Idioms are stable expressions (phrases), the meaning of which is not determined by the meaning of the individual words included in it. For example, To let the cat out of the bag. - Let it slip.
Learning idioms is not only useful, but also very exciting - nothing reflects the mentality of native speakers of the target language like idioms. In addition, it will help to understand live speech and unadapted literature.
Idioms - set expressions
Idioms cannot be translated literally, since they are indivisible lexical units that can be translated either by meaning or by a corresponding equivalent in the target language. Idioms reflect the realities of language and even history. So, for example, the idiom "to work carelessly" This is due to the fact that in ancient times Russian clothing had long sleeves, that is, it was impossible to work well in this condition. And, in turn, some English idioms will be incomprehensible to a Russian person. For example, "to pull someone's leg" does not mean “to pull someone’s leg,” but “to make fun of, fool one’s head.” This is also connected with history. The origin of this expression dates back to the 18th century, when city streets were very dirty, and the British “as a joke” would place a stick with a hook under the feet of the object of such simple humor.
The meaning of some idioms is easy to understand, since they are similar to Russian
I can't believe my ears. - I don't believe my ears. That is, I don’t believe what I hear.
Many idioms have a similar meaning, but are embodied in the language differently; other images and associations are used, connected by the cultural characteristics of different countries. For example, A carrot and stick- literally this combination is translated “carrot and stick”, that is, the method of encouragement is carrots, and the method of punishment is a stick. In our language, this idiom sounds like “the carrot and stick method.” In this case, punishment comes first - the stick, and then reward - the carrot.
Like two peas in a pod. - Like two peas in a pod, that is, very similar. Our language also has a similar idiom, but the comparison is between two drops of water - "like two peas in a pod" .
Such Idioms are the biggest challenge for an inexperienced translator, since with a literal translation the meaning will simply be lost.
There are idioms whose meaning is simply difficult to guess
For example:
The bee's knees - top grade
All thumbs - clumsy. (He spilt his coffee again, he’s all thumbs - that is, literally, all the fingers on the hand are thumbs).
Also ran - loser. (The idiom came from horse racing - literally - she also ran, but did not receive a prize).
An arm and a leg - a huge amount of money. (That car cost him an arm and a leg.)
Make a pig's ear - doing something very badly.
Let's highlight the main groups of idioms
Idioms based on animal comparisons
Pigs might fly - What doesn’t happen in the world!
Will a duck swim! - Of course!
To flog a dead horse - Waste your energy.
Straight from the horse’s mouth - From the horse’s mouth.
A big fish in a small pond - An important bump out of the blue (local scale).
There isn’t enough space to swing a cat - The apple has nowhere to fall.
To make a monkey out of someone - To make a fool out of someone.
Set expressions related to food
A bad egg - Scoundrel.
To go bananas - Go crazy.
To spill the beans - Give away a secret.
To be full of beans - To be very energetic.
It’s a hot potato - This is a touchy subject.
A second bite of a cherry - Second attempt.
It’s as good as a chocolate teapot - it’s as good as a goat’s milk.
Idioms related to body parts
To get cold feet - To become faint-hearted, to drift, to get scared.
To be up in arms - Fully armed, be ready to fight.
He’s twisting my arm - He presses on me.
To keep an eye on something - Keep your eyes on something.
I'd give my right arm to do it! - I would give anything to do this.
To have eyes on the back of one’s head - To have eyes on the back of the head.
An old head on young shoulders - To be wise beyond your years.
To have someone’s head in the clouds - To soar in the clouds.
To let someone’s hair down - Relax, behave relaxed.
Idioms based on associations with flowers
It’s like a red rag for a bull - It’s like a red rag for a bull.
- How quickly you got to us! It seems you live a little far from here?
- Itook a taxi
.
Correct combination of words.
– I’m so glad to see you! What an unexpected meeting!
– I didn’t expect it myself. Justtook the plane
and flew to you.
Wrong combination of words.
Well, we Russians don’t say that. Got on the plane, bought a plane ticket, but not took the plane. Of course, we will understand the meaning of the expression, but the unnatural combination will “hurt the ear.”
The English language has the same principle: some words go together, others don’t.
quick food – fast food
a fast shower – a quick shower
Hence our advice: study not only individual words, but also popular set expressions in the English language.
Even when you learn a single word, immediately look for the context in which it can and should be used (you will find it in dictionaries,). We will dedicate this topic to the best way to learn new words. And today we are talking about phrases.
List of common expressions in English with translation
Yes, we have prepared a small list of ≈ 140 expressions. These same stable phrases are duplicated in our set of words - .
And yes, just in case: set expressions– these are combinations of 2 or more words that are often used together with each other and sound natural to a native speaker. It can be a noun + adjective, noun + verb, verb + adverb, etc.
Translation of set expressions from English into Russian
1. Set expressions with the verb to do in English
To do someone a favor (Do someone a favor)
To do the cooking
To do the housework (Do housework)
To do the shopping
To do the washing up (Wash the dishes)
To do your best (Try)
To do your hair
2. Set expressions with the verb to have in English
To have a good time (To have a good time, more often used as a wish)
To have a bath (Take a bath)
To have a drink
To have a haircut
To have a holiday (Have a vacation / vacation)
To have a problem (Have a problem, face a problem)
To have a relationship / to be in relationship (Be in a relationship)
To have lunch (Dine, have lunch)
To have sympathy
3. Set expressions with the verb to break
To break the law
Break a leg (Informal: I wish you good luck! No fluff, no feather!)
To break a promise
To break a record
To break someone's heart (Break someone's heart)
To break the ice (Idiom: break the ice, take the first step, soften the situation, make a start)
To break the news to someone (Tell someone important news)
To break the rules
4. Set expressions with the verb to take
To take a break (Take a break)
To take a chance (Take a chance, take a chance)
To take a look (Take a look)
To take a rest (Relax)
To take a seat (Sit down)
To take a taxi (Take a taxi)
To take an exam (Take the exam)
To take notes
To take someone's place (Take someone's place)
5. Set expressions with the verb to make
To make a difference (Make a difference, matter, significantly change things)
To make a mess (Make a mess)
To make a mistake (Make a mistake)
To make a noise
To make an effort (Make an effort)
To make money (Earn money)
To make progress
To make room (Provide a place for someone)
To make trouble
6. Collocations with the verb to catch
To catch the bus (Catch the bus)
To catch a ball (Catch the ball)
To catch a cold (Catch a cold)
To catch a thief (Catch a thief)
To catch fire
To catch sight of (See, notice)
To catch someone’s attention (Catch someone’s attention)
To catch someone's eye (Get someone's attention)
To catch the flu (Get the flu)
7. Set expressions with the verb to pay
To pay respect
To pay a fine
To pay attention
To pay by credit card
To pay cash
To pay interest
To pay someone a visit (Visit someone)
To pay the bill
To pay the price
8. Stable expressions with the verb to keep
To keep the change (Keep the change for yourself, as an appeal: no change needed)
To keep a promise (Keep a promise)
To keep an appointment (Come to the appointed place)
To keep calm
To keep in touch
To keep quiet
To keep someone’s place (Take, hold someone’s place)
9. Collocations with the verb to save
Dictionary of English Expressions
Phew, that's quite an impressive list, isn't it? to learn these expressions through interactive training.
But that's not all. Let's move on to the promised dictionaries. Oxford Collocations Dictionary– an amazing dictionary of fixed expressions in the English language. It works like this: you open the word you are currently learning and look at lists of words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, collective words, etc.) that go with it.
There is another source where you can find the context of a word - these are English-English online dictionaries: Cambridge Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. You type a word into the search bar and find a bunch of examples of use next to its meaning. It is immediately clear which independent and auxiliary parts of speech are used together with it.
- Learn not only individual words, but also common phrases that native speakers use. Learn and perceive them together as a whole.
- To search for them, use a special dictionary with set expressions or look at the context in which the word is used in English-English dictionaries. You need to do this with every new word you learn!
- When you read texts / watch films / listen to songs in English, also write down the combinations of words that you hear there.
- You can learn fixed expressions in English in different ways: by topic (food, time, business, etc.) or by keyword (as in our article). If it is more convenient for your memory to remember by topic, take our examples and divide them into thematic groups.
- If you are writing a text or composing a story in English on some topic, then look for English-language articles on this topic. Look at what expressions are used there (most often, they will be the same). If you find it, feel free to use it: this is exactly how native speakers talk about this topic.
: we have a huge amount of authentic materials in English, from which you can take set expressions, and then run them in training. 🙂
Stable combinations have existed in the history of language for a long time. Already in the eighteenth century, examples of phraseological units with explanations could be found in collections of idioms, catchphrases, aphorisms, and proverbs, although the lexical composition of the language had not yet been studied so closely. And only with the arrival of V.V. Vinogradov in science, a basis for the comprehensive study of set phrases appeared. It was he who laid the foundation for the development of phraseology and called it a linguistic discipline.
The famous linguist N.M. Shansky presented phraseological units as a fixed unit of language, reproduced in finished form and having two or more stressed components of a verbal nature. In addition to lexical indivisibility, phraseological units also have lexical meaning and are often synonyms of words. As an example: “the right hand is a helper”, “bite your tongue - shut up”.
The use of phraseological units in Russian, examples with explanation
We use various phraseological units in our native speech unnoticed by ourselves, due to the fact that they have become familiar since childhood. The most famous ones came to us from fairy tales, epics, folk legends, and some from foreign languages. Original Russians include unique combinations that are found only in our native language and reflect Russian life, traditions and culture. Let's try to understand the meaning with the following example and explanation. Bread was considered the main product in Rus' - it managed to become a symbol of prosperity and good earnings. Therefore, phraseological units: “to take bread from someone” or “to eat bread for nothing” are understandable only to Russian people.
Metamorphicity and imagery are the main criteria of Russian phraseological units. It is the nationality inherent in the native language that allows you to understand stable phrases not at the level of speech, but at the level of the language model that you absorb with your mother’s milk. Even outdated phrases, the meaning of which has been forgotten, become understandable and close to us thanks to their imagery. Below we will look at common examples of phraseological units with explanations and their meaning.
Book and literary
The scope of use of literary speech is much narrower than that of colloquial or interstyle speech. Book phraseological units are used mainly in written sources and add a certain shade of solemnity, elation, and formality to the action. Examples, explanations and meaning of book phraseological units are below:
- - do not allow the matter to proceed; postpone it for an indefinite period. Cloth refers to the woolen fabric that used to cover a desk. If any paper or folder went under the cloth, it means it remained unsigned and did not go into work.
- "Raise on shield"- that is, to show honor, to speak with praise about someone. As an example, in the old days, winners were literally lifted onto a shield and carried high so that everyone could see and thank them.
- “Write - it’s gone.” This is what they say about something that is obviously impossible to do due to the lack of certain conditions. In the nineteenth century, officials wrote down items in the expense book about the receipt and consumption of goods. The embezzlers usually ordered their clerk to make a note about the loss of goods with the words “Write - it’s gone.” At the same time, they took credit for the loss itself.
- “Was there a boy?”- in this way extreme doubt about something is now expressed. The phraseological unit came from M. Gorky’s novel “The Life of Klim Smagin,” which describes the scene of children skating. When the guys fall under the water, Klim is the first to save the girl. Then he throws his belt to the boy, but, fearing that he himself might drown, he lets him go. While searching for a drowned child, Klim hears a voice saying the phrase: “Was there a boy, maybe there wasn’t a boy?”
- "The Muslin Young Lady"- this is how they speak disparagingly about a pampered girl who is absolutely not adapted to life. The passage is taken from N. G. Pomyalovsky’s story “Pittish Happiness.”
- "Bear Corner"- remote settlement, outback. The expression was first used by P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky in his novel of the same name about one of the distant towns of Russia.
- "Hit a nerve"- another book phraseological unit, the history of which goes back to the times when slaves were branded. Cauterization caused extreme pain, especially when touching the healing wound. This turn of phrase becomes relevant when the conversation touches on topics that cause mental anguish in the interlocutor.
- "Scapegoat"- the one on whom responsibility for someone else’s guilt is shifted. The phrase refers to literary phraseological units and has ancient origins. The biblical tradition speaks of the rite of absolution. The priest laid his hand on an ordinary goat, as if transferring sins from a person to an animal, which was later expelled into the desert.
- "Like water off a duck's back"- it doesn’t matter. The goose's plumage is covered with a special lubricant that prevents the bird from getting wet. Water does not wet a goose's wings. Thanks to this fat, it remains dry.
Examples of colloquial and borrowed phraseological units
Colloquial phraseological units are firmly entrenched in our speech. They are convenient to convey a thought to the interlocutor, especially when ordinary words are not enough to convey the emotional coloring of the phrase. Borrowed phraseological units are calques and semi-calques taken from other languages by literal translation of sayings. There are phraseological units that simply correlate in meaning with set expressions in other languages. Their examples: “white crow” sounds like “rare bird” in English, and the expression “hanging by a thread” is replaced by the combination “hanging by a thread.” Other examples of phraseological units with explanations and meaning:
- "First among equals"- that is, the best or leading. Borrowed from the Latin “Primus inter pare”, which is literally translated. Emperor Augustus held this title even before accepting his high title. In this way his prestige was maintained.
- “A good (cheerful) face for a bad game”- that is, hide your experiences and failures behind an external calm appearance. Moreover, “mine” is literally translated from the old Breton language as “facial expression”.
- “What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull.” The phrase was first uttered by Publius Terence Afr. It is used when it is necessary to stop unfounded claims by indicating to the disputant his inferior place.
- "Eat a peck of salt"- a common colloquial phraseological unit. This is an example of a long life together. In the system of measures, a pound is equivalent to 16 kg. To consume such an amount of salt, you need to live together for a huge period of time, during which people learn almost everything about each other.
- “There is nothing behind the soul”- this is how it is customary to talk about a poor person. According to popular belief, the human soul was located in the dimple in the neck. In the old days, it was customary to store money and jewelry there. If there was nothing to hide in the dimple, then it was believed that there was nothing “behind the soul.”
- - that is, have a light snack. The expression is a tracing-paper from the French “tuer le ver”, which has a literal translation - “drink a glass of alcohol on an empty stomach.” It was assumed that alcohol, taken with a minimal snack, destroyed helminths in the body.
- “The reins have fallen by the wayside”- a colloquial phraseological unit denoting reckless actions of someone. The expression was once used in the literal sense, and not figuratively, in relation to horses, in which the rein that fell under the tail caused pain and forced them to perform thoughtless actions.
- "Hack on the nose"- remember once and for all. In former times, illiterate people carried tablets with them everywhere, on which they wrote notes for memory with notches. The “nose” in this case is not an organ of smell, but a wearable thing.
Medical and other professional expressions with explanation
Some phraseological units are taken from the oral speech of people of various professions. These include the following sentences with phraseological units:
- "The Shoemaker's Breast"- a medical term that has its own meaning and explanation. This is what is called a funnel-shaped chest. Due to their professional activities, the lower part of the sternum of shoemakers is pressed inward, due to which the volume of the chest is significantly reduced.
- - this is what they say about unproductive work. As an example: in the old days, the pharmacist wrote exactly this recipe directly on the bottles of medicine. This meant that treatment should be carried out slowly in order to respond in time to the appearance of allergic manifestations. If for a patient this approach is completely justified, then for a working person it is an indicator of laziness and indecisiveness.
- "Spell your teeth"- distract from the pressing problem with extraneous conversations. Unlike dentists, healers can use spells to temporarily eliminate pain. However, they do not treat the teeth themselves and the problem remains unresolved.
- "Sit in the liver"- get bored, poison life. In Ancient Rus', the liver was considered the reservoir of human vitality. It was believed that a person who interferes with life takes away free energy, which means he sits in the liver and directly draws other people’s strength from there.
- "With bated breath"- that is, carefully, not missing even the little things. In medicine, to clear the chest for a correct diagnosis, you need to hold your breath for several minutes. It is believed that a person who holds his breath will get the highest quality result.
- "Rolling up my sleeves"- act diligently and energetically, without sparing your own strength. If you remember, in the old days it was customary to wear clothes with long sleeves - for some the length reached 95 cm. It was impossible to work in such clothes. To do anything useful, you first had to roll up your sleeves, after which things progressed much faster.
- "Through the Sleeves"- lazy, slow, without proper enthusiasm. This phraseological unit exists in contrast to the previous one and has a similar explanation. That is, the lowered long sleeves did not allow the work to be done properly.
- “Wait by the sea for weather”- do nothing, expect the situation to resolve itself. This term comes from the speech of sailors who, before going out to fish, always monitored the weather and waited for a favorable period so as not to get caught in a storm.
Stable and neutral phrases and their meaning
In contrast to colloquial expressions, which are more figurative, phrases that do not have an emotional connotation are considered neutral. Examples of such phraseological units with explanations and their meaning:
- “He can’t find a place for himself”- that is, he is worried. This is what they say about a person who is in a state of strong concern about someone.
- "Without straightening your back"- means working hard and persistently. This is what they said about the plowmen who worked in the fields from morning to night.
- - torment you with requests and conversations about the same thing.
- "Losing spirit"- to finally lose faith in one’s own abilities.
- "Looking at the night"- that is, before dark, when public transport no longer runs and the risk of becoming a victim of bad circumstances increases. In addition, there are many examples that a person will not have time to do anything significant late in the evening, since the body’s daytime resources have been exhausted.
- "Stay with your nose" or fail. Examples of using the expression: when someone allows themselves to be fooled and does not get what they expected. In the old days, the word “nose” meant a bow with an offering. “Nose” - that is, “brought.” The rich usually came to the officials with money, the poor brought a pig, chicken, and eggs. In exchange for offerings, clerks made decisions in favor of the one bringing the gifts. A bad sign was that an official would not accept his “nose” if he was too modest. At the same time, the person asking remained with his gift, that is, “without his nose” and did not receive what he wanted.
- "Wash the Bones"- that is, to gossip, slander, analyze the actions of another person. It was once believed that a sinner under a curse could emerge from the grave as a ghoul. To free him from the spell, it was necessary to dig up the grave and wash the bones with clean water.
In the examples given above, we see that the appropriate use of phraseological units saturates our speech and allows us to make communication emotionally rich and interesting. Sentences with phraseological units add “zest” to the conversation and are perceived by everyone as a completely natural element of speech, enhancing its meaning.
Modern language, but are grammatical archaisms. Examples of such expressions in Russian would be: “stay on your toes”, “kick back”, “fight back”, “play the fool”, “point of view”, “without a king in the head”, “soul to soul”, “sewn by whites” threads" and the like.
Classification (phraseological units)[ | ]
The concept of phraseological units (French unité phraséologique) as a stable phrase, the meaning of which cannot be derived from the meanings of its constituent words, was first formulated by the Swiss linguist Charles Bally in the work “ Precis de stylistique", where he contrasted them with another type of phrases - (French séries phraséologiques) with a variable combination of components. Subsequently, V.V. Vinogradov identified three main types of phraseological units:
General properties [ | ]
A phraseological unit is used as a whole that is not subject to further decomposition and usually does not allow rearrangement of its parts within itself. The semantic unity of phraseological units can vary within fairly wide limits: from the non-deducibility of the meaning of a phraseological unit from its constituent words to the meaning arising from the meanings that make up the combinations. The transformation of a phrase into a stable phraseological unit is called lexicalization.
Different scientists interpret the concept differently phraseology and its properties, however, the most consistently identified by various scientific properties of a phraseological unit are:
- (separate design);
- belonging to
Phraseological adjunctions (idioms)[ | ]
Phraseological fusion or idiom (from Greek. ἴδιος - “own, characteristic”) is a semantically indivisible phrase, the meaning of which is completely indeducible from the sum of the meanings of its constituent components, their semantic independence is completely lost. For example, " sodom and gomorrah" - "turmoil, noise." When translating phraseological units literally, a foreigner usually cannot understand their general meaning: in English. to show the white feather - “accuse of cowardice” (literally - “show the white feather”, in England a white feather was given to draft dodgers during the war) not a single word hints at the meaning of the entire phrase.
Phraseological unities[ | ]
Phraseological unity is a stable turnover, in which, however, the signs of semantic separation of components are clearly preserved. As a rule, its overall meaning is motivated and derived from the meaning of the individual components.
Often a phraseological expression is a complete sentence with a statement, edification or conclusion. Examples of such phraseological expressions are proverbs and aphorisms. If there is no edification in a phraseological expression or there are elements of understatement, then it is a proverb or a catchphrase. Another source of phraseological expressions is professional speech. The category of phraseological expressions also includes speech cliches - stable formulas like “ best wishes», « see you again", etc.
Melchuk's classification[ | ]
- The linguistic unit affected by phraseologization:
- Participation of pragmatic factors in the process of phraseologization:
- Component of a linguistic sign subject to phraseologization:
- Degree of phraseologization:
In general, as a result of such a calculation, Melchuk identifies 3 × 2 × 3 × 3 = 54 types of phrasemes.
See also [ | ]
Notes [ | ]
Literature [ | ]
- Amosova N. N. Basics of English phraseology. - L., 1963.
- Arsentyeva E. F. Phraseology and phraseography in a comparative aspect (based on the material of the Russian and English languages). - Kazan, 2006.
- Valgina N. S., Rosenthal D. E., Fomina M. I. Modern Russian language. - 6th ed. - M.: Logos, 2002.
Phraseology is a branch of the science of language that studies stable combinations of words. Phraseologism is a stable combination of words, or a stable expression. Used to name objects, signs, actions. It is an expression that arose once, became popular and became entrenched in people's speech. The expression is endowed with imagery and may have a figurative meaning. Over time, an expression can take on a broad meaning in everyday life, partially including the original meaning or completely excluding it.
The phraseological unit as a whole has lexical meaning. The words included in a phraseological unit individually do not convey the meaning of the entire expression. Phraseologisms can be synonymous (at the end of the world, where the raven did not bring bones) and antonymous (raise to heaven - trample into the dirt). A phraseological unit in a sentence is one member of the sentence. Phraseologisms reflect a person and his activities: work (golden hands, playing the fool), relationships in society (bosom friend, putting a spoke in the wheels), personal qualities (turning up his nose, sour face), etc. Phraseologisms make a statement expressive and create imagery. Set expressions are used in works of art, journalism, and everyday speech. Set expressions are also called idioms. There are many idioms in other languages - English, Japanese, Chinese, French.
To clearly see the use of phraseological units, refer to their list or on the page below.
