Preferred Language
Articles
/
jcoeduw-918
A Study of the Problems of Learning and Translating Idioms
...Show More Authors

Idioms are a very important part of the English language: you are told that if you want to go far (succeed) you should pull your socks up (make a serious effort to improve your behaviour, the quality of your work, etc.) and use your grey matter (brain).1 Learning and translating idioms have always been very difficult for foreign language learners. The present paper explores some of the reasons why English idiomatic expressions are difficult to learn and translate. It is not the aim of this paper to attempt a comprehensive survey of the vast amount of material that has appeared on idioms in Adams and Kuder (1984), Alexander (1984), Dixon (1983), Kirkpatrick (2001), Langlotz (2006), McCarthy and O'Dell (2002), and Wray (2002), among others. The paper concentrates on idioms as a learning-translation problem; it makes no claim to be comprehensive or academically rigorous. Leech (1989) defines an idiom as follows: “An idiom is a group of two or more words which we have to treat as a unit in learning a language. We cannot arrive at the meaning of the idiom just by adding together the meanings of the words inside it. E.g.John and Mary usedto be hardup (='They had very little money'.)”(P.186) To be more exact, an idiom is a sequence of words which is semantically and syntactically restricted, so that they function as a single unit. From a semantic point of view, the meanings of the individual words cannot be summed to produce the meanings of the idiomatic expression as a whole. Thus, fly off the handle, which means lose one's temper, cannot be understood in terms of the meanings of fly, off, or handle. The idiom phrase hot air, which means empty or boastful talk, is neither hot nor air; with hot air we are dealing with a set phrase where the meaning cannot be suggested on the basis of the two constituent words. The idiomatic meaning of spill the beans in So who spilt the beans (=told the secret) about her affair with David? has nothing to do with beans or with spilling in its literal sense. The foreign-language learner is left trying to figure out where and how the beans were spilt. From a syntactic viewpoint, the constituent parts of an idiom often do not permit the usual variability they display in other contexts. The point to be emphasized here is this: most idioms do not lend themselves easily to manipulation by speakers and writers; they are invariable and must be learned as wholes, but concord ofnumber, person and gender in the idiom phrase is still necessary, i.e. the verbs must be put into the correct form, and pronouns must agree with their antecedents: I don't give a hoot for her opinion! 2 • She doesn't give a hoot for my opinion! etc.)║He won, but only by the skin of his teeth2• She won, but only by the skin of her teeth• Iwon, but only by the skin ofmy teeth,I had to run for the train, and caught it by the skin of myteeth, etc.║He kept pullingmy arm, throwing me off my balance 2 • She kept pulling his arm, throwing him off his balance • We kept pullingher arm, throwingher offher balance, etc.2 The present paper is divided into five parts, as follows: Part I: An Overview; PART II: Learner’s Difficulties with Idioms; PART III: Some Pedagogical recommendations and Suggestions about Idioms; Part IV: Activities to Practice Idiomatic Expressions; Part V: Summary and Conclusion.

View Publication Preview PDF
Quick Preview PDF
Publication Date
Tue Feb 01 2022
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
An Efficient Algorithm for Fuzzy Linear Fractional Programming Problems via Ranking Function
...Show More Authors

In many applications such as production, planning, the decision maker is important in optimizing an objective function that has fuzzy ratio two functions which can be handed using fuzzy fractional programming problem technique. A special class of optimization technique named fuzzy fractional programming problem is considered in this work when the coefficients of objective function are fuzzy. New ranking function is proposed and used to convert the data of the fuzzy fractional programming problem from fuzzy number to crisp number so that the shortcoming when treating the original fuzzy problem can be avoided. Here a novel ranking function approach of ordinary fuzzy numbers is adopted for ranking of triangular fuzzy numbers with simpler an

... Show More
View Publication Preview PDF
Scopus (15)
Crossref (8)
Scopus Clarivate Crossref
Publication Date
Thu Jan 01 2026
Journal Name
Aip Conference Proceedings
Using gravitational search algorithm for solving optimization problems based on hypervolume indicator
...Show More Authors

Extended utilization of adaptive algorithms, Evaluative Algorithms (EAs), to address these issues offers a way to handle massive multi-objective optimization, even if the algorithmic method for handling combinations of objectives (CO) has been accessible for quite some time. Combining the idea of superiority with the Hypervolume (HV) tag approach, the GSA algorithm utilizes various target effects to explain several algorithms depending on the Hypervolume (HV) spacing. The Multi-objective Gravitational Search Algorithm with Hypervolume (MOGSA/HV). Since rapid convergence could result from GSA foundation work, Hypervolume rewrites the multi-objective problem (MOP) as a sequence of Tchebycheff solutions, improving it. Since the one in charge h

... Show More
View Publication Preview PDF
Scopus Crossref
Publication Date
Sun Nov 17 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Interdisciplinary Mathematics
Fuzzy preinvexity via ranking value functions with applications to fuzzy optimization problems
...Show More Authors

View Publication
Scopus (6)
Crossref (6)
Scopus Clarivate Crossref
Publication Date
Thu Jan 16 2020
Journal Name
Journal Of Accounting And Financial Studies ( Jafs )
Security and confidentiality of information and its impact on the competitive performance of insurance companies: A prospective study for the Iraq insurance company and ALhamraa Insurance company (private)
...Show More Authors

The security of information represent the available  protection of  information and its component and guaranty the its safety and confidentiality. The absent or lack or stop of security of information and without maximum benefit may lead to lose confidence and make it burden on the company. So we must protect the company and information from the damages which may lead to the frailer of performance and loses of the company and its workers. So the security of information considered one of the potential  and controlling basis to protect individuals and companies from the damages. To insure the security  and confidentiality of information there are delicate,  proper and trusted ways, like FIRE WALL, PASS WORD, SYPHAR

... Show More
View Publication Preview PDF
Publication Date
Wed May 04 2016
Journal Name
Journal Of Sport Sciences
The Effect of Competitive Learning Strategy in Developing Mental visualization of some Basic Skills in Basketball for Students
...Show More Authors

IRA Dawood, JOURNAL OF SPORT SCIENCES, 2016 - Cited by 3

View Publication
Publication Date
Tue Jan 01 2019
Journal Name
African Journal Of Hospitality, Tourism And Leisure
Employing marketing information systems for the success of small and medium enterprises: A field study of some Tourism and Travel companies in Baghdad
...Show More Authors

Scopus (6)
Scopus
Publication Date
Thu Feb 01 2024
Journal Name
International Communications In Heat And Mass Transfer
A comparative study of twisted and straight fins in enhancing the melting and solidifying rates of PCM in horizontal double-tube heat exchangers
...Show More Authors

View Publication
Scopus (96)
Crossref (90)
Scopus Crossref
Publication Date
Tue Jan 02 2018
Journal Name
Journal Of Educational And Psychological Researches
Teaching techniques due to the Brain-based learning theory among math teachers
...Show More Authors

The purpose of the study is to identify the teaching techniques that mathematics' teachers use due to the Brain-based learning theory. The sample is composed of (90) teacher: (50) male, (40) female. The results have shown no significant differences between male and female responses' mean. Additionally, through the observation of author, he found a lack of using Brain-based learning techniques. Thus, the researcher recommend that it is necessary to involve teachers in remedial courses to enhance their ability to create a classroom that raise up brain-based learning skills.  

View Publication Preview PDF
Publication Date
Fri Nov 01 2019
Journal Name
Recent Technologies In Sustainable Materials Engineering
A Comparative Study Between the Individual, Dual and Triple Addition of (S.F.), (T.G.P.) and (P.V.A.) for Improving Local Gypsum (Juss) Properties
...Show More Authors

View Publication
Scopus (12)
Crossref (10)
Scopus Clarivate Crossref
Publication Date
Wed Oct 07 2026
Journal Name
Al–bahith Al–a'alami
The Impact of Means of Communication on Electoral Behavior and its Relationship to the Political Disparity of the Family (A Field Study of an Audience of the University of Baghdad’s Students)
...Show More Authors

Iraq has seen many changes at the social, economic and political levels. This led to cause many shifts in the structure of its society and imposed great challenges reflected in the behavior and awareness of that society in general and youth in particular.

Those changes made the Iraqi society undergoing the transformation of value and culture aspects formed a political awareness that caused cultural and political diversity within the family and society. A greater openness to the outside world caused by the communication revolution, as the world has witnessed during the past two decades, has helped in making that change. Iraq had its share of media and political openness, which were included after the US occupation in 2003. As a re

... Show More
View Publication Preview PDF
Crossref