An idiom is a commonly used word or expression with a figurative meaning. They are also called figures of speech. With over 20,000 idioms in English alone, it is important to be familiar with them to understand casual communication.
Meanings of idioms are, by definition, not literal. When someone has “kicked the bucket”, it is understood that the person has died, not that he has physically struck a container with his foot. Because knowing the definition of each word in the idiom may not tell the listener or reader what the idiom actually means, they rarely translate well into other languages. Here is a short example of figurative phrases and idioms list:
Easy as pie
Beat around the bush
Catch one’s eye
Have one’s hands full
Rain cats and dogs
All of those phrases are frequently used, even though their meaning isn’t apparent from the individual words that compose them. An idiom can depend on cultural context, time period, and even slang to be understood. When an idiom is overused to the point of losing meaning, it is considered a cliché, for example, if a man said that his suit “cost an arm and a leg”.
Idioms enrich language with unique expressions and interesting cultural history. Fluency in these figurative constructions is essential to understand literature and conversation.
Month: January 2011
Count and non count nouns
In grammar, nouns are defined as words that stand for persons, places, or things. A word that takes the place of a person is a noun. A word that stands for a place is a noun. A word that can be used to bring up a mental picture of a thing like a river is a noun. However, there are sub-divisions in nouns. Now, let us talk about Count and non count nouns.
There can be more than one river. To represent the idea of more than one river or of a generic river or rivers in general, we can add an “s” to the ending of river and get rivers. A river would be used to denote a river like the Ohio River. By adding an “s” we have made a generic concept and the noun “rivers” is now used or can be used to represent all of the rivers in the world with no particular river in mind. “River” can also be grammatically called a noun that can be counted or a count noun. For the most part, nouns are words that were invented to denote persons, places or things. There are words sometimes used as adjectives that can also be used as nouns. That is what we are talking about when we refer to Count and non count nouns.
There are other words that can be used as nouns when we are talking about the parts of a sentence. We normally think of a subject as being a noun. But, there are some words that can be used as subjects and are therefore used as a noun in a sentence that represents state of being. If the sentence read, “The jealousy in her mind raged.” The word “jealousy” is used as a noun. However, it can’t be made into a word encompassing all of the feelings encompassed by the word “jealousy” since jealousy is a personal state of being or an emotion that is not concrete. No one can see a “jealousy”. One can have a mental image of what one perceives “jealousy” to be. The word jealousy can not be made into a plural noun by adding an “s”. Therefore, the word “jealousy” is a permanent state of being that can’t be counted.
Confusable words: Beside vs. Besides, Quite vs. Quiet
English can sometimes be a difficult language. Beside vs. besides and quite vs. quiet are examples of words sounding very similar but having very different meanings.
Beside vs Besides
In this case, the addition of the ending -s completely changes the meaning of the word. “Beside” means next to or near. The word besides can mean “in addition to” or “other than”.
In the following example: “The dog is beside the house.”, the word beside is used to describe where the dog is. If we would say “There is nothing in the garage besides the dog,” we would be using besides to mean “other than”.
A good rule of thumb when deciding beside vs. besides is to remember that the word “beside” can usually be replaced with the phrase “next to” without changing the meaning of the sentence. If “next to” does change the meaning of the sentence, “besides” is probably the correct word.
Quite vs. Quiet
Often regional accents make the pronunciation differences between “quite” and “quiet” virtually undetectable. Often this translates into confusion in the written forms as well.
“Quite” is used to clarify another word and often means “very” as in “He ran quite quickly.” or “That dress is quite lovely.” “Quite” is also occasionally used in conversation as a one word agreement.
“Quiet” is the absence or near absence of sound. “Please be quiet.” for example, would be a request to stop making noise. The phrase “Peace and quiet” is often used to describe a situation without any noisy distractions.
Once again, the correct choice between quite and quiet relies heavily on their use in the sentence. If the word seems to mean calm or noiseless, “quiet” is probably the word needed.