IDIOMS for ESL Students: January 2014

Monday, January 6, 2014

A slip of the tongue

This is a careless remark which reveals an information not intended for disclosure.

”He had intended to keep their defense strategy a secret but a slip of the tongue gave them away.”

A slap on the wrist

This refers to a punishment that is much lighter than what the rules or the law prescribes for the offense committed; a mild punishment.

“The young man should be charged for serious traffic violations but his famous father intervened so he got off with just a slap on the wrist!”

Saturday, January 4, 2014

A sitting duck

This is a person who is an easy target of criticism or attack.

“The superstar is very vocal about his opposition to same-sex marriage. He is a sitting duck for the LGBT community.”

Thursday, January 2, 2014

A rude awakening

This is an unpleasant situation or event that makes a person realize and accept the truth.

“For a long time I did not believe the news about our sinking economy. The rude awakening came after I lost my job and my home.”

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

A sight to see

This refers to something or someone exceedingly beautiful and awesome.

“The aurora borealis is a sight to see!”

Foreword

An idiom (id-ee-uhm) is an expression composed of a word or a combination of words which, when taken together as a single unit, has a meaning that is different from the standard definition of the individual words. It has a fixed grammatical structure and a specialized or figurative meaning that develop from common usage by a particular people in a particular region, culture or era. Although idioms take root and flourish in a local setting, many of them acquire universal use and gain international acceptance.

When taken literally, idioms convey an idea that is very different from their specialized meaning. For example, the expression a tough cookie conjures an image that it totally different from its figurative meaning, which is a strong and self-confident person who doesn’t yield easily to pressure. Some idioms, when taken literally, are reduced to a heap of words that don’t seem to make sense. Examples of this are the expressions all ears, a square peg in a round hole, train of thought, and many more. For this reason, idioms cannot be directly translated to although they may have figurative equivalent in other languages.

Native speakers take them for granted and use them in their spoken and written communication at home, in the workplace, or in the community, but students learning English as a second or foreign language find idioms difficult to comprehend. This is understandable because an ESL or EFL student analyzing an idiom for the first time would try to deduce its meaning from the literal definition of its parts. Expectedly, this method will give him the literal translation but not its figurative meaning. If he stops with the literal translation the process will result only in confusion. But with proper tutorial he should discover its figurative meaning and, with constant use, successfully complete the assimilation process.

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