What is an idiom?

One of the interesting things about idioms is that they are anomalies of language, mavericks of the linguistic world. The very word idiom comes from the Greek idios, ‘peculiar, strange.’ The best examples of idioms are fixed grammatically and it is impossible to guess their meaning from the sense of the words that constitute them. Here are some of the most popular idioms to consideration and look at their origin:

1) as dead as a dodo (dead, extinct, out of date)

The dodo, a peculiar comical-looking bird with a large hooked bill and short curly tail-feathers, was a native of Mauritius. Heavy and clumsy, the dodo was flightless. Sadly, the increase in exploration and trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought about the extinction of the dodo. Seamen and colonists found the dodo an easy and substantial meal to catch. In his Natural History (1774) Oliver Goldsmith wrote that three or four dodos are enough to dine a hundred men. By the close of the seventeenth century the luckless bird was extinct. During the late nineteenth century dodo began to be used to describe someone who was rather stupid or behind the times; by the beginning of the twentieth century, the phrase ‘as dead as a dodo’, had been coined.

2) as mad as a hatter (eccentric, crazy)

Felt fabric for hat making was made from innumerable short animal hairs which bound together when treated.The fur was painted with nitrate of mercury. Work was carried out in rooms with little ventilation, and constant inhalation of the fumes slowly led to mercury poisoning among hatters. They became nervous and irritable. These, together with twitching and shaking, gave rise to the expression ‘mad as a hatter’, which originally meant ‘very angry’ and later ‘insane’. The phrase is used in Lewis Carrol’s fairy-tale Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

3) black sheep (of the family, a member of a group or family who has fallen foul of the others, who is in disgrace).

Shepherds disliked black sheep since their fleece could not be dyed and was therefore worth less than white. Shepherds in earlier times also thought that black sheep disturbed the rest of the flock. By the late eighteenth century, the term black sheep was being applied to anyone who did not behave as the rest of the group. You are the black sheep; and I’ll mark you.(Charles Macklin, The Man of Thу World, 1782)

Working with Idioms at the English Lesson

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual words. For example, ‘to have your feet on the ground’ is an idiom meaning ‘to be sensible’. Idioms are anything but dry and dull. In fact, they are the most interesting and fun part of English, giving it character and spice. Their sense and playfulness should be passed along to students. To help the students learn and practice the idioms I offer a few exercises which are the most useful.

Circle the correct alternative:

1. You are the apple of my eye.

a) You are a pain in the neck.

b) You are always late.

c) You are the most special person to me.

2. Don’t cry over spilt milk.

a) It is good luck to spill milk.

b) Don’t waste time worrying about...

c) Don’t cry before bedtime.

3. You are as cool as a cucumber.

a) You’re extremely fashionable.

b) You’re relaxed and unworried.

c) You look like a vegetable.

4. I am nuts about you.

a) I am furious with you.

b) You make me laugh hysterically.

c) I’m completely crazy about you.

5. Her voice is as smooth as silk.

a) Your voice is pleasant to listen to.

b) Your voice is sweet.

c) Your voice is good for singing.

6. Just sit back and watch the telly.

a) Just lean against the sofa.

b) Just relax and watch.

c) Just sit down on the sofa and watch the telly.

7. It’s a piece of cake.

a) It’s very tasty.

b) It’s very easy.

с) It’s very soft.

Answers: 1. c; 2. b; 3. b; 4. c; 5. a; 6. b; 7. b