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An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional—that is, whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed. For example, the English phrase to kick the bucket means to die. A listener knowing the meaning of kick and bucket will not thereby be able to predict that the expression can mean to die. Idioms are often, though perhaps not universally, classified as figures of speech. File links The following pages link to this file: Alchemy Ada Adventure Apartheid Abbreviation Airplane (disambiguation) Abduction Alder Anno Domini Air ABC (disambiguation) Ad hominem Afghan AD Aether Aba Anus Affinity Ai AZ Albinism Accumulator Binary Chess Computer Carbon Cow Cricket (disambiguation) Collection Convex Culture Ceramics Case Creation Crow (disambiguation...
Wiktionary is a sister project to Wikipedia intended to be a free wiki dictionary (thesaurus, lexicon therein) in every language. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical figure or device, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ...
Idioms typically admit two different interpretations: a literal one and a nonliteral (or figurative) one. Continuing with the previous example, the phrase to kick the bucket can, in fact, refer to the act of giving a kick to a bucket, but this interpretation is usually not the intended one when a native speaker uses the phrase. This aspect of idioms can be frustrating for learners of a new language.
Idioms are often colloquial metaphors. The most common ones can have deep roots, traceable across many languages. Many have translations in other languages, some of which are direct. For example, get lost! — which means go away or stop bothering me—is said to be a direct translation or calque from an older Yiddish idiom. In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope where a comparison is made between two seemingly unrelated subjects. ...
Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language—the source text—and the production of a new, equivalent text in another language—called the target text, or the translation. ...
In linguistics, a calque (pronounced [kælk]) or loan translation (itself a calque of German Lehnübersetzung) is a phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word translation. ...
Yiddish (Yid. ...
While many idioms are clearly based in conceptual metaphors such as "time as a substance", "time as a path", "love as war" or "up is more", the idioms themselves are often not particularly essential, even when the metaphors themselves are. For example "spend time", "battle of the sexes", and "back in the day" are idiomatic and based in essential metaphors, but one can communicate perfectly well without them. In forms like "profits are up", the metaphor is carried by "up" itself. The phrase "profits are up" is not itself an idiom. Practically anything measurable can be used in place of "profits": "crime is up", "satisfaction is up", "complaints are up" etc. Truly essential idioms generally involve prepositions, for example "out of" or "turn into".
It is likely that every human language has idioms, and very many of them; a typical English commercial idiom dictionary lists about 4,000. When a local dialect of a language contains many highly developed idioms it can be unintelligible to speakers of the parent language; a classic example is that of Cockney rhyming slang. But note that most examples of slang, jargon and catch phrases, while related to idioms, are not idioms in the sense discussed here. Also to be distinguished from idioms are proverbs, which take the form of statements such as, "He who hesitates is lost." Many idioms could be considered colloquialisms. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
An idiom dictionary explains idiosyncratic stock phrases and metaphors in language. ...
A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ...
Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London. ...
Slang is the non-standard use of words in a language of a particular social group, and sometimes the creation of new words or importation of words from another language. ...
A jargon is a type of slang which is used in conjunction with a specific activity, e. ...
A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ...
A proverb (from the Latin proverbium) is a pithy saying which had gained credence through widespread or frequent use. ...
A colloquialism is an informal expression, that is, an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ...
In Spanish, the word idioma (= lengua) means language, and this is often reflected in their SL English—using idiom to refer to language. A second language is any language other than the first, or native, language learned; it is typically used because of geographical or social reasons. ...
Parlance Look up Parlance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Parlance is a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wiktionary is a sister project to Wikipedia intended to be a free wiki dictionary (thesaurus, lexicon therein) in every language. ...
See also A list of idioms can be useful, since the meaning of an idiom cannot be deduced by knowing the meaning of its constituent words. ...
External links
In musical terminology, idiomatic refers to parts or pieces which are written both within the natural physical limitations of the instrument and human body and, less so or less often, the styles of playing used on specific instruments. Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Music City : a collaborative music database All Music Guide: includes a comprehensive and flexible Genre and Style system MusicWiki: A Collaborative Music-related encyclopedia Science...
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