An 'Idiom' is an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements; for example "raining cats and dogs" is an expression that is used to convey the meaning of "raining heavily", but this meaning most of the time cannot be derived from the denotative meaning of the single words that constitute the whole expression. Moreover, an idiom can be looked at as a combination of words whose meaning can be either transparent (can be easily worked out of the literal meaning of the individual words) or opaque (there is no resemblance between the meaning of the individual words and the meaning of the idiom itself).
Consider the following examples of transparent idioms that are reasonably obvious:
1. ‘Throw someone to the lions’ means ‘intentionally to put someone in a difficult position’, as in: All the commanders were responsible for the tragedies in their last operation, but they threw that junior officer to the lions when they asked him to address the journalists on the reasons of defeat.
Idioms like ‘sell someone down the river’ and ‘kick the bucket’ are examples of the opaque:
1. Understanding the words of the expression ‘sell someone down the river’, for instance, will not help you recognize that it actually means ‘to betray, or be disloyal to’, as in: The kidnapper who was caught by the police refused to sell his associates down the river. Thus, having such idioms in one book and learning their meaning would be absolutely of a significant help.
Interestingly, some English idioms are similar to expressions in other languages, which makes it easy for the learner to figure out their meaning, as in ‘hold one’s horses’ which means ‘to stop someone or something, or to make them calm’, for example: Hold your horses, I said to my wife when she started packing her luggage.
Succinctly stressed, idioms and multi-part verbs (along with their Arabic equivalents) are considered of paramount importance for a wide range of Arab learners of English. Idioms are very useful to effectively communicate with English speakers. And this treasury would be a helpful learning tool that provides learners with a large number of English idioms and phrases along with example sentences and Arabic equivalent.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Preface
- Words of Wisdom Supplement
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This treasury aims to provide English learners with a comprehensive collection of essential idioms and multi-part verbs, along with their Arabic equivalents. The goal is to enhance communication skills and enable learners to understand and use these expressions effectively.
- The importance of idioms in English and their contribution to effective communication.
- The various types of idioms and their cultural contexts.
- The meaning and usage of multi-part verbs and their relevance in everyday language.
- The role of idioms in expressing social nuances and cultural understanding.
- The significance of idioms in enhancing the fluency and accuracy of English language learning.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Preface: This chapter introduces the concept of idioms and distinguishes between transparent and opaque idioms. It provides examples of both types and discusses the importance of learning idioms for effective communication.
- Words of Wisdom Supplement: This section offers a collection of essential proverbs and sayings that are widely used in English and Arabic contexts. It highlights the social and cultural significance of these sayings and their role in reflecting societal values.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The main keywords and focus topics of this treasury include: essential idioms, multi-part verbs, English-Arabic translation, communication skills, cultural understanding, social nuances, language learning, proverbs, and sayings.
- Quote paper
- Awni Etaywe (Author), 2017, Essential English idioms and multipart verbs, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/353467
