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[av_heading heading=’ PEOPLE POWWOW ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY HERBERT VEGO
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Sunday, September 3, 2017
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“WHAT’s so good about using English idioms?” a high school student asked me after I had finished my lecture on column writing. I favored him with a brief answer but promised a longer one in my next column in Panay News. So, here I am doing it for him and you, readers.
Using idiomatic expressions, or idioms, is an important technique in transmitting “visual” thoughts to readers. An idiom is a group of words in current usage having a meaning that is not deducible from those of the individual words. “To rain cats and dogs” is now a common substitute for “to rain very heavily.” “Over the moon” – which means “extremely happy” – is another idiom. Uncommon idioms should be used sparingly and only when the context of the sentence would allude to the real meanings!
There are two features that identify an idiom: firstly, we cannot deduce the meaning of the idiom from the individual words; and secondly, both the grammar and the vocabulary of the idiom are fixed, and if we change them we lose the meaning of the idiom. Thus the idiom “pull your socks up” means “improve the way you are behaving” (or it can have a literal meaning).
Many idioms originated as quotations from well-known writers such as Shakespeare. For example, “at one fell swoop” comes from Macbeth and “cold comfort” from King John. Sometimes, such idioms today have a meaning that has been altered from the original quotation.
Some idioms are typically used in one version of English rather than another. For example, the idiom “yellow journalism” originated and is used in American English. Other idioms may be used in a slightly different form in different varieties of English. For example, the idiom “a drop in the ocean” in British and Australian English becomes “a drop in the bucket” in American English. However, in general, globalization and the effects of film, television and the Internet mean that there is less and less distinction between idioms of different varieties of English.
The English language is made up of over 1.5 million words. The same word can have a variety of different meanings depending on the context it is put in; two (or more) words can have the exact same spelling but are pronounced differently, depending on their meanings.
The idioms made from the combinations of those words further alter their meanings in metaphorical way.
Another important feature to point out is that idioms are fixed, which means that people cannot just decide to make up their own.
Since it is impossible to cram into this column all well-known idioms and their meanings, let me cite a few widely-used ones:
Add insult to injury. When people add insult to injury, they make a bad situation even worse.
A drop in the bucket. A very small part of something big or whole
An axe to grind. To have a dispute with someone.
Blessing in disguise. Something good that isn’t recognized at first.
Back to square one. Having to start all over again.
Beating around the bush. Avoiding the main topic. Not speaking directly about the issue.
Come hell or high water. Any difficult situation or obstacle.
Cry over spilt milk. When you complain about a loss from the past.
Devil’s advocate. Someone who takes a position for the sake of argument without believing in that particular side of the argument.
Flash in the pan. Something that shows potential or looks promising in the beginning but fails to deliver anything in the end.
Go for broke. To gamble everything you have.
The last straw. The final problem in a series of problems.
Your guess is as good as mine. The writer conveys no idea. But by inference it could also lead the reader to think of his idea as similar to the writer’s. (hvego@gmail.com/PN)
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