IDIOMS for ESL Students: March 2016

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Come down in the world

To come down in the world is to lose one’s social position or financial standing.

“The family came down in the world after the children took over the management of their business empire.”

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Cold turkey

This refers to immediate, complete withdrawal from something on which one has become dependent, such as an addictive drug.

“I quit smoking cold turkey.”

Cold feet

If you get cold feet about something, you lose the courage to do it.

“She got cold feet and broke the engagement a week before the scheduled wedding.”

Cloud nine

If you are on cloud nine, you are extremely happy. ('Cloud seven' is a less common alternative. )

“I was on cloud nine when I heard that I won the contest!”

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Close call

A close call is something bad that almost happened.

“I was riding my bike to cross the street when a car beat the red light and sped by just inches away from me. That was a close call!”

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Clockwork

This refers to an event or activity that happens with regularity and precision.

“She walks her dog like clockwork.”

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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