英語詞匯學-Unit-12-English-IdiomsWhatisanidiom?Idiomsconsistofsetphrasesandshortsentences,whicharepeculiartothelanguageinquestionandloadedwiththenativeculturesandideas.Therefore,idiomsarecolourful,forcibleandthought-provoking.Strictlyspeaking,idiomsareexpressionsthatarenotreadilyunderstandablefromtheirliteralmeaningsofindividualelements,forexample,flyoffthehandle(becomeexcessivelyangry)andputupwith

(tolerate).Inabroadsense,idiomsmayincludecolloquialisms,catchphrases,slangexpressions,proverbs,etc.TheyformanimportantpartoftheEnglishvocabulary.Thischapterwilldealwithidiomsintermsoftheircharacteristics,classificationanduses.OverviewOriginofidiomsCharacteristicsofidiomsSemanticunityStructuralstability(syntacticfrozeness)GradableidiomaticitySemanticopacityClassificationofidiomsMetaphoricalidiomsnominalverbalprepositionalEnglishPhrasalverbsEnglishproverbsEnglishslangEnglishtwinwordsUseofidiomsTranslationsOriginofEnglishIdiomsLiteraryworksTheBibleMythologyFablesHistoricaleventsAnimalmetaphorDailylifeHomeIdiomsfromliteraryworksscrewone’scourage（鼓起勇氣、壯起膽子）--ShakespeareMacbethtothemannerborn（與生俱來的）--Hamletpondofflesh（合情但悖于情理的要求）--MerchantofVenicemanFriday（忠仆、得力助手）--DanielDefoeRobinsonCrusoeBrevityisthesoulofwit.(Shakespeare)Livenottoeat,buteattolive.(Franklin)Knowledgeispower.(Bacon)IdiomsfromtheBibleJudas’skiss（猶大之吻，比喻出賣朋友）muchcryandlittlewool（雷聲大，雨點小，比喻空叫喊——根據圣經故事：魔鬼看見納巴爾在羊身上剪羊毛，也模仿著在豬身上剪，結果把豬弄得嗷嗷叫，卻什么也沒有剪下來）turntheothercheek（忍受暴力、忍受侮辱，上帝在布道時講如果有人打你的左臉，你就把右臉也遞出去)Thespiritiswilling,butthefleshisweak.（心有余而力不足）Sparetherodandspoilthechild.（棒打出孝子）。IdiomsfromMythologyPandora’sbox（潘多拉的盒子，引申為災禍之源）Sphinx’sriddle（難解之謎，獅身人面怪獸提出“什么動物早晨四條腿，中午兩條腿，而晚上三條腿”的謎語）theheelofAchilles（亦作theAchilles’heel，阿基里斯的腳踵，引申為唯一的弱點、要害）betweenScyllaandCharybdis（比喻進退維谷、腹背受敵）DeadSeafruit（比喻某些事物金玉其外、敗絮其中，華而不實）Idiomsfromfablesnakedtruth（原原本本的事實、赤裸裸的事實）killthegoosethatlaidthegoldeneggs（殺雞取卵、涸澤而魚）sourgrapes（聊以自慰的話，狐貍吃不到葡萄就說葡萄是酸的）bellthecat（替別人冒風險，老鼠要給貓帶上鈴鐺的寓言故事）cat’spaw（被別人利用的人，猴子想吃火中的栗子，騙貓為其火中取栗）thelaststraw（終于使人不能忍受的最后一擊）awolfinsheep’sclothing（披著羊皮的狼，比喻危險人物、面善心毒的人）crywolf（狼來了！比喻發假警報）Idiomsfromhistoricaleventsmeetone’sWaterloo（一敗涂地，出自1815年的“滑鐵盧之戰”，類似中國的敗走麥城）burnone’sboats(bridges)（破釜沉舟，講的是古羅馬愷撒等名將出征時，常燒毀船只，士兵無路可退，只有勇往直前，戰勝敵人）Idiomsfromanimalmetaphoraswiseasowls（聰明，西方人認為貓頭鷹是聰明智慧的象征）asquietasmouse（安靜如鼠，非常安靜）astimidasrabbit（膽小如鼠）nospringchicken（已不再年輕的女人）swan’ssong（告別演出，源于天鵝將死時凄婉的鳴叫聲）buryone’sheadinthesand（采取逃避措施、逃避現實，鴕鳥在遇到危險的時候會把頭埋在沙子里）comeoutofthecocoon（停止自我封閉，開始與人交往）Idiomsfromdailylife(navigation,agriculture,etc.)ontherocks（觸礁、瀕臨毀滅）allatsea（茫然）gowithstream（隨波逐流）holdoutan/theolivebranch（愿意講和，在西方橄欖枝被認為是和平的象征）reapwhatonehassowed（種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆）bedofroses（舒適的生活）ascoolascucumber（泰然自若、冷靜）turnonanewleaf（改頭換面）hearthroughthegrapevine（道聽途說）beataroundthebush（旁敲側擊）besourgrapes（尖酸刻薄的人）spillthebeans（泄露秘密）Characteristicsofidioms

SemanticunityEachidiomisasinglesemanticunity.Themeaningofanidiomisopaque;i.e.themeaningofanidiomisnotthetotalsumofthemeaningofitsconstituents.tillthecowscomehome:foraverylongtime;foreverHomeThesemanticunityofidiomsisalsoreflectedintheillogicalrelationshipbetweentheliteralmeaningofeachwordandthemeaningoftheidiom.Manyidiomsaresemanticallyinexplicable.Forexample,Howdoyoudo.Literallyitmeans‘Inwhatwaydoyoudothings’,whichisfarfromitsidiomaticusage.Similarly,raincatsanddogswhichisusedinthesenseof‘rainheavily’literallymakesnonsense.StructuralstabilityThestructureofanidiomusuallyremainsunchangeable.

burythehatchet*burytheaxin(*the)questionoutof(the)questionManyidiomsaregrammaticallywrong,butidiomaticallyaccepted.Longtimenosee.Likecureslike.Gogreatguns.HomeFirst,theconstituentsofidiomscannotbereplaced.Takeinabrownstudyforexample.Usedasafreephrase,wecansayinabrown(red,green,white,etc.)studyorinabrownstudy(room,den,hall,studio,cell,etc.).However,asanidiomtomean‘deepinthought’,thestructureisfixed.Secondly,thewordordercannotbeinvertedorchanged.Forexample,bytwosandthreesandtitfortatarenottobeturnedintobythreesandtwosandtatfortit.Similarly,

thelion’sshareisnottobereplacedbytheshareofthelionthoughitisacommonpracticeinfreephrases.Thirdly,theconstituentsofanidiomcannotbedeletedoraddedto,notevenanarticle.Forinstance,outofthequestionmeans‘impossible’.Ifthearticletheisdeleted,theidiomaticitywillbelostanditwillsignify‘noquestion’instead.Inquestion(beingconsidered)ontheotherhanddoesnotallowtheadditionoftheas*inthequestion,becausethelatterisnolongeranidiom.Finally,manyidiomsaregrammaticallyunanalysable.Forexample,diamondcutdiamond.MeanwhilethereexistsastructurallysimilaridiomLikecureslike,inwhich-scannotbedeleted.(As)sureaseggsiseggs(quitecertainly)mayserveasanotherexample.Itisgrammaticallywrong,butidiomaticandwidelyaccepted.Gogreatguns(dosthvigorouslyorsuccessfully)GradableidiomaticityNoticetheidiomaticityofidiomsisgradableandmaybestbethoughtasacontinuum（連續體）.idiomssemi-idiomslooselyidiomaticexpressions(themeaningcanbeunderstoodfromtheliteralmeaningoftheconstituents)makefriendswithsb.raincatsanddogsascoolasacucumberThemoreidiomatictheidioms,themorefixedthestructure.HomeTheidiomaticityofidiomsisgradableandmaybestbethoughtintermsofascale,withthe‘true’idiomsestablishedattheupperendandregularcombinationsatthebottom.Inbetweenarethe‘semi-idioms’.

Bytrueidiomswemeanthatthemeaningoftheidiomcannotbededucedfromthoseoftheindividualconstituentssuchasintherawusedin‘Theboysareplayingintheriverintheraw(naked).Byregularcombinationswespeakoftheregularcollocationssuchasmakefriendswith,breaksilence

and

smoothtongue,themeaningsofwhichareunderstoodfromtheliteralmeaningsoftheconstituents.Inbetweenwehaveidiomsliketurnoveranewleaf

(beginanewlife),ascoolasacucumberanddrawthecurtain

(endorconceal),whosemeaningsareinawayrelatedtothemeaningsoftheconstituentsbutarenotthemselvesexplicit.

Thefixityofidiomsdependsontheidiomaticity.Themoreidiomatictheidioms,themorefixedthestructure.Manyoftheidiomsofthelowerscaledoallowsomechanges.

ClassificationofIdiomsClassificationofidiomscanbeapproachedfromdifferentangles,suchasbyorigin,morphologicalstructure,grammaticalfeaturesandetc.MetaphoricalidiomsnominalverbalprepositionalEnglishPhrasalverbsEnglishproverbsEnglishslangsEnglishtwinwordsIdiomsverbalinnatureIdiomsnominalinnatureIdiomsadjectivalinnatureIdiomsadverbialandprepositionalinnatureSentenceidioms:asthetermsuggests,allidiomsofthiscategoryarecompletesentences.Theyaremainlyproverbsandsayings,includingcolloquialismsandcatchphrases..

Metaphoricalidiomsp250

nominalIdiomsTheyfunctionasthesubjectortheobjectinasentence:awhiteelephant(沉重的負擔,無用的累贅東西)braintrust(智囊團)appleofdiscord(禍根)thesaltoftheearth(非常正派﹑誠實等的人)Homeverbalidiomskeepthepotboiling（維持生活）bitethehandthatfeedsone（恩將仇報）givesb.thebag（解雇某人）HomePrepositionalidiomsTheyfunctionascomplementsormodifiersinasentence.OnthiniceIndeepwater陷入困境HomeEnglishPhrasalverbsTheyfunctionaspredicateverbsinasentence.Idiomsaremorelivelyandexpressivethansingleverbs.

a)verb+prepositionlookafter,lookinto,diginto,pickup

b)verb+particlelookup,putoff,turnon,putonc)verb+particle+prepositioncomeupwith,liveupto,getawaywithHomeCompare:turnoffvslookafterTurnitoff.*Turnoffit.Turntheradiooff.Turnofftheradio. *Lookhimafter.Lookafterhim.Lookafterthebaby.*Lookthebabyafter.HomeEnglishProverbsEnglishslangP262俚語(Slang)，是每一階層或行業所使用的特殊成語。其特點是比普通語言有較多比喻意味、較多文字游戲、較為省略、較為生動，上層社會禁用的詞語和粗俗的習慣表達法或行話。以及集團、小社會團體使用的暗語。Backseatdriver因瞎指揮而壞事的人Carrythetorchforsb單相思Confidenceman騙子Deadpresident美鈔

Haveabeefwithsb與某人發生矛盾，關系緊張

如果一天你的外國朋友對你說：“Buddy,I‘vebeenthroughhell.I’mhavingabeefwithmyboss。”你該怎么回答？祝賀他和老板一起吃牛排，工作關系有新發展嗎？那你的朋友一定不會再和你一起吃牛排了。在這個俚語里，beef意為“anargument”（爭論、爭吵）或“acomplaint”（抱怨）。所以短語haveabeefwithsb就是“與某人發生矛盾，關系緊張”的意思。這種用法最早出現于19世紀后期的美國。

在人類歷史的大部分時間里，beef一直被看作是健康的食品，力量的來源。近幾百年有關牛肉的俚語也都印證了這點。如果稱贊一個人強壯，我們可以用beefy（健壯的，結實的）來形容他。而詞組beefup則表示“加強，補充(人數、兵力)”等。

HolyShit!是什么意思？

HolyShit!意思是要表達一種驚訝，或者是遇到令人不愉快的事情而發出的感嘆。HolyShit也可以說成holyfuck，意思一樣，但程度更高一些。例句：Holyshit!Thewholebasementisflooded!天那！地下室都被淹了！Pipedown--靜下來、使安坐

英語中，有一些單詞和短語，特別是一些專業術語，其表面意思與實際意思相差甚遠，比如航海術語weighanchor的意思并不是指稱(weigh)一下錨(anchor)的重量，而是指“起錨”。短語pipedown也是如此。Pipedown的意思是“靜下來、使安坐”，現在的家長或老師常用它來訓斥那些不守規矩、鬧哄哄的小孩。但許多人卻不知道，這個短語也來源于航海業。Pipe指的是商船水手長的小哨子。水手長可以用它吹出不同的音調，向水手們傳達命令。當水手長吹響哨子的時候，就表示讓水手們停工或解散隊列。當水手們離開之后，甲板上就突然變得寂靜起來。后來，pipedown逐漸變成了航海行話，意指“安靜下來、閉嘴”。EnglishtwinwordsP264UseofidiomsThestudyofidiomsisnotjusttoknowwhichareidiomsandwhicharenot,butalsotounderstandthemcorrectlyinactualcontextandusethemproperlyinproduction.Toachievethis,oneneedstobeawareoftherhetoriccharacteristicsofidioms.stylisticfeaturesrhetoricalfeaturesstructuralvariationsHomeStylisticfeaturesofidiomDifferentidiomsshowdifferentstylisticmeanings.Somearecasual,othersformalorneutralinstyle.

Alargeproportionofidiomswerefirstcreatedbyworkingpeoplesuchasseamenonthesea,huntersinthewoods,farmersinthefields,workmenatmills,housewivesandcooksinthekitchenandsoon.Thus,idiomsaregenerallyfelttobeinformalandsomearecolloquialismsandslang,thereforeinappropriateforformalstyle.Occasionally,wefindidiomswhichareextremelyformalandusedonlyinfrozenstyle.1)Colloquialismbigwheel:importantperson Chomskyisabigwheelinlinguistics.2)Slanghitthesack:gotobedinthesoup:introuble Iamdeepinthesoupnow.3)Literary

expressionsbearwitnessto:prove,show Hisactionborewitnesstohiskindness.RhetoricalfeaturesofidiomApartfromthestylisticfeatures,idiomscanbringaboutcertainrhetoricaleffectsintermsofsoundandmeaning.(1)Phonetic

manipulation音韻手段a.alliteration(repetitionofsameconsonantsoundsattheinitialpositionofwords)suchas“partandparcel”chopandchange(keepchangingone’sopinion)tossandturn(keepturningfromsidetoside

)

withmightandmain(allone’spowerandstrength)bagandbaggage(withallone’sbelongings)partandparcel(mostimportantandessentialpart)sumandsubstance(thegistofsomething)neitherfish,flesh,norfowl(difficulttoclassify)ascoolasacucumber(verycalm)b.rhymesuchas"toilandmoil”kithandkin(relatives)wearandtear(damagefromcontinuoususe)fairandsquare(just,honest;withoutdeceit)Highandmighty(arrogant)Toilandmoil(workhardandlong)Byhookandbycrook(byallmeansgoodandfoul)A

littlepotissoonhot.

Afriendisinneedisafriendindeed.

There’smanyaslipbetweenthecupandthelip.(2)Lexical

manipulation詞語手段a.Reiteration,whichmeanstheduplicationofsynonyms同義詞迭用pickandchoose(selectwithmuchcareorinafussyway)hustleandbustle(dothingsinahurry,withsomefuss)oddsandends(remnantsorthingsoflittlevalue)bitsandpieces(oddsandends)pushandshove(makeone’swaythroughbypushing,jostling)waysandmeans(methodsand/orresources)byleapsandbounds(atarapidpace).b.Repetition,whichmeanstherepetitionofthesameword詞語重復byandby,roundandround,daybyday,allinall,facetoface,shouldertoshoulder,handinhand,wordforword,fromtimetotime,yearinyearout.c.Juxtaposition,whichmeansthecombinationoftwoantonymssuchas“dayandnight”.并置對舉hereandthere,upanddown,rainorshine,wealandwoe,firstandlast,highandlow,backandforth,rightandleft,soonerorlater,playfastandloose,moveheavenandearth(doanythingpossible),fromheadtofoot.Rhetoricalfeaturesofidiom(3)FigurativemanipulationIdiomsareterseandvividbecauseofthecopiousimagescreatedbythem.Largenumbersofidiomsareusedintheirmetaphoricalmeaning.a.Simile

asproudasapeacock/asmuteasafishb.Metaphor awhiteelephant/ablacksheep(敗家仔)c.Metonymy fromcradletograve/livebyone’spend.Personification Actionsspeaklouderthanwords.

e.Synecdochef.Euphemism

a.Simile

(as)muteasafish,asdeadasadoornail,asgracefulasaswan,eatlikeahorse,sleeplikealog,timeflieslikeanarrow,spendmoneylikewater.b.Metaphor

Animalsareusedtorefertopeople,e.g.blacksheep,adarkhorse,snakeinthegrassinanimatethingstorefertopeople,e.g.newbroom,thesaltoftheearth(thefewofthehighestexcellence);thingstorefertosomethingelse,e.g.crocodiletears,awetblanket(somethingthatspoilsthepleasure,etc.),blackbottle(poison);actions,statee.g.sitonthefence(takeimpartialattitude),cutthegroundfromundersb.’feet(destroysomeone’ssuccessbytakinghisideas,actingbeforehim),andsoon.c.Metonymy

Thisreferstoidiomsinwhichthenameofonethingisusedforthatofanotherassociatedwithit,e.g.livebyone’spen,fromcradletograve,make(up)apurse(raisemoney),etc.d.Personification

Failureisthemotherofsuccess.

Actionsspeaklouderthanwords.

Fireandwateraregoodservants,butbadmasters.e.Synecdoche

Bothmetonymyandsynecdocheinvolvesubstitutionofnames,yettheydifferinthattheformerisacaseofusingthenameofonethingforanothercloselyassociatedwithitandthelatteristhatofsubstitutingpartforthewholeandviceversa,e.g.earnone’sbread,fallintogoodhands(goodpeople),twoheadsarebetterthanoneandsoon.f.Euphemism

thecallofnatureSomeidiomsarealwaysusedinahumourouswaylikekickthebucket(die),giveleg-bail(runaway);someareironicandsardonicintones,e.g.perfumedtalk(indecenttalk);somearederogatory,e.g.abigcheese(sbwhois,orbelievesheis,averyimportantperson).StructuralVariationsofidiomsCharacterizedbysemanticunityandstructuralstability,idiomsdonotallowchangesasarule.Butstructuralstabilityisnotabsolute.Occasionally,wemayfindchangesinconstituentsofidioms:addition,deletion,replacement,position-shifting,dismembering,etc.Despitethepropertyofstructuralstability,idiomsoccasionallydoshowstructuralchanges:Addition“ingoodcondition”from“incondition”Deletion“thelaststraw”from“Itisthelaststrawthatbreaksthecamel'sback.”StructuralVariationsofidiomsPosition-shifting

dayandnight=nightanddayReplacement“breakone’sword”vs.“keepone’sword”Dismembering分裂，另增加“Thisfinalfeatherbrokethecamel’sback.”Home一、直譯法：

直譯不是一字對一字的死譯，而是照字面翻譯，不做太多的引申和注釋。在成語所包含的比喻和語言內涵被另一種文化完全接受的情況下，可以直譯。

Goldenage

黃金時代Toshowone‘scards

攤牌Toturnoveranewleaf

揭開新的一頁Helaughsbestwholaughslast

誰笑在最后，誰笑得最好。

英漢成語互譯的方法二、套譯法（借用法）

英漢語都擁有豐富的成語，有的在內容和形式上都相互符合：有相同的意義/隱意，又有相同/相似的形象或比喻。這時，可借譯/用。 burnone'sboats

破釜沉舟 Wallshaveears.

隔墻有耳 gothroughfireandwater

赴湯蹈火 Manproposes,Goddisposes.謀事在人，成事在天 fishintroubledwaters

混水摸魚 pourcoldwaterover/on

潑冷水 knowsomethinglikethepalm/back