What are idioms?
Idioms are expressions used in common conversation. An idiom is a combination of words or phrase that is not formal and has a metaphorical meaning than the literal meaning. You can express yourself in an interesting way by using idioms in your day-to-day ordinary conversation. Idioms are also known as colloquialisms.
Idioms in literature:
1. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
MERCUTIO: Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.
A wild-goose chase is a pointless, fruitless activity.
2. Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol
"Old Marley was as dead as a doornail".
It evokes the image of a metal nail-gray and lifeless-to confirm that Jacob Marley is truly dead, and it establishes Scrooge's personality as rigid, cold, and cynical.
3. Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat
"With a sigh, we turned our eyes once more towards the spot where Harris and the pie had last been seen on earth; and there, as our blood froze in our veins and our hair stood up on end, we saw Harris's head"
These idioms illustrate the shocking state of Harris's friends.
Modern idioms (Covid-19 related idioms)
- To be climbing the walls
- Zoom mermaid, zoom mermaid party
- Magpie - to snatch up desirable staples in the supermarket, like toilet paper or pasta.
- Covidiot - An insult for someone who disregards health and safety guidelines.
Modern idioms (2022)
- Hangry (hungry and angry)
- Awesomesauce (higher level of awesomeness)
- To ghost someone (to lose contact with someone)
Why do we use idioms?
All idioms can help express a large or abstract idea in a way that is succinct and easy to understand.
Примеры заданий для уроков иностранного языка
Test yourself:
Are these idioms correct:
- A white sheep of the family
- To call a spade a spade
- It cost a bomb
- Wednesday face
- Under the cloth?
Answer: 1, 4 and 5 aren't correct:
1 - A black sheep of the family
4 - Sunday face, Friday face
5 - Under the cloud
My favourite idiom
Tell us about one of your favourite idioms, please. Draw a picture to illustrate it.
Idioms in groups
It's a good idea to study idioms in groups as to the given topic. The most common ones are: people characters, animals, food, numbers, sports, school or university studies, etc.
Food idioms
Look at this list of words. Can you name an idiom?
|
Apple, bacon, banana, cake, carrot, cheese, cherry, cucumber, milk, mustard, nuts, salt, tea, tonic |
Answers:
- apple of one's eye; apples and oranges
- to bring home the bacon
- to go bananas
- It's a piece of cake.
- carrot and stick policy; carrot top
- like chalk and cheese; big cheese (VIP)
- another bite of a cherry
- as cool as a cucumber
- to cry over spilt milk
- as keen as mustard
- nuts about something (He is nuts about classical music).
- take something with a pinch of salt
- It's not my cup of tea.
- Your words are like a tonic for me.
Number idioms
Match the number to the correct idiom. One number is used twice:
| One, two, five, nine, 22, 24/7, eleventh, a million |
- You look like ________ dollars in that suit, Miranda!
- I've been painting all morning, can I please take ________?
- When my parents bought me a new laptop, I was on cloud ________.
- I couldn't solve this math problem, so I decided to be back to square _________.
- She is in ______ minds about accepting the job, because the salary is really good but the
office is too far from her house. - Mary arrived at the airport at the __________ hour, so she ran to the check-in-desk as quickly as possible.
- Our supermarket is open ______.
- You can't do it alone, it takes ______ to tango!
- I'm in despair, it's really a catch _______ situation.
Answers: 1) a million, 2) five, 3) nine, 4) one, 5) two, 6) eleventh, 7) 24/7, 8) two, 9) 22.
Money idioms
Match the idiom and its definition:
|
1. Spend money like water |
a) An amount of money you have saved |
|
2. Have money to burn |
b) Be very expensive |
|
3. A nest egg |
c) Not be too expensive |
|
4. Get your money's worth |
d) Owe money to the bank |
|
5. Be in the red |
e) A rich or powerful person in business or politics |
|
6. Cost a fortune |
f) Have a lot of money |
|
7. Not break the bank |
g) Spend a lot of money very quickly |
|
8. A fat cat |
h) Pay a fair price for something |
Answers: 1 g, 2 f, 3 a, 4 h, 5 d, 6 b, 7 c, 8 e.
Animal idioms
Tic-tac-toe game
Two teams play. A student from team 1 chooses a word and says an idiom with its word and a sentence to illustrate it. If the student is right, their team wins a point. And then the student from team 2 does the same.
| monkey |
elephant |
bull |
|
cat |
dog |
duck |
|
horse |
butterfly |
sheep |
Список литературы
- Gateway B 1 +. 2nd edition. Workbook. Annie Cornford, Frances Watkins. MacMillan, 2016.
- www.Theidioms.com
- Jerome K. Jerome. Three Men In a Boat, Penguin, 1993.
- Animal Idioms: 165 Useful Animal Idioms from A-Z • 7ESL