S

73

Activity 3-Listening
Aim: To practice multiple choice listening skills
Activity
Interaction Time
T tells Ss they are going to hear a short extract from a radio report. S
10
Before listening Ss look at the four questions and try to predict what S

min

they think the answer is likely to be: true or false. T plays the CD. Ss S
do the task. T plays the CD again if necessary.

Activity 4- Reading, Speaking


Aim: To express personal opinions
Activity
Interaction Time
In pairs, Ss read the two quotes and discuss sentences. Ss then provide S-S
5
a definition/ paraphrase of the quotes.

S-S

Suggested Answer

S-S

min

The first quote is saying that work plays such a large and important
part in our lives that people often define themselves and others by what
they work they do.
The second quote is trying to put a serious point in an amusing way
and says that you can`t be successful without hard work.
Activity 5-Homework
Activity
Interaction Time
T asks Ss to write a 100-word paragraph about `The Ideal Job` S-S
S-S
S-S

5. TEACHING IDIOMS THROUGH ROLE-PLAY

74

5.1. Role-Playing As A Teaching Strategy


Role-playing is a teaching strategy that fits within the social family of models
(Joyce and Weil, 2000). These strategies emphasize the social nature of learning, and see
cooperative behavior as stimulating students both socially and intellectually.
Role-playing as a teaching strategy offers several advantages for both teacher and
student. First, student`s interest in the topic is raised. Research has shown that integratingexperiential learning activities in the classroom increases interest in the subject mater and
understanding of course content (Poorman, 2002, pg. 32). Fogg (2001) tells of a college
professor who felt that his history classes were boring and not involving the students. After
trying out a role-playing type game one semester, he observed that students were much
more interested in the material.
Secondly, there is increased involvement on the part of the students in a role-playing
lesson. Students are not passive recipients of the instructors knowledge. Rather,
they take an active part. Poorman (2002) observes that true learning cannot take place
when students are passive observers of the teaching process (p. 32). One student at
Barnard College who was enrolled in a role-playing history class said, This class tricks
you into doing so much work (Fogg, 2001). The result of the involvement is increased
learning. (Fogg, 2001).
A third advantage to using role-playing as a teaching strategy is that it teaches
empathy and understanding of different perspectives (Poorman, 2002). A typical roleplaying activity would have students taking on a role of a character, learning and acting
as that individual would do in the typical setting. Poorman (2002) found a significant
increase among students in feeling anothers distress as their own (p. 34).
Role-playing has also been seen to be effective in reducing racial prejudice
(McGregor, 1993).
In role-playing the student is representing and experiencing a character known in
everyday life (Scarcella and Oxford, 1992). The use of role-playing emphasizes personal
concerns, problems, behaviour, and active participation (Silver & Silver, 1989).

75

It improves interpersonal skills (Teahan, 1975), improves communication skills


(Huyack, 1975), and enhances communication (Ettkin & Snyder, 1972).
The role-playing approach can be used in a variety of settings, including the
classroom. The principle behind role-playing is that the student assumes a particular
personality of a different person, such as a historical character. According to Jones
(1982), students must accept the duties and responsibilities of their roles and functions,
and do the best they can in the situation in which they find themselves.
One possible use of role-playing might be to introduce a topic, using the students
background knowledge (schema) to introduce and interest them in a new unit of study
(Lloyd, 1998). But probably more often, role-playing is used as a strategy in which
students use their background knowledge in addition to acquiring new information about
the character in order to better play the role (Lloyd, 1998).
Skilled teachers have generally used skits, plays, newscasts, and other forms of
drama to motivate students when new information in introduced. Role playing activities
can be divided into four stages (Cherif & Somervill, 1998):
1. Preparation and explanation of the activity by the teacher
2. Student preparation of the activity
3. The role-playing
4. The discussion or debriefing after the role-play activity
Mark Sutcliffe from the School of Economics at the University of the West of
England provides educational advantages of role playing:
Educational advantages of using role-play
(From http://www.economics.ltsn.ac.uk/advice/roleplay.htm, found on April 18, 2002.)
The educational advantages from using role-play in teaching include the following:
It encourages individuals, while in role, to reflect upon their knowledge of a subject. As
such, role-play is an excellent teaching method for reviewing material at the end of a course
of study.

76

Individuals are required to use appropriate concepts and arguments as defined by their
role. As roles change, so might relevant concepts and arguments. Students may come, as a
consequence, to appreciate more fully the relevance of diverse opinion, and where and how
it is formed.
Participation helps embed concepts. The importance of creating an active learning
environment is well recognized if the objective is one of deep, rather than surface learning.
Role-playing can make a valuable contribution in this process.
It gives life and immediacy to academic material that can be largely descriptive and/or
theoretical.
It can encourage students to empathize with the position and feelings of others something that, in the normal process of teaching, is likely to be missed.
Who among us does not remember entering a kindergarten room, and upon seeing
the play stove and refrigerator, not have memories of their youth?
Role-playing goes by many names: acting, improvisation, dramatic play, pretend
play, socio-drama, etc. With a small child the act of role-play itself helps them learn social
values and how to perform tasks normally performed for them. Children set up milk bottles
and cans and make believe they own a store. Role-play helps children reach outside their
world and embrace the feelings, emotions and plights of others. It is widely used in the
lower grades to help children explore the world around them.
When role-play is used in a school setting, students extend their knowledge of a
subject by researching a character within a given course of study.
Student interest is raised in subject matter, thus generating interest within the subject
(Poorman, 2002). Students become active participants in their education rather than passive
observers. It allows students to feel empathy for others when portraying a character
involved in turbulent times in history (Steindorf, 2001).
We start our educational journey role-playing house, and usually end it in some sort
of production of a senior play. Role playing is a mainstay of education that needs to be
incorporated into our lesson plans on a regular basis.

77

5.2. Class Activities Using Methods of Teaching Idioms


This chapter is meant to give some examples of activities that can be used during
the English classes. Such activities will involve methods of teaching such as role-playing,
based on gaining language competences and skills ( reading, listening, speaking ).
The class activities will make use of various teaching strategies, among which the
most frequent are pair-work, group-work and games.
The activities will refer to certain groups of students (intermediate, upperintermediate and advanced) and include a variety of teaching material and aids.
Students can practice given idioms related to certain topics using a wide variety of
activities. Let`s take for example, time idioms.
Fill in the following sentences using suitable idioms.
1. Right now I don`t have money to buy a new car, so.., I have to
drive a second-hand car.
2. There is no need to hurry, so., relax and enjoy your
breakfast.
3. I had nothing to do while waiting for my husband at the airport so I played
Nintendo to
4. I have no intention of getting married..
5. My boss.. when I failed to finish the report yesterday.
6. to buy a house in Toronto because the mortgage rate is
really low.
7. You look really busy. Did I?
8. You`re never home. When I call you, nobody answers the phone........... .
Match the idioms to their definitions.
1. for the time being
2. to take your time
3. to kill time
4. at this point in time
5. to give someone a hard time
6. the time is right
7. to catch someone at a bad time
78

8. nine times out of ten


a. to visit or call a person when it is inconvenient
b. to criticize, or to make fun of someone
c. it is good time to do something
d. just for the time being; temporarily
e. not to hurry
f. to waste time while waiting for someone or something to happen
g. very often
h. now; at this time

To ensure that students not only understand idioms, but also learn to use them, the
idioms are to be presented in context, for example, in simple conversations where the
meaning of the idiom is clear. To introduce the idiom to give someone a hard time, the
teacher can present a conversation like this one:
Juan: Hey Sarah, you look sad. What`s up?
Sarah: Well, I didn`t play very well today during volleyball practice, and my
teammates were not very understanding. They said I was clumsy and had to focus more on
the game. They said a 5-year old girl played better than me.
Juan: Oh! I`m sorry they gave you such a hard time.
The students will have to guess or figure out the meaning of the idiom. They can
also be asked to provide other examples of what it means to give someone a hard time.

Acting out given dialogues

Aims: to practice role-playing by the use of idioms


79

Language levels: upper-intermediate and advanced


Equipment and material: worksheets

The students read the dialogue and try to explain the idioms in bold. Then, they look
at the picture and say what idiom it represents.

Charles: So James, how`s the business doing?


James: Not so good, old boy! I`ve been having problems with old Rumpton. I`m
afraid
I`m going to have to 1) give him the boot.
Charles: Rumpton! But he`s been running the factory for years!
James: Yes Charles, I know, but he`s getting on a bit you know. He`s sixty-two and,
quite frankly I don`t think he knows what he`s doing anymore. He seems to have
turned into 2) a lame duck in recent years no control over the workforce and, well,
between you and me, the company`s 3) feeling the pitch. You know our profits are
down twenty per cent since since last year.
Charles: Goodness me! You`re not 4) in the red are you?
James: Certainly not! We haven`t 5) hit rock bottom just yet! No, we don`t owe
anyone anything. We`re still 6) in the black for now, at least.
Charles: Well, it sounds like you`re 7) playing with fire if you keep him for much
longer! You definitely need to get somebody else to 8) step into his shoes.
James: Yes, but who? I need somebody who`s going to run the place with 9) a firm
hand not take any nonsense, you know?
Charles: Yes, quite. Do be careful though, old chap. A hasty decision won`t 10) pay
dividends, believe me!

80

Building dialogues based on pictures


Aims: to build situational dialogues and use idioms in a proper manner
Language level: intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced
Equipment and material: pictures and blackboard
The goal is to get students to not only understand idioms, but also to learn how to
use them efficiently. The teacher divides the class into pairs. Each pair of students gets one
or two idioms to work with. They must write a conversation and use this idiom in it. The
teacher walks around the classroom to assist students and checks for accuracy.
Each pair stands before their classmates and acts out the conversation they wrote.
This way they not only practice using the idiom phrases, they hear other examples from
classmates, other ways in which these idioms may be included in conversation.
The teacher also asks them to find a suitable title for their dialogues.

Sample Dialogue: ON THE PHONE


Celia: Hi Rachel.
Rachel: Celia! How was your blind date last night?
Celia: Awful! Roger definitely wasn`t my cup of tea! I don`t know why Karen
thought I`d like him. Personally I think she was scraping the bottom of the barrel
he was incredibly rude, quite horrid, actually!
Rachel: Oh dear. What happened?
Celia: Well, we arranged to meet at the King`s Head for a drink first, you know, to
break the ice. I should have realized I was in the soup when I heard him speaking to
the barmaid he was so impolite I blushed! And the way he kept shoveling peanuts
into his mouth and talking at the same time turned my stomach.
Rachel: Urgh! How awful!
Celia: Oh, that wasn`t all! I`d made a real effort with my hair and make- up and I`d
even bought a new dress. He didn`t say anything about how nice I looked talk
about casting pearls before swine! And then, just before we left, he knocked my
glass of red wine all over me, and do you know what he said? `It`s no use crying
81

over spilt milk`. I should have left there and then! He criticized my car all the way to
the restaurant too, said it was uncomfortable and didn`t go fast enough, but when I
asked him what he drove, he said he didn`t!
Rachel: Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Celia: Quite. Anyway at the restaurant, he started complaining that the meat was as
dry as a bone it was delicious and the service wasn`t up to scratch it was
faultless.
Rachel: So what did you do?
Celia: Well I left, didn`t I?

Explain the title: A Dog`s Life


Aims: to imply meaning and to find equivalents to a Romanian expression
to be able to notice the differences in meaning of the two expressions ( in English
this idiomatic expression can have a positive meaning, in some cases, whereas, in
Romanian it is mostly used negatively )
Language Level: intermediate
Equipment and materials: posters, slides, pictures, blackboard
The teacher can either present some pictures or slides illustrating this idiom,
or can ask students to draw pictures, giving comments on the meaning of the
expression.

Talking with a purpose


Aims: to involve students in speaking skills, by asking them to build dialogues on given
situations
82

to practise role-play
Language Level: upper-intermediate and advanced
Equipment and materials: prompt cards
Teacher delivers the students some cards containing idioms and asks the students to
build dialogues based on different situations ( an interview, at the post office, at the cinema,
at the doctor`s, etc. ). Then the students will act in pairs in front of the class.
Identifying idioms in a listening activity
Aims: to be able to practice listening skills
to identify idioms
to reproduce what they hear in similar dialogues
Language Levels: intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced
Equipment and materials: CD player, laptop
The teacher plays the CD once, at this point the students will focus on the
understanding of the listening message, the teacher plays the CD for the second time, while
the students write the idioms they can hear.
The students will be asked to write dialogues of their own using the same idioms in
the listening part.
Identifying idioms in a reading activity
Aims: to work on texts which contain a series of idioms
to practice comprehensive reading through different tasks
Language Levels: upper-intermediate and advanced
Equipment and materials: texts on worksheets, magazines, newspapers, articles
Text A.

The teacher brings written texts in class which contain idioms. The

students will read them and identify the idioms, then they will be asked to solve some
exercises based on the texts.
`Coach Cooper finally let me play goalie`! exclaimed Peter as he ran to his position.
`Come on, bring the ball to me`, he yelled. `See what I do with it!`
83

Peter watched the action at the other corner end of the field. `I wonder what it would
be like playing professional soccer`, thought Peter. `No one would ever score on me! I`d be
rich! Everywhere I went kids would want my autograph! Teams would fight over who got
me! Everyone would say`
WHIZ! Suddenly the ball threw over Peter`s shoulder. Everyone on the team
groaned loudly. `Pete, get your head out of the clouds!` yelled Coach Cooper.
The students will have to explain the meaning of the idiom in the text;
Coach Cooper really meant that
Text B. Brittany had just moved to a new school, and she was nervous about her
classes. Since social studies was her hardest subject, she decided to take her book home
every night to study ahead.
One day her teacher, Mr. Sanchez, announced, `We`re starting a new unit on
inventors. Does anyone know who invented dozens of uses for peanuts? `Brittany looked
around. Everyone in the class seemed puzzled, so she slowly raised her hand.
`Yes, Brittany?` Mr. Sanchez called.
` It`s George Washington Carver`, she answered.
` You hit the nail on the head! `Mr. Sanchez exclaimed.
Mr. Sanchez really meant

Mime
Aims: to involve students in playing activities
to be able to use the body language
Language Levels: intermediate and upper-intermediate
Equipment and materials: cards
The teacher will divide the class in groups of four students, each group will receive
a card on which there are written some idioms such as: animal-related idioms. The students
from each group will mime the idioms in terms, while their opponents guess what they are
84

miming. (this activity can be used at the beginning of the class, being suitable for a `warmup `activity ).
A samples of prompt card: at the doctor`s, idioms to be used- off colour, full of
beans, nothing but skin and bone, as strong as a horse, going down hill.

The cards game


Aims: to practice idioms by playing
Language Levels: all levels
Equipment and materials: cards, handouts, blackboard
The teacher divides the class into groups, each group will receive a set of cards, on
which there are written halves of idioms. The students will have to match the two halves to
obtain idioms. If they don`t find the proper halves to find idioms they will have to exchange
cards with their classmates of other groups. After the idioms are completed, the students
will write the whole idioms on the blackboard and in their notebooks.
Samples of cards:
The apple
Wears his heart
Bee`s
The man
The black sheep

knees
my dreams
of somebody`s eye
of the family
on his sleeve

Describing pictures using idioms


Aims: to practice speaking skills
to practice vocabulary
Language Levels: all

85

Equipment and materials: pictures, handouts


The teacher shows a few pictures to the students and the students will have to
describe them using idioms related to the picture.

86

87

5.3. Testing Idioms


Testing is a reliable means of knowing how effective a teaching sequence
has been.
Testing provides a form of feedback, both for learners and teachers.
Moreover, testing has a useful backwash effect: if learners know they are going to be tested
on their vocabulary learning, they may take vocabulary learning more seriously (Thornbury,
2002, p. 129).
Testing can be seen as part of the recycling of vocabulary generally. The
only difference many recycling exercises and tests is that only the latter are scored.
Vocabulary covered in the previous lesson should be tested at the beginning
of the next one. If not, the chances of retaining the new vocabulary are greatly reduced. The
review phases should gradually be increased. Teachers should keep track of their
vocabulary input and schedule tests at optimal times. One more informal way of testing is
to get learners to test each other using their vocabulary notebooks.
More formal testing may be required at certain strategic stages in a course.
Tests of vocabulary sometimes form a part of placement tests, or as component of a
diagnostic test in advance of planning a course programme. Such tests usually involve
some attempt to measure extent of vocabulary knowledge. Tests of achievement at the end
of a course, and of overall proficiency, as measured by external examinations such as the
Cambridge First Certificate or TOEFL, typically include a vocabulary testing component.
All the aspects of word knowledge can be realized receptively ( in listening
and reading ) or productively ( in speaking and writing ). Any vocabulary test, therefore,
needs to take into account the multi-dimensional character of word-knowledge:
-

the word`s form both spoken and written

the word`s meaning ( or meanings )

any connotations the word might have

whether the word is specific to a certain register or style

the word`s grammatical characteristics e.g. part of speech

the word`s common collocations

the word`s derivations

the word`s relative frequency

88

Whether to test with or without a context, or to test for recognition or for production,
are issues that are best resolved by taking into account the purpose of the test and also its
likely effect on teaching. If the purpose of the test is to predict the learner`s ability, for
example, then a receptive test will be sufficient. But it should also be a contextualized text,
because reading involves using context clues to help work out word meaning. Moreover,
de-contextualised tests are usually easy to comply and mark, so they are therefore very
practicable.
We propose the following type of test through which the advanced students can be
assessed. The test contains different kinds of exercises and uses idioms studied on different
phases of lessons. After the assessing the teacher will discuss the drawbacks of the students
and will find solutions to remedy the mistakes.

A. Choose the correct item.


1.We`ve decided to put buying a house on the back .. until we`ve saved
some more money.
A. burner

C. heater

B. boiler

D. cooker

2. John had read the instruction manual several times, but he couldn`t
make. or tail of it.
A. head

C. back

B. front

D. hind

3. At first there seemed to be no solution to the problem. Then Mary suddenly


saw the. .
A. vision

C. light

B. glow

D. shine

4. It`s obvious from his attitude that he has a.. on his shoulder.
A. weight

C. knock

B. chip

D. dent
89

5. In England it`s traditional for the father of the bride the foot the for
the wedding.
A. tab

C. price

B. bill

D. receipt

6. Terry`s explanation of why he has three hours late cut no . with his
boss.
A. ice

C. sleet

B. snow

D. frost

7. They sat there for hours their brains, but they couldn`t come up
with a solution.
A. roasting

C. rocking

B. raking

D. racking

8. Peter is such a blanket; he hardly ever comes out and when he


does, he always looks miserable.
A. hot

C. old

B. wet

D. cold

9. David tried to put on a brave .. when he failed his test, but you
could see he was upset.
A. show

C. face

B. look

D. exterior

10. The doctor gave Zoe a clean.. of health when she went for her
yearly check-up.
A. tab

C. paper

B. sheet

D. bill

B. Fill in the gaps with phrases from the list:

90

a running battle, talk shop, sits on the fence, hot under the collar, stuck to his
guns, put him on the spot, rang hollow, call it a day, fell on deaf ears, take lying
down
11. I really hate it when people .. at office parties.
12. He said he was sorry, but somehow his excuses.. .
13. Although his parents were opposed to his decision, Nigel .. and
became an actor.
14. She tried to warn them about the company, but her advice . . They
invested anyway and lost all their money.
15. George always , so it`s difficult to know whose side he`s really on.
16. A pay cut was proposed, which the union would not ., so the next day
they called a strike.
17. At 62, Fred decided to .. and applied for early retirement.
18. There`s . between Carl and my mother over gardening chores.
They`ll never compromise.
19. The question about the Mninster`s personal finances really .. and he
tried to evade the issue.
20. I could see she was getting .., so I thought I would keep out of her
way in case she got really angry.
C. Rewrite the sentences using the words in bold.
21. There`s no need to send the computer back just yet, it`s only normal to have
difficulties in the early stages.
teething
22. `Darian`s Dreamers`released their new CD on Thursday and it`s a great demand.
cakes

23. Joe decided that it wasn`t worth arguing with his manager and decided to obey
the rules.
toe
24. Everybody trusts Arthur. He`s very honest.
die
91

25. Drinking less coffee will not restore your health, but it`s certainly a positive
move.
step
26. `Look, I don`t want to cause trouble,` said Jim, `but something needs to be done`
boat
27.`I believe that should solve the problem`, said Mike, putting down his
screwdriver.
trick
28. Jane wanted to speak but she knew it would be better if she kept silent.
tongue
29. Apparently the workers are very angry about the new proposals.
arms
30. Tristan was only teasing when he told me he`d won the lottery.
leg..

92

APPENDIX
A. ENGLISH IDIOMS RELATED TO
1. Animals
Ants in one`s pants. People who have ants in their pants are very restless or excited
about something. `I wish he`d relax. He`s got ants in his pants about something today!`
Make an ass of yourself . If you behave so stupidly that you appear ridiculous , you
make an ass of yourself.` Tom made an ass of himself by singing a love song outside
Julie`s door.`
Like a bat out of hell. If something moves like a bat out of hell, it moves very quickly.
`He grabbed the envelope and ran like a bat out of hell.`
Like a bear with a sore head. If someone is behaving like a bear with a sore head, they
are very irritable and bad-tempered. `When his team lost the match, Brad was like a
bear with a sore head.`
Break the back of the beast. If someone breaks the back of the beast, they succeed in
overcoming a major difficulty. `After hours of effort, the technicians finally broke the
back of the beast and turned the electricity back on again.`
Eager beaver. The term eager beaver refers to a person who is hardworking and
enthusiastic, sometimes considered overzealous. `The new accountant works all the
time-first to arrive and last to leave- a real eager beaver!`
Have a bee in one`s bonnet. A person who has a bee in their bonnet has an idea which
constantly occupies their thoughts. ` She`s got a bee in her bonnet about moving to New
York.`
The bee`s knees. If you say that someone or something is the bee`s knees, you think
they are exceptionally good. `Julie thinks she`s the bee`s knees` means that Julie has a
high opinion of herself!
Birds of a feature. To say that people are birds of a feather means they are very similar
in many ways. `No wonder they go on well, they are birds of a feather.`
For the birds. If you think that something is for the birds, you consider it to be
uninteresting, useless, or not to be taken seriously. `Talking about this issue is really for
the birds.`

93

Kill two birds with one stone. If you kill two birds with one stone, you succeed in doing
two things at the same time. `By studying on the train on the way home every weekend,
Claire kills two birds with one stone.`
Bitten by the bug. If you develop a sudden interest or enthusiasm for something, you are
bitten by the bug. `My dad decided to take up golf and was immediately bitten by the
bug.`
Snug as a bug in a rug. This is a humorous way of saying that you are warm and
comfortable. `Wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa, she looked as snug as a bug in a
rug.`
Like a red flag to a bull. To say that a statement or action is like a red flag to a bull
means that it is sure to make someone very angry or upset.` Don`t mention Tom`s
promotion to Mike. It would be like a red flag to a bull!`
Take the bull by the horns. It means that a person decides to act decisively in order to
deal with a difficult situation or problem. `After a number of children were hurt in the
school playground, Sally took the bull by the horns and called the headmaster`
Face like a bulldog chewing a wasp. To say that someone has a face like a bulldog
chewing a wasp means that you find them very unattractive because they have a
screwed-up ugly expression on their face. ` Not only was he rude but he had a face like
a bulldog chewing a wasp!`
A social butterfly. This term refers to a person who has a lot of friends and
acquaintances and likes to flit from one social event to another. `Julie is constantly out
and about; she`s a real social butterfly`.
A cat in gloves catches no mice. This expression means that if you are too careful or
polite, you may obtain what you want.` Negotiate carefully, but remember: a cat in
gloves catches no mice!`
A fat cat. To refer to a rich and powerful person as a fat cat means that you disapprove
of the way they use their money or power. `The place was full of fat cats on the big
yachts`
Like herding cats. This expression refers to the difficulty of coordinating a situation
which involves people who all want to act independently. ` Organizing an outing for a
group of people from different countries is like herding cats!`
Let the cat out of the bag. If you let the cat out of the bag, you reveal a secret often not
intentionally. `When the child told her grandmother about the plans for her birthday, she
let the cat out of the bag.` It was supposed to be a secret!`
94

Like a cat on hot bricks. A person who is like a cat on hot bricks is very nervous or
restless. `The week before the results were published, she was like a cat on hot bricks.`
Like a scalded cat. If someone or something moves like a scalded cat, they move very
fast because they are frightened or shocked. `As soon as he saw the policeman, he ran
off like a scalded cat.`
Like cat and dog. Two people who fight or argue like cat and dog frequently have
violent arguments, even though they are fond of each other. `They fight like cat and dog
but they`re still together after 30 years.`
Wait for the cat to jump. If you wait for the cat to jump or to see which way the cat
jumps, you delay taking action until you see how events will turn out.` She waited for
the cat to jump before sitting for that scholarship.`
Raining cats and dogs. If it`s raining cats and dogs, it`s raining heavily. `We`ll have to
cancel the picnic, I`m afraid. It`s raining cats and dogs.`
Chickens come home to roost. If you say that chickens come home to roost, you mean
that bad or embarrassing things said or done in the past by someone are now causing
problems for that person. `As tenants the couple were noisy and would behave
disorderly. Now they can`t find a place to rent. The chickens have come home to roost!`
A cash cow. A product or service which is a regular source of income for a company is
called a cash cow.. `His latest invention turned out to be a real cash cow.`
Till the cows come home. To say that a person could do something till the cows come
home, means that they could do it for a long time. `You can ask till the cows come
home, but I`m not buying you a scooter!`
Why buy a cow when you get milk for free? This expression refers to not paying for
something that you can obtain for free. ( Sometimes used to refer to a decision not to
marry when you can have the benefits of marriage without any commitment.) `Rent is
high so Bobby is still living with his parents. He says: Why buy a cow when you can
have milk for free?`
Cloud-cuckoo-land. This expression refers to an imaginary unrealistic place where
everything is perfect and impossible things can happen. `Anyone who thinks theses
measures are going to solve the crisis are living in cloud-cuckoo-land`.
Dead as a dodo. To say that something is dead as a dodo, means that it is without doubt
dead or obsolute, or has gone out of fashion. ( The dodo is a bird that is now extinct ).
`The floppy disk is an invention that now is as dead as a dodo.`

95

Dog`s life. People use this expression when complaining about a situation or job which
they find unpleasant or unsatisfactory. `It`s a dog`s life working in the after-sales
department.`
Every dog has its day. This expression means that everyone can be successful at
something at some time in their life. `I didn`t win this time, but I`ll be lucky one day.
Every dog has its day!`
As quick as a dog can lick a dish. If you do something surprisingly fast, or suddenly,
you do it as quick as a dog can lick a dish. `He packed his bag as quick as a dog can
lick a dish.`
You can`t teach an old dog new tricks. This expression means that someone who is used
to doing things in a certain way will find it difficult to change their habits. `Yor
grandfather will never use a smart phone. You can`t teach an old dog new tricks.`
Let sleeping dogs lie. If you tell somebody to let sleeping dogs lie, you are asking them
not to interfere with a situation because they could cause problems.`Look-they`ve
settled their differences. It`s time to let sleeping dogs lie!`
My dogs are barking. When a person says that their dogs are barking they mean that
their feet are hurting. `I`ve been shopping all day. My dogs are barking.`
Donkey work. This expression is used to describe the unpleasant, boring parts of a job.
`I do the donkey work- my boss gets the credit!`
A lame duck. A person or organization that is in difficulty and unable to manage without
help is called a lame duck. `Some banks have become lame ducks recently.`
Get your ducks in a row. This expression means that you are trying to get things well
organized. `We need to get our ducks in a row if we want our project to succeed.`
Take to something like a duck to water. If you take to something like a duck to water,
you do it naturally and easily, without fear or hesitation. `When Sophie first tried skiing,
she took to it like a duck to water.`
Eagle eye .Someone who has eagle eye sees or notices things more easily than others.
`Tony will help us find it- he`s got eagle eye!`
Elephant in the room. A problem that no one wants to discuss, but is so obvious that it
cannot be ignored, is called elephant in the room. `Let`s face it his work is
unsatisfactory. That`s the elephant in the room that we need to discuss.`
Fish out of water. If you feel like a fish out of water, you feel uncomfortable because of
an unfamiliar situation or unfamiliar surroundings. `As a non-golfer, I felt like a fish out
of water at the clubhouse.`
96

Have other fish to fry. A person who has other fish to fry, has more important things to
do. `I don`t think he`ll attend the office party, he`s got other fish to fry.`
There are plenty of other fish in the sea. To say this means that there are many other
people just as good as the one somebody failed to get. `The candidate we chose refused
the job? Never mind-there are other fish in the sea.`
Sounds or smells fishy. If something sounds or smells fishy, you are suspicious about it.
`Do you believe what she said? Her story sounds fishy to me.`
Happy as a flea in a doghouse. If someone is as happy as a flea in a doghouse, they are
very happy and contended. `Since she moved to a smaller apartment, my mother is as
happy as a flea in a doghouse.`
Have a frog in one`s throat. A person who has a frog in their throat has difficulty
speaking clearly, because they have a cough or a sore throat. `Teaching was difficult
today. I had a frog in my throat all morning.`
Guinea pig. People who are used as guinea pigs are people to whom new methods,
treatment or ideas are tested. `The Education Minister have been tested new regulations
on the students as if they were their guinea pigs.`
Run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. This expression refers to someone who
wants to stay on friendly terms with both sides in a quarrel. `Bob always wants to keep
everyone happy, but I`m afraid he can`t run with the hare and hunt with the hounds this
time-the issue is too important.`
Watch someone like a hawk. If you watch someone like a hawk, you keep your eyes on
them or watch them carefully. `Sarah watches the children like a hawk when she takes
them swimming.`
Stir up a hornet`s nest. If you stir up a hornet`s nest, you do something which causes a
commotion and provokes criticism and anger. `His letter to the Board stirred up a real
hornet`s nest.`
Horse of a different colour. To describe a person or a problem as a horse of a different
colour, means either that the person does things differently from the others or that the
nature of the problem is entirely different. `I expected to negociate with the sales
manager but the chairman turned up- now he`s a horse of a different colour.`
I could eat a horse! To say that you could eat a horse means that you are very hungry.
`Let`s get something to eat. I am starving. I could eat a horse!`

97

One-horse town. A place referred to as a one-horse town, is a small boring town where
nothing much ever happens. `I wish my grandparents didn`t live in that one-horse town.
It`s such a boring place!`
Straight from the horse`s mouth. If you learn straight from the horse`s mouth, you hear
about it directly from a person closely connected with the source of the information.
`How do you know Jack has resigned?` `I got it straight from the horse`s mouth- he told
me himself!`
Hold your horses. If you tell someone to hold your horses, you think they are doing
something too fast and should slow down and not rush into further action. `Hold your
horses! Don`t rush into this without giving it careful thought.`
Walk into the lion`s den. If you walk into the lion`s den, you find yourself in a difficult
situation in which you have to face unfriendly or aggressive people. `He was warned
not to join that club, but he still walked into the lion`s den.`
More fun than a barrel of monkeys. If something is very amusing or enjoyable, you can
say it is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. `The TV quiz was more fun than a barrel of
monkeys.`
Make a monkey out of someone. If you humiliate someone by making them ridiculous
or foolish, you make a monkey out of that person. `That`s enough teasing. Don`t make a
monkey out of him!`
Like a moth to a flame. To say that a person is attracted to someone or something like a
moth to a flame, means that the attraction is so strong they cannot resist. `He`s drawn to
the casino like a moth to a flame.`
Mouse potato. This term refers to a person who spends a lot of time in front of the
computer. `My son and his friends are all mouse potatoes-constantly glued to the
computer!`
As quiet as a mouse. When someone is as quiet as a mouse, they make no noise at all.
`The burglar was as quiet as a mouse when he moved around the house.`
As stubborn as a mule. If someone is as stubborn as a mule, they are very obstinate and
willing to listen to reason or change their mind. `His friends advised him to accept the
offer, but you know Jack-he`s as stubborn as a mule.`
Mutton dressed like lamb. This expression refers to a middle-aged or older woman
trying to look younger than her age dressing in clothes designed for younger people.
`The effect doesn`t suit her at all- it has a `mutton dressed like lamb effect`.

98

Night owl. Someone who is lively and active at night and goes to bed very late is called
a night owl. `I work better in the evenings than in the morning. My friends say that I`m
a night owl.`
The world is your oyster. This expression means that you are free and able to enjoy
pleasures and opportunities that life has to offer. `She left college feeling that the world
was her oyster.`
Proud as a peacock. A person who is as proud as a peacock is extremely proud. `When
his son won first prize, Bill was as proud as a peacock.`
Pigs might fly/when pigs have wings. To say pigs might fly/when pigs have wings
expresses disbelief, or the idea that miracles might happen but are extremely unlikely.
`My grandmother buying a computer?....... Yeah, and pigs might fly!`
Smell a rat. To say `I smell a rat` means that you suspect that something is wrong, or
that someone is doing something dishonest or incorrect. `The police could immediately
smell a rat about that plan.`
Packed like sardines. If a group of people are packed like sardines, they are pressed
together tightly and uncomfortably because there is not enough space. `The bus was
very crowded- we were packed like sardines.`
Loan shark. A loan shark is an unauthorized person who lends money at extremely high
interest rates to people who are unable to obtain a loan from the bank. `The young
immigrant was beaten because he was late paying back money to a loan shark.`
Black sheep . The black sheep of the family is someone who is very different from the
others, and least respected by the other members of the family. `My cousin Johnny has
been to prison twice- he`s the black sheep of the family.`
Snail`s pace. If something moves at a snail`s pace, it goes very slowly. `The old man
was driving the car at a snail`s pace`.
A snake in the grass. This expression refers to someone who pretends to be your friend
while actually betraying you. `I thought I could trust my new colleague but he turned
out to be a snake in the grass.`
Have a whale of time. When people have a whale of time, they enjoy themselves very
much. `We had a whale of time at the party last night.`
A wolf in sheep`s clothing. To describe someone as a wolf in sheep`s clothing means
that although the person looks harmless, they are really very dangerous. `He looks kind
but in fact he`s a wolf in sheep`s clothing.`

99

Cry wolf. To cry wolf is to call for help when you are not really in danger. As a result,
nobody believes you when you really need help. ` I think this is not a serious problem
so you`d better not cry wolf.`
2. Parts of the body
Cost an arm and a leg. If something costs an arm and a leg, it is very expensive. `The
new house cost us an arm and a leg, but we have no regrets.`
Give your right arm. If you say `I`d give my right arm`, you mean that you want it a lot
and do almost anything to obtain it. `I`d give my right arm to have an apartment on
Central Park.`
At arm`s length. If you are at an arm`s length, you do not allow yourself to become too
friendly with them. `It`s not easy to become friends with Sophie; she tends to keep
everyone at arm`s length`.
Blood, sweat and tears. A project or action which involves blood, sweat and tears
requires a lot of effort and hard work. `His success wasn`t due to luck, it was blood,
sweat and tears all the way.`
Work your fingers to the bone. A person who works their fingers to the bone is
extremely hardworking. `He deserves his success; he worked his fingers to the bone
when he started the business.`
By the skin of your teeth. To do something by the skin of your teeth means that you just
manage to do it, but that you almost fail. `He passed the driving test by the skin of his
teeth.`
Break your back. If you work extremely hard, or put a lot of effort into achieving
something, you break your back to do it. `If you want the job done well, you should
accept to pay more. He`s not going to break his back for such a low price!`
Stab in the back. If someone stabs you in the back, they betray you by doing something
harmful to you when you thought you could trust them. `His best friend stabbed him in
the back by voting against him.`
Over my dead body. This expression is used when you absolutely refuse to allow
someone to do something. `Mum, can I get my nose pierced?` ` Over my dead body! `
Give someone the cold shoulder. To give someone the cold shoulder means to
deliberately ignore them. `After giving my opinion, he gave me the cold shoulder.`
Old head on young shoulder. This expression is used to refer to a child or young person
who thinks and expresses themselves like an older more-experienced person. `When she
100

heard Emily warning her little brother to stay out of trouble her mum thought: `That`s
an old head on young shoulders.`
Beat one`s brains out. If someone beats their brains out, they try very hard to
understand something or solve a problem. `My grandmother beats her brains out every
evening trying to do the crossword puzzle in the newspaper.`
Pick someone`s brains. If you pick ask questions about a particular subject in order to
obtain advice or information. `Could we have lunch together? I`d like to pick your
brains about something.`
Get in someone`s hair. If you are getting in someone`s hair, you are annoying them so
much that they can`t get on with what they`re doing. `I`d finish the report more quickly
if my colleague wasn`t getting in my hair all the time.`
Let one`s hair down. If you suggest that someone should let their hair down, you are
telling them to relax and enjoy themselves. `Come on! We`re not in the office now. You
can let one`s hair down!`
Make one`s hair stand on end. If you are absolutely terrified of something, it makes
your hair stand on end. `Just the thought of getting on a plane makes my hair stand on
end.`
Can`t make head or tail of something. If you can`t make head or tail of something, you
can`t understand it at all. `Julie`s message was so confusing, I couldn`t make head or
tail of it!`
Have your head in the clouds. If you have your head in the clouds you are so absorbed
by your thoughts that you are not paying attention to what is happening around you.` He
doesn`t listen to the teacher-he`s got his head in the clouds all the time!`
Head over heels in love. When a person falls passionately in love with another, they are
said to be head over heels in love. `Tony`s only interest at the moment is Maria. He`s
head over heels in love with her!`
Keep a level head. If you keep a level head, you remain calm and sensible no matter
how difficult or distressful the situation may be. `All through the hijacking the pilot
kept a level head.`
A swelled/swollen head. Someone who has a swelled/swollen head has become proud or
conceited, usually because of recent success. Larry`s promotion has given him a swelled
head!`

101

Wet the baby`s head. This expression means to have to drink to celebrate the birth of a
baby. `When his first child was born, Tom invited his colleagues to a local bar to wet the
baby`s head.`
Lend an ear to someone. If you lend an ear to someone, you listen carefully and
sympathetically. `Mr. Brown is such a kind employer, he always lends an ear to his
employees.`
Make one`s ears burn. If something makes your ear burn, you are embarrassed by what
you hear, especially if the conversation is about you. `The comments I overheard made
my ears burn.`
Play it by ear. This expression means to improvise or act without preparation, according
to the demands of the situation. `He always succeeds in persuading the public of his
talent by playing by ear.`
Blink of an eye. If something happens in the blink of an eye, it happens nearly
instantaneously, with hardly enough time to notice it. `The pickpocket disappeared in
the blink of an eye.`
Catch somebody`s eye. If someone catches your eye, you find them attractive. `The
pretty girl near the door caught his eye.`
See eye to eye with someone. To see eye to eye with somebody means that you agree
with them. `They don`t see eye to eye on lots of issues.`
The apple/pear of your eye. If somebody is the apple/pear of your eye, this means that
you like them very much. `My grandson is the apple of my eye.`
Eyes in the back of one`s head. To say that someone has eyes in the back of their head
means that they are very observant and notice everything happening around them. `You
need eyes in the back of your head to look after young children.`
Feast one`s eye on something. If you feast your eyes on something, you are delighted
and gratified by what you see. `As he drove along the coast, he feasted his eyes on the
beautiful scenery.`
Half an eye. If you have or keep half an eye on something, you watch something
without giving it full attention. `She kept half an eye on TV screen while she was
preparing dinner.`
In one`s mind`s eye. If you can visualize something, or see it in your mind`s eye. `I can
see the village in my mind`s eye but I can`t remember the name.`

102

Look someone in the eyes. If you look someone in the eye or the eyes, you look at them
directly so as to convince them that you are telling the truth, even though you may be
lying. `He avoids looking people in their eyes. He is dishonest.`
Eyes wide open. If you do something with your eyes open, you are fully aware of what
you are doing. `I took on the job with my eyes wide open, so I`m not complaining.`
Raise eyebrows. If you raise your eyebrows at something, you show surprise or
disapproval by the expression on your face. `When the boss arrived in jeans, there were
a lot of raised eyebrows.`
Spit in one`s eye. If you spit in one`s eye, you treat that person with disrespect or
contempt. `Your father raised you the best he could. Don`t start spitting in his eyes.`
Five-finger discount. If somebody gets a five-finger discount, they take something
without paying. In other words, they steal. `How could he afford that watch?` `Who
knows-perhaps with a five-finger discount.`
Get your fingers burnt. If you get your fingers burnt, you suffer as a result of an
unsuccessful action and are nervous about trying again. `He got his fingers so badly
burnt in the last elections that he decided to withdraw from politics.`
Keep your fingers crossed. If you keep your fingers crossed, you hope that something
will be successful. `I`m doing my driving test tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for
me!`
All thumbs/ all fingers and thumbs. If you are all thumbs/ all fingers and thumbs, you
are awkward and clumsy and do things incorrectly. `Would you mind wrapping for me?
I`m all fingers and thumbs!`
Stick out like a sore thumb. If something sticks out like a sore thumb, it is very obvious
or visible in an unpleasant way. `The modern building sticks out like a sore thumb
among the old houses.`
Keep a stiff upper lip. If a person keeps a stiff upper lip, they contain their emotion and
do not let other people see their feelings. `When she heard the bad news, she kept a stiff
upper lip.`
Lick/ smack one`s lip. To say that a person is licking or smacking their lip means that
they are showing that they are excited about something and are eager for it to happen.
`They were smacking their lips at the idea of the money they were going to make.`
Lips are sealed. If you say that lips are sealed, you promise not to reveal a secret. `I
promise I won`t tell anyone. My lips are sealed!`

103

Down in the mouth. When someone is down in the mouth, they look unhappy or
depressed. `You look a bit down in the mouth. What`s the matter?`
Make your mouth water. Food can make your mouth water when it looks and smells
extremely good. `That delicious smell from the kitchen is making my mouth water.`
Take the words out of somebody`s mouth. If you say exactly what someone else was
going to say, you take the words out of somebody`s mouth. `I entirely agree with. You
took the words out of my mouth!`
A millstone around your neck. Something described as a millstone around your neck
refers to a problem or responsibility that becomes a burden or a source of worry. `The
money he borrowed became a millstone around his neck.`
A pain in the neck. To refer to a person as a pain in the neck means that you think they
are very irritating or annoying. `She thinks her sibling is a pain in the neck especially
when she wants to join her parties.`
Bite your tongue. If you bite your tongue, you try not to say what you really think or
feel. `It was difficult for me not to react. I had to bite my tongue.`
Give someone a tongue-lashing. When you scold someone severely, you give them a
tongue-lashing. `The teacher gave Jeremy a tongue-lashing when he arrived late for
school.`
Hold your tongue. If you hold your tongue, you stay silent and say nothing. `The party
was supposed to be a surprise but unfortunately the little boy couldn`t hold his tongue.`
On the tip of your tongue. To say that a word or an answer is on the tip of your tongue
means that you`re sure you know it but have difficulty finding it. `What`s the actor
name? Wait! I know it-it`s on the tip of my tongue.`
Tongue in cheek. If you describe a remark as tongue in cheek, you mean that it is not
meant to be taken seriously; it is meant to be funny or ironic.` Peter`s remark was taken
more seriously than intended. It was supported to be tongue in cheek.`
Tongues are wagging. When tongues are wagging, people are beginning to gossip or
spread rumours about someone`s private life. `The photograph of the couple that
appeared in a magazine really set tongues wagging!`

104

3. Clothes
Below the belt. An action or a remark described as below the belt means that it is
considered unfair or cruel. `Politicians sometimes use personal information to hit their
rivals below the belt.`
Tighten your belt. If you need to tighten your belt, you must spend your money
carefully. `Another bill? I`ll have to tighten my belt this month!`
Under one`s belt. If you have something under your belt, you have acquired experience
or have satisfactorily achieved something. `You`ve got to have some work experience
under your belt before you can hope to get a permanent job.`
Die with one`s boots on. A person who dies with their boots on, dies while still leading
an active life. `He says he`ll never retire. He`d rather die with his boots on.`
Hang up one`s boots. When a sports player hangs up their boots, they stop playing and
retire. This expression is often used to refer to retirement in general. `Dad says he`s
going to hang up his boots at the end of the year.`
Lick someone`s boots. To say that one person licks another person`s boots means that
they are trying to please that person, often in order to obtain something. `He started
licking his boss`s boots. He hopes he`ll get a promotion soon.`
Tough as old boots. If something, especially meat, is as tough as old boots, it is hard to
cut and difficult to chew. ( can also refer to a person who is strong physically or in
character.) `We were served a steak as tough as old boots.`
Cap in hand. If you ask something cap in hand, you ask for something in a very
respectful manner. `They went to the teacher, cap in hand, and asked for more to
complete their project.`
A feather in one`s cap. To describe someone`s achievement as a feather in one`s cap,
means that it is something they can be proud of. `The overwhelming victory of the team
was a feather at one`s cap for the manager.`
Pop one`s clogs. This is an euphemistic way of saying that a person is dead. `Nobody
lives in that house since old Sam popped his clogs.`
Hot under the collar. If you get hot under the collar, you feel annoyed, indignat or
embarrassed. `If anyone criticizes his proposals, Joe immediately getshot under the
collar.`
Fit like a glove. If something fits you like a glove, it fits you perfectly. `I was lucky! The
first skirt I tried on fitted me like a glove!`
105

Hand in glove. Two or more people who are in collusion, or work in close association,
are said to be hand in glove. `After the match, it was discovered that he was hand in
glove with the referee.`
Handle someone with kid gloves. If you handle someone with kid gloves, you treat them
very carefully or tactfully, either because they are very important or because they are
easily upset. `He is so determined to obtain her agreement that he is handling her with
kid gloves.`
The gloves are off! This expression is used when there are signs that a fight is about to
start. `The two candidates are out of their seats. The gloves are off!`
At the drop of a hat. If you do something at the drop of a hat, you do it immediately and
without hesitation. `I`ve got great friends. They`re ready to help out at the drop of a
hat.`
Keep something under one`s hat. To keep something under one`s hat, means to keep a
secret. `My boss has promised me a promotion, but it`s not official yet, so keep it under
your hat.`
Take one`s hat off to somebody. You say this to express admiration for something
someone has done. `I take my hat off to the chef! The meal was wonderful.`
Throw (or toss) one`s hat in the ring. If you throw /toss your hat in the ring, you
announce that you are going to enter a competition or take up a challenge. `He finally
threw his hat in the ring and announced that he was going to stand for the election.`
Wear many hats. Someone who wears many hats has to do many different types of tasks
or play a variety of roles. `Our company is small so the employees need to be flexible
and accept to wear many hats.`
Caught with your pants down. If you are caught with your pants down, you are caught
doing something bad or forbidden. `Our neighbours were caught interfering with their
electricity metre-caught with their pants down.`
Deep pockets. A person or organization who has deep pockets has a lot of money.
`Andy`s business is not doing well at the moment. He says he needs a friend with deep
pocket.`
Have somebody in your pocket. If you have influence or power over someone, you have
them in your pocket. `He was declared `not guilty` but everyone knew that he had the
injury in his pocket.`

106

Out of your own pocket. If you pay something out of your own pocket, you cover the
cost with your own money. `Breakfast is included but you must pay for lunch out of
your own pocket.`
Suit every pocket. This term refers to the amount of money you are able to spend or the
price you can afford. `The store offers a wide range of computers at prices to suit every
pockets.`
Give the shirt off one`s back. This expression is used to describe a kind-hearted and
generous person who would give you anything he/she owns in order to help you. `Mike
would give the shirt off his back to help a friend in difficulty.`
Keep your shirt on! If you tell somebody to keep their shirt on, you are asking them to
keep calm. `Look, we`ve got plenty of time, so keep your shirt on!`
Step into someone`s shoes. If you step into someone`s shoes, you take over a job or a
position held by someone else before you. `William has been trained to step into his
father`s shoes when he retires.`
On a shoestring. If you do something on a shoestring, you do it with very little money. `
When I was a student I lived on a shoestring.`
Have an ace up one`s sleeve. If you have an ace up your sleeve, you have something in
reserve with which you can gain an advantage. `I`m well prepared for the negotiations.
I`ve got an ace up my sleeve.`
Laugh up your sleeve. If you laugh up your sleeve, you are secretly amused at another
person`s problems or difficulties. `Tom felt that his explanation was confusing and that
his colleague was laughing up his sleeve.`
Roll up your sleeves. When you roll up your sleeves, you get ready for hard work. `To
increase our market share we`ll have to roll up our sleeves and find new customers.`
Black tie event. This expression refers to a formal event at which men are required to
wear a dinner jacket, or tuxedo, and a black bow tie. `I need to know if it`s going to be a
casual get-together or a black tie event.`

107

4. Colours
Black and white. To say that something is black and white means that there is written
proof of it. `It`s an obligation: It`s written in black and white in your contract.`
Blue in the face. If you do something until you`re blue in the face, you try
unsuccessfully to do something for a long time. `I explained the situation until I was
blue in the face but she wouldn`t change her mind.`
Scream blue murder. Someone who screams blue murder, shouts or complains very
loudly as if something very serious has happened. `The crowd started screaming blue
murder when the football match was interrupted.`
Blue-eyed boy. A blue-eyed boy is somebody`s favourite. `He`s the director`s blue-eyed
boy!`
Out of the blue. If something happens out of the blue, it happens unexpectedly. `I had
nearly given up hope when out of the blue I was offered a job.`
Brown as a berry. To say that someone is as brown as a berry, means that they are very
tanned. `I bet she lay in the sun all day long during her vacation at the sea. She was as
brown as a berry.`
See the colour of somebody`s money. If you want to see the colour of somebody`s
money, you want to make sure that the person in question has enough money to pay
before you accept to do something. `I want to see the colour of his money before
shipping the goods.`
Show one`s true colours. When a person shows their colors, their behaviour reveals
their real nature and shows their qualities and/or weaknesses. `In times of crisis people
show their true colours.
Golden opportunity. A golden opportunity is a favourable time or excellent occasion
which should not be missed. `You should not miss this golden opportunity of sitting for
a scholarship to study abroad!`
Golden rule. The most important rule or principle to be remembered when doing
something is called the golden rule. `When traveling abroad, the golden rule is to
respect the local customs.`
Green fingers. To have green fingers means to be good at gardening. `She is a good
gardener. She really has got green fingers.`
Green light. If you give or get the green light, you give or get a signal or permission to
do something. `We`re ready to launch the campaign as soon as we get the green light.`
108

Green with envy. Someone who is green with envy, is a person who is very envious.
`Helen`s deskmate was green with envy when Helen got the highest grade in the class.`
Grey matter ( US gray). It refers to the brain or the grey colour of brain tissue. `He is
the smartest guy I`ve ever met. He`s got lots of grey matter.`
Pink elephants. This term refers to hallucinations or strange imaginary things seen by
people as a result of heavy drinking or the use of narcotics. `No more drinks for me
pleas, otherwise I`ll be seeing pink elephants.`
Red-handed. If a person is caught red-handed, they are called while they are doing
something wrong or illegal. `The boy was caught red-handed stealing chocolate in the
supermarket.`
Red tape. The term red tape refers to official rules and bureaucratic paperwork that
prevent things from being done quickly. `If there wasn`t so much red tape, the company
would be up and running already.`
Paint the town red. If you paint the town red, you go out and enjoy a lively evening in
bars, night clubs, etc. `To celebrate the victory, the teams supporters painted the town
red.`
Roll out the red carpet. To roll out the red carpet means to give special treatment to an
important or honoured visitor. `The management is going to roll out the red carpet for
the visit of the Nobel prize winner.`
See red. If someone sees red, they suddenly become very angry or annoyed about
something. `Discrimination of any kind makes me see red!`
Silver lining. A silver lining refers to the good or pleasant side-effects of an unpleasant
situation. Every cloud has a silver lining is a proverb which means that there is a
positive or helpful side to every unpleasant situation.
Silver spoon. To say that someone was born with a silver spoon in their mouth means
that their family is very rich and privileged. `Kate was born with a silver spoon in her
mouth, her family is the richest in the town.`
White Christmas. A white Christmas is when it snows at Christmas and the ground is
white. `We haven`t had a white Christmas and the ground is white.`
White as ghost/ white as sheet. A person who is white as ghost looks very pale and
frightened. `When she saw that awful accident she became as white as a ghost.`

109

5.Food
Apple-pie order. If something is an apple-pie order, it is very well-organized or in
perfect order. `They made sure the house was in apple-pie order before their parents will
go bananas!`
Go bananas. If someone becomes very emotional and starts behaving in a crazy way,
they go bananas. `If you announce that you`re going to drop out of school, your parents
will go bananas!`
Be full of beans. A person who is full of beans is lovely, active and healthy. `The dog
was a little subdued yesterday, but she`s full of beans today.`
Spill the beans. If you spill the beans, you reveal a secret or talk about something
private. `Come on! Spill the beans! What did he say?`
Take the bread out of somebody`s mouth. If you take the bread of somebody`s mouth,
you take away their means of earning a living. `The decision to ban street vendors took
the bread out of the mouths of many people.`
That takes the biscuits! This expression refers to something very irritating or annoying.
`After waiting for an hour, we were told that there were no seats left. That really took
the biscuits!`
Butter someone up. When you butter someone up, you flatter them or you are very nice
to them, especially if you want to obtain something. `He was so keen to get the job that
he spent his time buttering up the boss.`
A piece of cake. To refer to something as a piece of cake, means that you consider it to
be very easy.` The English test was a piece of cake.`
Have your cake and eat it. To say that someone wants to have their cake and eat it
means that they want the advantages of two alternative situations when only one is
possible. `You have to make lots of sacrifices to achieve in life. You can`t have your
cake and eat it!`
Sell like hot cakes. Things that sell like hot cakes, sell quickly or in large quantities.
`Due to the January sales, the autumn collection sold like hot cakes.`
Champagne taste on beer budget. Someone who likes expensive things that they cannot
afford has champagne taste on a beer budget. `Eva borrows money to buy expensive
designers clothes- champagne taste on a beer budget.`
Big cheese. This refers to a person who has a lot of power and influence in an
organization. `Tom`s father is a big cheese in the oil industry.`
110

Like chalk and cheese. Two people who are like chalk and cheese are completely
different from each other. `Although they are twins they are like chalk and cheese.`
Cheesed off. If someone is cheesed off with something, they are annoyed, bored or
frustrated. `Julie is absolutely cheesed off with her job.`
Life is just a bowl of cherries! This expression means that life is pleasant and
uncomplicated. `Now that he`s retired, my grandfather often says life is just a bowl of
cherries!`
Old chestnut. A story, a joke or an idea that has been repeated so often that it has lost its
novelty is referred to as old chestnut. `The story about his boat capsizing has become an
old chestnut.`
That`s the way the cookie crumbles. This expression means `that is the way things are
and nothing can be done about it`- that`s life.` `People are born and die, that`s the way
the cookie crumbles.
Cream rises to the top. This expression means that someone or something exceptionally
good will eventually attract attention, or stand out from the rest, just as cream rises to
the top in coffee or tea. `I knew you would succeed. As the saying goes, `cream rises to
the top.``
Cool as a cucumber. A person who is as cool as a cucumber is a person who is not
anxious, but relaxed and non-emotional. `After all those criticisms from his boss he
managed to remain as cool as a cucumber.`
Nest egg. If you have a nest egg, you have a reserve of money which you put aside for
future needs. `Our parents consider the money from the sale of their house as a nest egg
for their old age.`
Have all your eggs in one basket. If you have all your eggs in one basket, you depend
on one plan or one source of income. `If you invest your savings in one bank, you`ll
have all your eggs in one basket.`
Food for thought. If something gives you food for thought, it makes you think very hard
about something. `The documentary on poverty in the world really gave me food for
thought.`
Low-hanging fruit. To refer to something as low-hanging fruit means that it is a target
that can be easily reached, or a goal that can be accomplished with a minimum of effort.
`Teenagers are low-hanging fruit for fashionable mobile devices.`

111

Play gooseberry. If you play gooseberry, you join or accompany two people who have a
romantic relationship and want to be alone. `They invited me to join them but I didn`t
want to play gooseberry.`
Sour grapes. To say that someone`s attitude is sour grapes means that they are trying to
make others believe that something that they cannot have is of no importance. `When
she didn`t get the job she said that she wasn`t interested in it anyway, but that`s just sour
grapes!`
Icing on the cake. If something is referred to as icing on the cake, it is an extra benefit
that makes a good situation even better. `Good news! I got the job. and the icing on
the cake is that I got a company car, too!`
Money for jam. A very easy way of earning money is called money for jam. `All you`ve
got to do is hand out brochures. It`s money for jam!`
It`s no use crying over spilt milk. This expression means that it is useless to complain or
have regrets about something that is done and cannot be changed. `Sometimes I regret
not accepting the offer, but it`s no use crying over spilt milk.`
Go nuts. To say that a person has gone nuts means that they have become completely
foolish, eccentric or mad. `When he saw his car damaged, he completely went nuts`
Olive branch. If a person or organization holds out an olive branch to another, they
show that they want to end a disagreement and make peace. `The protesters finally
accepted the olive branch extended to them.`
Go pear-shaped. If a plan or a project goes pear-shaped, it either goes wrong or it
produces an undesirable result. `Jane organized a treasure hunt in the park for the kids
but it all went pear-shaped and everyone was disappointed.`
Like two peas in a pod. To say that two people are like two peas in a pod means that
they are very similar in appearance. `It wasn`t difficult to identify the brothers- they
were like two peas in a pod.`
Hot potato. To refer to a subject as a hot potato means that is a very sensitive and
controversial matter which is difficult to deal with. `The new Prime Minister hasn`t
been confronted with any hot potatoes yet.`
Easy as pie. To say that something is easy as pie means that it is very easy to do. `How
did the English test go? No problem-it was as easy as pie!`
Plum in your mouth. Someone who speaks with an upper class accent is said to have
plum in their mouth. `He speaks just like an aristocrat-with a plum in his mouth!`

112

Couch potato. If you refer to someone as a couch potato, you criticize them for spending
a lot of time sitting and watching television. `Don`t be such a couch potato! There are
better ways of spending your time than in front of the TV.`
Mouse potato. This term refers to a person who spends a lot of time in front of the
computer. `My son and his friends are all mouse potatoes-constantly glued to the
computers!`
Small potatoes. Something that is small potatoes is considered unimportant or
insignificant. `Her first publication was considered small potatoes but her new book has
led to a change of opinion.`
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. This expression means that something new can
only be judged after it has been tested. `I`m going to try out my new DVD player. The
proof of the pudding is in the eating as we all know.`
Back to the salt mines. Saying that you have to go back to the salt mines is a humorous
way of talking about returning to work, usually with some reluctance. `We get two days
off at Christmas and then it`s back to the salt mines!`
Take something with a grain of salt. To say that certain information should be taken with
a grain of salt means that you doubt the accuracy of the information. `I heard that the
tuition fees are going to be reduced, but that should be taken with a grain of salt.`
Soup to nuts. If you do something from soup to nuts, you do it all the way through, from
the beginning to the end ( like from the first to last course of a meal ). `She told us the
whole story, from soup to nuts.`
First water. Something that is of the first water is of the finest or most exceptional
quality ( like being compared to a diamond ). `The violinist gave a performance that was
the first water.`
Hold water. If an explanation or argument does not hold water, it does not stand up to
critical examination and can be shown to be unfounded. `The reasons given for the
government`s new measures just do not hold water.`
Make your mouth water. Food can make your mouth water when it looks and smells
extremely good. `That delicious smell from the kitchen is making my mouth water.`
Test the water/waters. If you test the water/waters, you try to find out how acceptable or
successful something is before becoming involved in it. `You should go to a gym class to
test the water before enrolling.`
( You can`t put ) new wine in old bottles. This expression means that you should not try
to combine new concepts or innovations with old or long-established framework system.
113

`You`ll never get that program to work on your father`s old computer-you can`t put new
wine in old bottles.`

6. Money
Back-of-the envelope calculation. This expression refers to quick approximate
calculation done informally, as on the back of an envelope. `I don`t need the exact
amount. You just give me a back-of-the envelope.`
Bet your bottom dollar. If you bet your bottom dollar on something, you are absolutely
certain of it. `Jack is very punctual. You can bet your bottom dollar he`ll be there at 9
o`clock on the dot.`
On the bread line. People who live on the bread line have a very low income or barely
enough money to survive. `Due to recent crisis, there are more people on the breadline
than ever before.`
Burn your fingers. If you burn your fingers ( or get your fingers burnt ), you suffer
financially as a result of foolish behaviour. `He bet all his money on that horse, he burnt
his fingers again.`
Cash in your chips. If you cash in your chips, you sell something, especially shares,
either because you need the money or because you think the value is going to fall. `Andy
cashed in his chips as soon as business started to slow down.`
Chicken feed. An amount of money considered small or unimportant is called chicken
feed. `I got a job during the holidays but the pay was chicken feed.`
Other side of the coin. When you want to mention a different or contradictory aspect of a
situation, you refer to other side of the coin. `The house is lovely and spacious, but the
other side of the coin is that it is far from shops and schools.`
Cost the earth. If something costs the earth, it is very expensive indeed. `She wears
designer clothes that must cost the earth!`
Cut one`s losses. If you end or withdraw from something that is already failing, in order
to reduce the loss of money, time or effort invested in it, you cut your losses. `The
project is heading for failure. Let`s cut our losses before it`s too late.`
Down payment. When someone makes a down payment, they pay a part of the total
amount agreed when signing a purchase deal or contract. `Emma and Paul are excited.
They put a down payment on their first house yesterday.`
114

Go Dutch. To go Dutch with somebody means to share the cost of something such as a
meal or a concert. `Young people today tend to go Dutch when they go out together.`
Eat/ dip into one`s savings. If you eat or dip into your savings, you spend part of the
money you have put aside for future use. `I had to dip into my savings to have the car
repaired.`
Feed the Kitty. If you feed the Kitty, you contribute to a collection of money called a
`kitty` in order to help a good cause. `Come on-every little helps. You can afford to feed
the Kitty for a good cause!`
Feel the pinch. When someone feels the pinch, they begin to suffer from a lack of
money. `With the drop in tourism, hotels and restaurants are beginning to feel the pinch.`
On the house. Something which is on the house, is offered free of charge, usually in a
bar or restaurant. `The new owner offered us a drink on the house.`
Itching ( or itchy ) palm. Someone who has itchy palm is greedy for money, for example,
tips or commission ( as if putting money in the palm of their hand would ease the itching
). `He`s said to have an itching palm-he does nothing without payment.`
Laugh all the way to the bank. A person who makes a lot of money easily, especially
through someone else`s stupidity is said to laugh all the way to the bank. `If we don`t
succeed in renewing the contract, our competitors will be laughing all the way to the
bank.`
Live beyond one`s means. If someone lives beyond their means, they spend more money
that they earn or can afford. `The cost of living was so much higher in New York that he
was soon living beyond his means.`
Make ends meet. To make ends meet means to have enough money to live on. `It`s hard
to make ends meet on such a low salary.`
Look/ feel like a million dollars. If you look/ feel like a million dollars, you look/ feel
extremely good. `With a tan and a new hairstyle, she looked like a million dollars.`
Money laundering. When people launder money, they manage to conceal the source of
illegally-obtained money so that it is believed to be legitimate. `Certain countries have
been accused of facilitating money laundering.`
Money doesn`t grow on trees. To say that money doesn`t grow on trees means that it is
not plentiful or easily obtained. `Be careful how you spend your money, David. It
doesn`t grow on trees, you know.`
Money for old rope. This expression refers to money earned from a task that requires
very little effort. `Getting paid for watering the garden is money for old ropes.`
115

Money spinner. If an activity is a money spinner, it is a very successful way of making


money. `Washing cars was quite a money spinner when I was a student.`
Money talks. It means that people with a lot of money have power and influence. `In our
society, money talks a lot!`
More money than sense. If you have more money than sense, you have a lot of money
which you waste by spending it in a foolish manner. `He celebrated the birth of the baby
by buying a sports car. He`s got more money than sense!`
Not for love or money. If you say that you cannot or will not do something for love or
money, you mean that you cannot or will not do it under any circumstances. `I would not
try bungee jumping for love or money!`
Rake in the money. If you rake in the money, you make money in large quantities. `Bob`s
business is so successful, he`s raking in the money.`
Throw good money after bad. Someone who spends additional money on something that
was already considered a bad investment is said to throw good money after bad. `Buying
a second-hand computer and then spending money to have it repaired is throwing good
money after bad!`
Money`s worth. If you get your money`s worth, you receive good value for the amount
of money you spend. `We bought a travel pass to use the public transport system and we
really got our money`s worth.`
In for a penny, in for a pound. This expression means that once you start doing
something, you might just as well do it wholeheartedly and not stop at half-measures.
`Joe finally accepted to be on the committee, then he accepted to be the chairman-``in
for a penny, in for a pound!``, he said.`
The penny drops. When a person has difficulty understanding or realizing something,
and then the penny drops, they finally understand. `The teasing continued for some time
until the penny dropped and he realized it was a joke!`
Turn up like a bad penny. If someone turns up like a bad penny, they appear at a place or
event where they are not welcome or not wanted. `I try to avoid Jane, but whenever I go
she turns up like a bad penny.`
Pick up the tab. If you pick up the tab, you pay the bill, or pay the cost of something.
`There was a celebration lunch for the group and Bill picked up the tab.`
Play the market. If you play the market, you buy stock and shares in the hope of making
a profit when you sell them. `It`s always tempting to play the market, but it`s more risky
at the present time.`
116

From rags to riches. If you go from rags to riches, you start off being very poor and
become very rich and successful. `By renovating old houses in the right places, he went
from rags to riches.`
Rob Peter to pay Paul. If a person robs Peter to pay Paul, they pay one debt with money
borrowed from somewhere else, thus creating another debt. `David borrowed money
from a friend to cover his overdraft; a typical case of robbing Peter to pay Paul!`
Saddled with debt. If you are saddled with debt, the amount of money that you owe is a
financial burden. `Be careful. If you buy a house that is too expensive, you could be
saddled with debt for many years.`
Scrimp and save. If you scrimp and save, you spend as little as possible over a certain
period of time in order to save money. `The parents scrimped and saved for years so that
their children would have a college education.`
( Put ) skin in the game. If you put skin in the game, you show your confidence in a
company by making a considerable investment of financial commitment. `I got good
news today. Apparently a serious investor is willing to put skin in the game.`
Sting someone for something. If you sting someone for an amount of money, you make
them pay for something, usually an deceitful manner. `Not only was the lunch boring but
I was stung for 25$.`
On one`s uppers. Someone who is on their uppers has very little money or not enough to
cover their needs. `Because he was clearly on his uppers when he was hired, he was
given an advance in salary.`
7. Shopping
Shop around. If you shop around, you visit a number of shops selling similar articles in
order to compare the prices. `You can usually save money by shopping around.`
Shop till you drop. If you shop till you drop, you go shopping for a long time, until
you`re exhausted. `If you go to London with Julie, you`ll shop till you drop, so take
comfortable shoes!`
A shopping spree. If you go on a shopping spree, you enjoy a lively outing, usually with
much spending of money. `Kate enjoys going on a shopping spree during the sales.`
Shopping therapy. This term refers to the idea that buying things can make you feel
better. `A shopping therapy can usually cheer up bored teenagers.`

117

Talk shop. If you talk shop, you talk about your work or business in a social situation
with someone you work with, and make the conversation boring for the others present. `I
never go out with my colleagues because we inevitably end up talking shop.`
Window shopping. If you do some window shopping, you look at things in shop
windows, without actually purchasing anything. `I can`t buy anything until I get paid, so
I`m just window shopping.`
8. Sports
Be on the ball .If you are on the ball, you are aware of what is happening and are able to
react to the situation quickly. `We need someone who is really on the ball to head the
fund-raising campaign.`
Have a ball. A person who is having a ball is having a good time, or enjoying
themselves. `We really had a ball at the Johnsons` party last Saturday!`
The ball is in your court. If the ball is in your court, it is your turn to act next. `What are
you waiting for? The ball is in your court!`
Start the ball rolling. If you start the ball rolling, you start an activity in which other
people will join. `Let`s start the ball rolling by calling on our first speaker.`
That`s the way the ball bounces. Things don`t always work out as planned, and there`s
nothing we can do about it-that`s life!. `He didn`t get the prize he expected, but never
mind-that`s the way the ball bounces!`
Fishing expedition. If someone is on a fishing expedition, they are trying to obtain
information in any way possible. `The lunch invitation was clearly a fishing expedition
to obtain information about his private life.`
At the this stage of the game. This expression refers to the current point reached in a
process, activity or developing situation. `At this stage of the game I think any further
intervention would be unwise.`
Go overboard. If you go overboard, you are over-enthusiastic about something and do
too much or behave in an excessive way. `We need to prepare the dining room for
Christmas, but don`t go overboard with the decorations!`
Make the cut. If you make the cut, you reach a required standard or succeed in passing
from one round of a competition to another. `After intensive training, Sarah made the cut
and joined the team.`

118

Paddle one own`s canoe. If you paddle your own canoe, you do what you want to do
without help or interference from anyone. `His parents thought it was time for Tom to
paddle his own canoe.`
Play the game. If you play the game, you accept to do things according to rules laid
down by others. `Not all websites owners play the game. Some download content from
others without permission.`
Play games ( with someone ). If you are not completely honest, or behave in a way that
is insincere, evasive or intentionally misleading, you are playing games with someone.
`Look, stop playing games with us. Just tell us if you`re interested in the project or not.`
Race against the time. If someone is in a race against the time, they have to work very
quickly in order to do or finish something before a certain time. `It was a race against the
time to get everything ready for the presentation.`
Ride something out. If you manage to survive a dangerous or an unpleasant situation,
you ride it out. `His business was hit by the recession but he managed to ride it out.`
Riding high. Someone who is riding high is enjoying a period of success or popularity.
`He`s been riding high since the success of his last film.`
Sail through something. If you sell through something, for example a test or an exam,
you succeed in doing it without difficulty. `He`s very clever. He sailed through all his
exams.`
Skating on thin ice. If you are skating on thin ice, you are doing or saying something
that could cause disagreement or trouble. `Don`t mention that subject during the
negotiations or you could be skating on thin ice.`
Swim against the tide. A person who is doing or saying the opposite to most other people
is said to be swimming against the tide. `Perhaps it`s because she always swims against
the tide that her books are so successful.`
Take the wind out of someone`s sails. If you take the wind out of someone`s sails, you
make them feel less confident, by doing or saying something that they do not expect.
`After Sarah`s presentation, her boss made some negative remarks that took the wind out
of her sails.`
Two can play at that game. This expression is used to tell someone that you can behave
towards them in the same unpleasant way that they have been behaving towards you.
`My advice is that you should not hurt her the same as she did to you; don`t play at that
game!`

119

A waiting game. A person who plays a waiting game delays taking any action or making
any decision because they prefer to wait and see how things develop, usually in the hope
that this will put them in a stronger position. `He is a shrewd businessman. He has
always played a waiting game.`
9. Travel-Transport
Jump on the bandwagon. If a person or organization jumps on the bandwagon, they
decide to do something when it is already successful or fashionable. `When organic food
became popular, certain stores were quick to jump on the bandwagon and promote it.`
In the same boat. If two or more parties are in the same boat, they are in the same
unpleasant or difficult situation. `When the factory closed down, the workers all found
themselves in the same boat.`
Miss the boat. If you miss the boat, you fail to take advantage of an opportunity because
you don`t act quickly enough. `I managed to get my order through before the end of the
special offer-but I nearly missed the boat!`
Rock the boat. If you tell someone not to rock the boat, you are asking them to do
nothing that might cause trouble or upset a stable situation. `After the recent riots, it was
decided not to rock the boat by introducing strict measures.`
As much use as a handbrake on a canoe. This expression refers to something which is
completely useless or serves no purpose. `With no electricity, a refrigerator would be as
much use as a handbrake on a canoe.`
Put the cart before the horse. A person who puts the cart before the horse is doing things
in the wrong order. `Building a school before knowing the age of the population is
putting the cart before the horse.`
Drive a hard bargain. A person who drives a hard bargain always makes sure they gain
advantage in a business deal. `Be prepared for tough negotiations with Stuart- he drives
a hard bargain.`
Drive someone up the wall. If somebody or something drives you up the wall, they do
something that greatly annoys or irritates you. `I can`t concentrate with all the noise-it`s
driving me up the wall!`
Backseat driver. A backseat driver is a passenger in a car who gives unwanted advice to
the driver. `I can`t stand backseat drivers like my mother-in-law!`

120

Fender bender. This expression refers to a minor accident in which there is little damage
and no injuries. `It`s hard to believe that a small fender bender can cause a major traffic
jam!`
My way or the highway. If you say to someone `it`s my way or the highway` you are
telling that person that either they can accept what you tell them to do or they leave the
project. `You don`t have much choice when someone says: `It`s my way or the highway!
`
Highways and byways. If you travel highways and byways, you take large and small
roads to visit every part of a country. `He traveled the highways and byways looking for
traces of his ancestors.`
Hit and run ( accident ). When the driver of a vehicle hits another vehicle without
stopping to provide help, identification or insurance, and fails to report the accident to
the police, the collision is called hit and run accident. `A hit-and-run accident deserves
serious punishment.`
On the home stretch. To say that you`re on the home stretch means that you are
approaching the end of something such as a task, a race or a journey. `Don`t give upwe`re on the home stretch now.`
Jump the lights. If you continue driving when the traffic lights turn red, you jump the
lights. `It`s dangerous to jump the lights. No wonder he was stopped by the police.`
Fall off the back of a lorry. If you buy goods that have fallen off the back of a lorry, they
are stolen goods. `Judging by the price of that camera, it must have fallen off the back of
a lorry!`
Make your way ( to ). If you make your way to a destination, you manage to go there
without difficulty. `Don`t worry. I`ll my way to your home from the station.`
( Put the ) pedal to the metal. When you put the pedal to the metal, you accelerate or
make something go faster, especially a vehicle. `If we put the pedal to the metal we
could get this finished in time.`
Any port in a storm. When you are in difficulty, any port in a storm refers to a solution
you accept, which in normal circumstances you would find unacceptable. `The hotel was
substandard, but it was a case of any port in a storm; all the others were full.`
Hit the road. When you hit the road, you begin a journey. `It`s getting late and we`ve
got a long way to go. Let`s hit the road!`
Road rage. Aggressive driving habits sometimes resulting in violence against other
drivers. `A number of car accidents today are a result of road rage.`
121

Get the show on the road. If you manage to put a plan or idea into action, you get the
show on the road. `OK! We`ve got all we need, so let`s get the show on the road!`
Shank`s pony. If you go somewhere Shank`s pony, you have to walk rather than travel by
bus, car, etc. `It was impossible to find a taxi after the party so it was Shank`s pony for
us.`
Like ships that pass in the night. This expression is used to refer to people who meet
briefly and are not likely to meet again. `The two men met once, like ships that pass in
the night, and never met again.`
Live out of the suitcase. Someone who lives out of the suitcase travels a lot, moving
from place to place, and is therefore restricted to the contents of their suitcase. `Sarah`s
new job involves so much travelling that she lives out of a suitcase most of the time.`
Train of thought. A sequence of connected ideas is called a train of thought. `I was
considering the different options when the noise outside broke my train of thought.`
Gravy train. If someone is on the gravy train, they have found an easy way to make
money, one that requires little effort and is without risk. `Since the village has become
fashionable he charges for every photograph taken of his house-he`s on the gravy train!`
Travel light. When you travel light, you travel with as little luggage as possible. `If you
intend to go trekking, you`d better travel light!`
Hitch one`s wagon to a star. Someone who hitches their wagon to a star, has great
ambition and is very determined to reach their goal. `At an early age she decided to hitch
her wagon to a star and become rich and famous.`
On the wagon. Someone who is on the wagon is no longer drinking alcohol. `No wine
for me, please. I`m on the wagon.`
Asleep at the wheel. If you say that someone is asleep at the wheel, you mean that they
are not sufficiently attentive, especially at a critical moment when vigilance is required.
`When the firemen arrived too late at the scene, the night watchman was accused of
being asleep at the wheel.`
Fifth wheel. This expression refers to a person who finds themselves in a situation where
their presence is unnecessary and as a result they feel useless. `Everyone seemed to have
a specific role except me. I felt like a fifth wheel.`
The wheels fall off. When a situation gets out of control and everything starts to go
wrong, the wheels fall off. `The wheels fell off her career when she started taking drugs
and cancelling concerts.`

122

10. Weather
Once in a blue moon. If something happens once in a blue moon, it occurs very rarely.
`Bill has very little contact with his brother. They see each other once in a blue moon.`
A bolt from the blue. To refer to something as a bolt from the blue moon means that it
happened completely unexpected. `The chairman`s resignation came as a bolt from the
blue moon.`
Chill wind of something. If you face or feel the chill wind of something, you are
beginning to encounter the problems or trouble it cause. `Many building companies are
facing the chill wind of the recession.`
Cloud on the horizon. A problem or a difficulty that is predictable, or seems likely to
arise in the future, is called a cloud in the horizon. `They are happily married and for the
moment there appears to be no cloud in the horizon.`
Cloud nine. A person who is on cloud nine seems to be very happy because something
wonderful has happened. `When the boss announced my promotion, I was on cloud
nine!`
Come rain or shine. If a person does something come rain or shine, they do it regularly,
whatever the circumstances. `He goes to the gym club every day; come rain or shine.`
In the dark. If someone is kept or left in the dark about something, they are not informed
about it. `The personnel were kept in the dark about the merger until the last minute.`
Fair-weather friend. Someone who acts as a friend when times are good, and is not there
when you are in trouble is called a fair-weather friend. `I thought I could count on Bill,
but I`ve discovered he`s just a fair-weather friend.`
The heavens open. When the heavens open, it suddenly starts to rain heavily. `As soon as
the race started, the heavens opened and the runners were soaked.`
The lull before the storm. This expression refers to a period of unnatural calm before a
difficult time or violent activity. `The sales start on January 1 st . The quiet period before
that is just the lull before the storm.`
Reach for the moon. If you reach for the moon, you are very ambitious and try to
achieve something even if it`s difficult. `Jenny is talented and ambitious; she always
tends to reach for the moon.`
Chasing rainbows. Someone who is chasing rainbows is trying to get something they
will never obtain. `She`s trying to get into Harvard but I think she`s chasing rainbows.`

123

Wait for a raindrop in the drought. When someone is waiting for a raindrop in the
drought, they are waiting or hoping for something that has little chance of happening.
`For many people finding a job these days is like waiting for a raindrop in the drought.`
It never rains but it pours. This expression is used to comment on the fact that when
something bad happens, other bad things often happen too, and make the situation even
worse. `First he forgot his briefcase, then he lost his wallet, and when he reached the car
park, his car had been stolen; it never rains but it pours!`
A storm is brewing. To say that a storm is brewing means that the atmosphere indicates
that there is going to be trouble, probably with outbursts of anger or emotion. `As soon
as we saw Peter`s face, we knew there was a storm brewing.`
A storm in a teacup. To refer to something as a storm in a teacup means that you think
that people are making a lot of unnecessary fuss or excitement about something
unimportant. `She kept boasting about her project, but in my opinion, it`s just a storm in
a teacup.`
In the eye of the storm. If you are in the eye of the storm, you are deeply involved in a
situation which is difficult or controversial and affects a lot of people. `The minister was
often in the eye of the storm during the debate on the war in Iraq.`
Weather the storm. If you weather the storm, you succeed in surviving a difficult period
of situation. `Given the current recession, the company is weathering the storm better
than some others.`
Make hay while the sun shines. This expression is used as an encouragement to take
advantage of a good situation which may not last. `Successful sportsmen are advised to
make hay while the sun shines.`
Snowed under. Someone who is snowed under has so many things to do, usually work,
that they feel unable to cope with it all. `With the flu epidemic, doctors and nurses are
completely snowed under.`
Teeth chattering. If your teeth chatter, you are extremely cold. `Are you cold? Your teeth
are chattering!`
Face like thunder. If someone has face like thunder they look very angry. `When Dad is
really angry, he has a face like thunder!`
Tide has turned. When a trend has changed from one thing to another, the tide has
turned. `Before, people wanted to live in residential suburbs; now the tide has turned and
warehouses are being converted into fashionable loft apartments-the tide has turned.`

124

Under the weather. If you are under the weather, you are not feeling very well. `What`s
up with you? You seem to be under the weather.`
Know which way the wind blows. This expression means that it is advisable to know
how a situation is developing in order to be prepared for changes that are likely to
happen. `Before we decide on anything, we need to know which way the wind is
blowing.`

125

B. PRACTISING IS KNOWING

We suggest a variety of activities that can be used both in the English classes
( under the teacher`s supervision ) and by individuals as an independent practice.

The Intermediate
1. Fill in the correct colour(s). Then explain the expressions in bold: black, green,
white, blue.
1. Sophie goes to the cinema once in a moon. She doesn`t like it very much.
2. Jack fell down the stairs and he is.and.. all over.
3. Angela definitely has.. fingers-everything in her garden grows really well.
4. He is a bit.-he hasn`t got much experience in this kind of work.
5. The knew that if she found out the truth it would hurt her feelings so they told her a
littlelie.
6. She doesn`t want to say anything until she has seen the facts in..and .
2. Fill in the gaps with the correct word from the list and then explain the meaning
of each expression: beans, cake, soup, potato, nutshell, tea.
1. I thought it would be really difficult to cook that Thai recipe, but in the end it was a
piece of
2. The children have a nap this afternoon so now they are full of
3. I didn`t go to see the film with Alex because it didn`t sound like my cup of.
4. It`s very simple. In a, all you have to do is call them and see what they
want.
5. Labour relations is a bit of a hot. in our office at the moment.
6. Whenever she opens her mouth she seems to land night in the
Find other English food idioms and presented them in class.
3. Fill in the words from the list and then explain the phrases in bold: mouth, finger,
stomach, tooth, chest, bones.
1. Martin loves chocolate and biscuits, he`s really got a sweet.
126

2. Thanks for listening. I needed to get that off my.


3. There`s something wrong with the car, but I just can`t put my . on what it
is.
4. Surgeons need to have a strong, because they can`t let the sight of blood
and injuries upset them.
5. I`m sure something is going to go wrong today. I can feel it in my..
6. I didn`t say that. Please, don`t put words into my.
4. Fill in eye(s), ear(s) or nose and then explain what each of the phrases in bold
means.
1. We haven`t planned what we`re going to do, we`ll just play it by.
2. Shall we get the bill? I`ll try and catch the waiter`s ..
3. Apparently Mark offered to lend her his old car but she turned her.. up at
the idea.
4. Kate`s house is beautifully decorated; she has a really good..for colour.
5. I felt like Pete was looking down his. at us but he thinks he`s more
intelligent.
6. When I told her how I might be able to get her a ticket to the concert, she was
all.
7. I don`t know exactly what happened but I think there`s more to it than meets
the.
8. It`s Neil`s first real job and he`s still a bit wet behind the.
9. He`s thinking about moving, he has a great flat but he`s playing through
the. for it.
10. I looked everywhere for my glasses only to find they were under my. all
the time.
5. Complete each sentence with the correct word from the list. Then explain each
of the phrases. Are there any similar idioms in your language? What are they?: hat,
glove, shirt, trousers, shoes.
1. I love your dress, it`s such a beautiful colour and it fits you like a. .
2. Elaine doesn`t want anybody to know about her new job yet, so keep it under
your.. .
3. She`s so bossy. I think it`s obvious who wears the. in her family.
127

4. I wouldn`t want to be in Mike`s when his boss finds out he wasn`t


really sick last week.
5. If the deal goes wrong, he is going to lose his.. .
6. Match the pairs of words joined with and, then use the phrases to complete the
sentences:
safe alive clean hit law right
and
run

order tidy wrong sound well

1. The missing climber was found two days later, .


2. Children have to be taught the difference between at a young age.
3. She was knocked over in a(n).. accident.
4. A policeman`s job is to maintain.. .
5. I haven`t seen him since he went to America twenty years ago, but I know
he`s. .
6. She spends a lot of time doing housework. Her flat is always
7. Match the idioms to the sports: football, swimming, boxing.
What do you think each idioms means?
1. to be thrown in at the deep end.
2. to be on the ropes..
3. to throw in the towel..
4. to hit ( sb. ) below the belt..
5. to move the goalposts
6. to box sb. into a corner
7. to be out of one`s depth.
8. to be on the ball..
8. Match the phrases in bold to the definitions. Have you got any similar
idioms/phrases in your language? How do they compare with those in the exrcise
below?
criticize

busy and active

become disappointed

be kind

not show gratitude for

admire remain calm

not move

128

1. I really take my hat off to those eco-warriors. At least they are standing up for
what they believe in.
2. He`s exhausted, he`s been on the go all day.
3. If you just hold still for a minute, I can explain everything to you.
4. She may seem strict but underneath she has a heart of gold.
5. I don`t know why she was having a go at Steve. It wasn`t his fault.
6. Environmentalists mustn`t lose heart even when it seems like some people are
ignoring them.
7. I`m happy to help her out but I don`t want to be taken for granted.
8. Martin kept his head and didn`t panic despite the chaos around him.
9. Underline the correct word and then explain the phrases:
1. That`s what we like about Phoebe. She`s willing to lend an ear/eye and give her
advice.
2. It`s early days/times yet. Pete has not yet made his decision.
3. I can`t believe you`re going on a cruise this summer; it must be costing the
fortune/earth.
4. You have to see that new film at the Rialto; I was on the corner/edge of my seat
until the very end.
5. We`re finding it really difficult to make ends meet/together since John lost his job
at the factory.
10. Underline the correct word and then explain each of the phrases:
1. Publishing his new cookery book has brought him into the public eye/tongue.
2. His grandparents would tell him all sorts of stories about the good/past old days.
3. Jane is very happy with her new job as a chef. She seems to have found her place
in the sky/sun.
4. The company donated $ 5000 to feed the children, which was very generous but
unfortunately a drop in the sea/ocean compared to what they actually need.

129

The Upper-intermediate Level


1. Fill in the gaps with one of the animal-related idioms in the list: as stubborn as a
mule, eats like a horse, stir up a a hornet`s nest, wouldn`t hurt a fly, the black sheep of the
family.
1. He`s so gentle, he ( would never hurt anyone. )
2. You`ll never get him to change his mind-he`s ( very obstinate. )
3. My cousin Johnny has been to prison twice-he`s ( very obstinate. )
4. We`ll have to buy lots of food, because Jim`s coming to lunch and he (has a
large appetite. )
5. I wouldn`t say anything about it-you`ll just.. ( cause a lot of trouble. )
2. Fill in the correct idiom from the list: mixed feelings, no hard feelings, in high spirits,
cheer up, on cloud nine.
1. My sister is still .. after her wedding last month. ( extremely happy )
2. `I`m sorry I called you a liar, Jane.` `That`s okay,.` ( no feelings of bitterness.)
3. All the children are..as it`s the first day of the summer holidays. ( happy, lively )
4. Jenny had.. about going to university, she was both excited and nervous.
(conflicting emotions )
5. `.! Things aren`t as bad as they seem!` ( don`t look so sad )
3. Fill in the correct idiom from the list: one man`s meat is another man`s poison, looked
like a drowned rat, rat race, smelt a rat.
1. Joan when she got caught in a downpour without an umbrella. ( got soaking
wet )
2. The detective..; he didn`t believe the suspect`s statement. ( was suspicious )
3. After thirty years in business, Tom wanted to get out of the. and retired to the
country. ( competitive way of life )
4. Some people enjoy violent sports while others hate them-.. ( people`s tastes are
not always the same. )
4. Fill in the correct plant-related idiom from the list: thorn in my side, beat around the
bush, through the grapevine, lead you up the garden path, coming up roses, pushing up the
daisies, gilding the lily, as fresh as a daisy, like a weed, a bed of roses.
130

1. Even though she had been working most of the night, she looked. ( not at all
tired )
2. You can`t expect life to be.; things are bound to go wrong at times. ( easy
and pleasant )
3. That man has become a real I wish he`d stop bothering me! ( source of
annoyance )
4. The last time I saw old Mr. Smith was fifteen years ago; he must be by now.
( dead )
5. John didn`t tell me he was getting married- I heard it ( from gossip )
6. He`s not to be trusted, so don`t let him.. ( deceive you )
7. With his business having become such a success, everything seems to be.
( going very well ).
8. David is growing. He`ll be two meters tall before long. ( extremely quickly )
9. There`s no need for you to wear make-up. You`re so pretty already that you would just
be ( attempting to improve something already attractive )
10. Please don`t ..-just tell me what you want. ( avoid the main )
5. Explain the following idioms then decide which express positive qualities and
which express negative qualities: heart of stone, rotten apple, as good as gold, to have
one`s heart in the right place, heart of gold, pain in the neck, wolf in sheep`s clothing, to
have a level head, wouldn`t hurt a fly, lame duck.
6. Try to explain the following idioms, then make sentences using them: bosom
buddies, friends in high places, fair-weather friend, make friends, a friend in need is a
friend indeed.
7. Explain the following weather-related idioms, then make sentences using them:
under the weather, make heavy weather of, weather the storm, a storm in a teacup, as right
as rain, come rain or shine, for a rainy day, chase rainbows, put the wind up somebody.
8. Fill the gaps with touch, hold or contact, then explain the phrases in the bold:
1. I haven`t been in a classroom for years, so I`m a little out of. with recent
methodology.
2. I need to get. of Laurie and tell her that tonight`s class is cancelled.
131

3. Let`s promise to write or call at least once a month so we don`t lose. with each
other.
4. The harbour master lost with the ship.
5. Please.. the line while I check to see if the doctor is in his office.
6. Journalists often come into with famous people as part of their job.
9. What character qualities are the following animals associated with: dog, mouse,
mule, lion, fox, owl, snail, peacock.

a). Complete the idioms

b). Now match the adjectives from above with their opposites below:
flexible

straight forward modest foolish quick cowardly

noisy healthy

c). How would you describe the people below using the idioms from a).:
Someone who: takes a long time to do something
is intelligent and well informed
has no fear and is ready to face danger
does things behind people`s backs
is very arrogant

132

10. In pairs, match the phrases to make complete sentences:


A
1. I really can`t afford
2. You shouldn`t have spent so much
3. It really isn`t worth
4. You must have paid
5. They must have bought
6. I bet it cost
7. It really was a waste
8. We were overcharged
9. She makes a living
10. They made a lot of money
B
a). of time and money
b). you an absolute fortune
c). by selling the pictures that she paints
d). to go out again this week
e). using up our savings
f). when they sold their house
g). on the holiday
h). it with the money they inherited
i). for it on credit
j). for the taxi fare
11. Choose the correct item, then explain what they mean:
1. She dressed in bright colours so as to be the centre of piece/attention/one/focus.
2. Scandal tends to hit the roof/road/headlines/newspaper on a daily basis.
3. Most people these days demand better quality products and so will choose
brand/code/first/business names.
4. My first view/impression/look/sight of the new soap opera was that it was rather
boring.
5. There are some styles that seem to last for ever, while others are simply longlived/well-lived/short-lived/quick-lived trends.
6. Some film stars will do anything to be in the public service/light/eye/interest.
133

12. Underline the correct item:


1. She belongs to a very ancient family; she can trace her/pass into history back to the
Norman Conquest.
2. A large number of historical events have taken place in the Tower of London over
the centuries; it`s recorded/steeped in history.
3. Neil Armstrong is/made history on 20th July, 1969 when he became the first man to
walk on the moon.
4. When Enrico Fermi split he atom in 1934 (without realizing it), he changed the
course/route of history.
5. During/Throughout history it seems that the reasons for war are essentially the
same; history repeats itself.
13. Underline the correct word in each of the sentences below. What do the phrases
mean? Are there similar idioms in your language?
1. Claire learnt the poem by heart/mind before the presentation.
2. If you want to make the grade/result you`ll have to study very hard.
3. I`m going to learn/teach that boy a lesson he won`t forget.
4. Jacob is in a lesson/class of his own; his work is always excellent.
5. Sarah is very studious. She`s always got her eyes/nose in a book.
6. In primary school everyone called me the teacher`s love/pet because I always got
good grades.
a). Match the words. Which phrases can be used to complete the caption?
A

take

engineered

toxic

supply

energy

effect

short

waste

environmentally

a difference

genetically

extinction

make

crisis

face

friendly
134

` There are no labels. How are we supposed to know which fruit has been.. ?`
b). Use phrases from point a). to complete the sentences below:
1. Tonnes of is produced every year by factories.
2. The new law regarding hunting will next month.
3. Because of pollution of their habitat, many animal species .
4. Food is in.. many developing countries.
5. Most.. goods are expensive.
14. Match the sentences, then explain the words in italics. Which of these
idioms/phrases are the same in your language?
A
1. The city centre comes to life
2. Cheese goes bad if
3. She`s just killing time until
4. You`ll have the time of your life if
5. A couch potato spends
6. Having a sweet tooth is to
B
a). it`s not kept in the fridge.
b). you visit us in the summer.
c). blame for her being overweight.
d). most of their time watching TV.
e). her taxi arrives.
f). after midnight.

b). Which idioms is illustrated in the picture? In pairs, use the idiom to write a caption.
Compare your caption with another pair`s. Which do you like best?

135

The Advanced Level


1. Read the letter and try to explain the idioms in bold.
Dear Mary,
Sorry Lionel and I were such poor company last weekend, but we were both feeling
1) down in the dumps, especially after finding out that Terry had been 2) keeping us in
the dark about the severity of the company`s money problems. I was so angry with him.
My own brother- can you believe it? Believe me, running a family business 3) isn`t all it`s
cracked up to be!
Anyway, the morning after you left, I was reading the paper when an advert for a
week in a country cottage 4) caught my eye. It sounded 5) right up our street, so I
mentioned it to Lionel and, after a lot of persuading, he finally agreed that we both needed
to 6) take things easy for a bit.
We`ve been here for five days now and I feel so much better. It`s right 7) off the
beaten track, so Lionel and I have had enough peace and quiet to talk about the company`s
problems and come up with some solutions. I`ll tell you one thing- Terry is going to 8)
come down to earth with a bump when we get back!
This place is truly fantastic, and Lionel`s 9) in his element at the moment as the
river near here is excellent for fishing. He got up at 10) the crack of dawn today and
returned at lunch-time with an enormous trout!
I`d better go now as we`re leaving tomorrow and I haven`t started packing yet.
136

I`ll give you a ring as soon as we get back.


2. Match the items with the idioms from Ex.1.
a to relax
b to keep sb unaware of sth
c to be not as good as people say
d to stop dreaming and start thinking practically
e isolated and quiet
f within one`s range of interests/ knowledge
g depressed
h very happy/ suited to a situation
i to get sb`s attention
j very early in the morning
1. Fill in the gaps with phrases from the list:
kept in the dark, caught my eye, down in the dumps, all it`s cracked up to be
1. Sam thought he could pass his exam without studying, but he. when he
failed.
2. He was. about his surprise retirement party.
3. The new restaurant isn`t.; it may look nice, but the food is awful!
4. I bought Ann some flowers because she looked .
5. The beautiful clothes in the shop window.., so I went in and
bought a dress.
2. Rewrite the following sentences using the words in bold. Do not change these words
in any way.
1. Speaking in front of an audience can be nerve-racking, but once you become
accustomed to it, you`ll find it easy.
swing
2. My apartment block has a 24-hour security system.
clock.
3. I`m tired of ordinary novels. I want to read something original.
mill..

137

4. We decided to go to a desert island so that we could escape from our daily


problems.
away..
5. I was extremely happy when I won first prize.
moon
3. Answer the questions below:
1. Can something be off the beaten track and right up your street at the same time?
Why/ Why not?
2. If you came down to earth with a bump, would you be in your element? Why/
Why not?
3. If you discovered that the hotel where you were staying wasn`t all it was cracked
up to be, would you get up at the crack of dawn and leave? Why/ Why not?
4. Use the words missing from the sentences below to complete the crossword.

Across
1 This hotel isn`t all it`s up to be.
4 The Star Hotel is awful steer. of it.
7 She kept her parents in the about her new boyfriend.
138

8 This vase caught my.. at the antique shop.


9 I think the African safari would be your best.. for a holiday.

Down
2 I should take a holiday; I need to get away from it. .
3 He`ll come down to. with a bump when he finds out the truth.
4 You can get a snack anytime as the coffee bar is open round the .
5 Dave loves gardening; he`s in his. when he`s outdoors.
6 The house is difficult to find as it`s off the beaten.. .

5. This couple has just heard that their daughter is planning on getting married. Use
some of the idioms below, discuss possible reasons why they look angry.

- head over heels in love

- the bee`s knees

- the man of her dreams

- to steal sb`s heart

- all is fair in love and war

- to see eye to eye

- to tie the knot

- to drive sb round the bend

- the black sheep of the family

- the apple of sb`s eye

139

8. Say whether the idioms in the sentences below are used correctly or incorrectly.
Then replace the incorrect idioms with suitable alternative.
1. She was given the boot last week and now she has to find another job.
2 .I`m afraid you`re in the black again, Mr. Jones you owe the bank $ 500.
3 .Helen was a lame duck when she sold her property at a great profit.
4 .Many students live on a shoestring while they are at university.
5. In my opinion, buying a second-hand car is just money down the drain.
6. Our company finally started to hit rock bottom after its fourth year in business and
we paid off our loan.
7. After Anna`s father retired, she stepped into his shoes and became the director of the
family business.
8. I knew my rival tightened his belt when I received a call from his lawyer.
9. You`ve been playing with fire again, haven`t you? You haven`t stopped yawning all
morning.
10 We really felt the pinch after spending so much money on our new house.
9. Choose the word which best completes each sentence.
1. The thought of eating raw fish turns my .
A head B stomach C legs D belly
2. Jessica was scraping the bottom of the.. for an excuse saying she had a hairdresser`s
appointment.
A glass B pitcher C jug D barrel
3. Daisy says she didn`t want to be chosen, but it`s just sour..; she did really.
A grapes B lemons C raisins D milk
4. Harold realized too late that he had sold the van too cheaply; but there was no point
in. over spilt milk.
A sobbing B weeping C screaming D crying
5. Steven tried to teach his son to appreciate opera but he was just. pearls before
swine.
A hurling B casting C throwing D tossing

140

10. Rewrite the following sentences replacing the words in bold with phrases from the
list: kick the bucket, am as blind as a bat, grinned from ear to ear, there`s life in the old dog
yet, run out of steam.
1. Without my glasses I can`t see anything.
2. If I don`t have a cup of coffee with my lunch, I become weak and faint by three
o`clock.
3. Everyone thinks that Mr. Jones is about to die, but he`s still alright in spite of his
age.
4. When Cathy heard that she had been promoted, she had a huge smile on her face.

11. a) Look at the pictures below and say which idioms are represented.

141

b). Now, use the idioms to complete the following sentences.


1. James knew he would be when he realized he was an hour late for
the rendezvous.
2. Kim said Clara`s new earrings made her look silly, but it was just.
because Clara would have loved to have a pair herself.
3. When we went to summer camp, there was a party on the first night to
help.. .
4. That cake smells delicious. It`s really .
5. My family don`t appreciate art so it was like.. when I took them
to the Monet exhibition.
6. If you.. when building a house, it will not be safe to live in.

142

CONCLUSION

It is well known that vocabulary was underrated in the study of foreign languages
and the most emphasis was placed on acquiring structural patterns without which, it was
said, language utterances could not be conveyed into messages. Not only the history of
language learning but especially real life experience has proven this was not entirely
true. The more vocabulary one manages to possess the more precisely they can express
the intended meaning.
Nowadays a greater importance is given to the study of a foreign language
vocabulary by school curriculums as well as by enthusiastic teachers who are
preoccupied with improving their teaching style.
The teaching of vocabulary has known its own development since the grammartranslation approach to the communicative approach, though a variety of methods and
techniques, from the typical types of exercises including multiple choice, words
matching, fill in and cloze, to different types of writing and including dialogues, letters,
or essays.

The current thesis emphasis on the importance of teaching-learning idioms using the
four language skills-reading, writing, listening and speaking, acquiring these skills with
the help of a series of activities, regarding the certain levels the students belong to.
Acquiring a wide variety of idioms is a feature of very rich vocabulary that students
can get during the learning process. English is known to be the richest language
concerning the number of its words. Some students will find understanding idioms and
using them quite essential as they enlarge their vocabulary, and thus, their
communication skills, appealing both to translation or interpretation. As idioms are
mainly a feature of spoken English, the Romanian students will nevertheless use them
in practice when getting into touch with native speakers. For this reason, as a teacher I

143

have proposed the teaching process of idioms through a practical perspective, that is the
methodological strategy, called role-playing.
Among the many techniques of teaching vocabulary, I consider role-playing an
efficient and attractive teaching method. Students find such a method very exciting as
they are put in different situations to work out different acts. Dialogues are meant to
make students imagine how they would act in different situations in their daily routine.
The teacher can introduce the `role-playing` in the practical part of the lesson, after
the presentation and before the production. Or it can cover a whole class in which the
teacher aims to get the students involved in speaking activities.
Teachers who are interested in the progress of their students would provide
whatever necessary resources are available to them in order to ensure their maximum
acquiring of knowledge. As an English teacher of high school I have attempted to renew
and make an efficient selection of my teaching materials on a continuous basis. It was in
order to meet my students`expectations and to improve my teaching performance that I
have started this research on `teaching idioms through role-play`. Students need impulse
and motivation so as to find themselves eager to learn. Doing the same kinds of drill
and exercises would lead them into boredom and learning would become a drudge.
As an instructor and educator I have always got to have something ready, at hand, to
make them receptive to the knowledge that is to be learned. Analyzing different
teaching methods, I have found role-playing a very accessible and favourable way to
gain my students`interest. It is also suitable to all the three levels my students are
situated at (intermediate, upper-intermediate, advanced).
Another approach to the acquiring idioms is to make students use them in different
exercises and activities. Using idioms can appear at different stages of a lesson: at the
beginning of a lesson, or within the lesson, in many cases, as a follow-up activity.

144

The two-year experimental stage has confirmed that teaching idioms through roleplay using a variety of activities and methods are useful in practicing vocabulary as well
as structures. They challenge the learners into exercising their memory, into analyzing
the language, practicing their language, revising what has been learned.
I must admit that it was not every time I presented a class with a set of idioms or a
text containing idioms that they would receive them enthusiastically. There must have
been different reasons for their reluctance, starting from the difficulty of the tasks, the
lack of motivation, or because they did not find them exciting or useful to load their
memory with.
To keep my students interested in such a vocabulary issue I have proposed various
activities and tasks through which I followed their progress. For this reason I included a
possible test to have my sudents`feed-back and to assess their performance, regarding
the acquiring of idioms.
Using idioms with the help of role-play, has proved to be an efficient method to
make my students aware of the importance of idioms, as marks of the spoken/informal
variant of the English language.
Building and acting dialogues based on everyday situations will give the students
the possibility to express themselves and to find the right solution to different problems,
in this way they would prove their intelligence, creativity and ability to use the foreign
language, skills which have become more and more appreciated in the modern process
of education.
The advanced technology nowadays, the access to the internet, the numerous
resources on the market- English textbooks, grammar books, exam-builders, English
courses or games on CDs and DVDs make an incredible offer for the English teacher
with materials that can be used for teaching, in class.
I intend to continue to use the role-playing method even with other activities as I
find it a challenge for my students to apply their language knowledge in practice. I also
intend to keep up-dating my material database so as to maintain a good and fluent
communication with the future generations of students.

145

BIBLIOGRAPHY

An ABC of English Usage, London, 1945


Ayto, J.: Oxford Dictionary of Slang, 1998
Bassnet, S. and Lefevere, A.: Constructing cultures. Essays on literary translation
Bauer, L.: Introducing Linguistic Morphology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.,
1988
Bell, R.T.: Translation and translating: theory and practice, London, Longman Group,
1991
Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Anglais-Francais, Cambridge
University Press, 1998
Chomsky , Noam: Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar, Fourth Printing,
Mouton, Hague, Paris, 1975
Courtney, Rosemary: Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Longman Group UK
Limited, 1989
Dixon, Robert M.W. : The Rise and Fall of Language, Cambridge University Press,
1997
Dunning, T: Accurate methods for statistics of surprise and coincidence, Computational
Linguistics, 1993
English Idioms and How to Use Them, London, 1962
Ferdinand de Saussure: Course in General Linguistics, translated from the French by
Wade Baskin, Fontana, Collins, 1974
Fernando, C: Idioms and idiomaticity, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996
Firth, J.R.: Papers in Linguistics, Oxford University Press, 1957
Fraser, Bruce: The Verb- Particle Combination in English, Academic Press, 1976
Frath , P & Gledhill, C: Free- Range Clusters or Frozen Chucks? Reference as a
Defining Criterion for Linguistic Units, in Recherches anglaises et Nord-americaines,
2005
Freeman, W: English for Foreigners, London, 1945
Gledhill, C.: Collocations in Science Writing, Narr, Tubingen, 2000
Gorlach, Marina: Phrasal Constructions and Resultatives in English, John Benjamins
Publ.Co., 2004
146

Harmer, J.: The Practice of English Language, Longman, 2007


Hornby: Oxford Advanced Learner`s Dictionary of Current English, 1997
http://clatters.tripod.com/idiom.htm
http://www.suite 101 com/content/sayings-and-idioms-al 136913
Hubbard, P., H. Jones, B. Thornton and R. Wheeler: A Training Course for TEFL. Hong
Kong: Oxford University Press, 1994
Hulba, H.: Syntheses in English Lexicology and Semantics, Spanda, Iasi, 2001
Huston, S& Francis, G: Pattern Grammar- A Corpus Driven Approach to the Lexical
Grammar of English, Amsterdam, 2000
Jackson, H. and E. Ze Amvela: Words, Meaning, and Vocabulary: An Introduction to
Modern English Lexicology. Trowbridge: The Cromwell Press, Web. 4 March 2010
Katamba, F. : English Words- Structure, History, Usage. 2nd edition. New York:
Routledge, 2005
Larsen-Freeman, D.: Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press
Larson, M.L.: Meaning- based translation. A guide to cross-language equivalence,
Lanham: University Press of America, 1984
McArthur, Tom: The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University
Press, 1992
McMordie, W: English Idioms and How to Use Them,1962
Moon, R: Fixed Expressions and Idioms, a Corpus Based Approach. Oxford
University Press, 1998
Newmark, P: Approaches to translation, Oxford: Pergamon, 1981
Nilda, E.A. and Taber, C.R.: The theory and practice of translation, Leiden: Brill, 1969
O`Dell, F. and McCarthy, M.: English Idioms in Use Advanced, Cambridge University
Press, 2010
O`Dell, F. and McCarthy, M.: English Idioms in Use Intermediate, Cambridge
University Press, 2002
Richards, I.A.: Theory of Metaphors, Theory as Metaphoric Variation, 1936
Scrinever, J. : Learning Teaching. Great Britain: Heinemann, 1994
Sinclair J: The Search for Units of Meaning, in Textus, 1996
Sledd, J.: On Not Teaching English Usage, the English Journal, 1965
Smdja F.A,& McKeown, K.R.: Automatically extracting and representing collocations
for language generation, Proceedings of ACL, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1990
147

Ttaru, C.: An Outline of English Lexicology. Cluj Napoca: Editura Limes, 2002
Thornbury, S.: How to Teach Vocabulary. England: Pearson Longman, 2002
Ullman, S.: The Principles of Semantics, Oxford, 1966
Vizental, A.: Metodica Predarii Limbii Engleze. Strategies of Teaching and Testing
English as a Foreign Language, Ed. Polirom, 2008
West, C.: So You Think You Know English. Idioms and Contemporary Expressions,
Cambridge University Press, 2011
Dictionaries
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2006
Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms, Cambridge University Press, 2003
Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English, Oxford University Press 2005
Longman Dictionary of American English Idioms, Editura Longman,1999
Textbooks
Milton, J and V. Evans: A Good Turn of Phrase. Advanced Idiom Practice, Express
Publishing, 2002
Evans, V and J., Dooley: Upstream-intermediate, Express Publishing, 2002
Evans, V. and B. Obee: Upstream-upper-intermediate, Express Publishing, 2003

148

Вам также может понравиться