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.
Optical burst switching (OBS) network is a new generation optical communication technology. In an OBS network, an edge node first sends a control packet, called burst header packet (BHP) which reserves the necessary resources for the upcoming data burst (DB). Once the reservation is complete, the DB starts travelling to its destination through the reserved path. A notable attack on OBS network is BHP flooding attack where an edge node sends BHPs to reserve resources, but never actually sends the associated DB. As a result the reserved resources are wasted and when this happen in sufficiently large scale, a denial of service (DoS) may take place. In this study, we propose a semi-supervised machine learning approach using k-means algorithm
... Show MoreMetasurface polarizers are essential optical components in modern integrated optics and play a vital role in many optical applications including Quantum Key Distribution systems in quantum cryptography. However, inverse design of metasurface polarizers with high efficiency depends on the proper prediction of structural dimensions based on required optical response. Deep learning neural networks can efficiently help in the inverse design process, minimizing both time and simulation resources requirements, while better results can be achieved compared to traditional optimization methods. Hereby, utilizing the COMSOL Multiphysics Surrogate model and deep neural networks to design a metasurface grating structure with high extinction rat
... Show MoreThe researcher attempts to diagnose the level of the effect of strategic thinking skills (intuition, meditation, creativity) of the managers in the Ministry of Health in Iraq and some of its institutions in the formulation of human resources management: (selection, training, incentivence , performance appraisal (Recognizing the importance of the subjects studied, and because of the importance of the expected results of th
... Show MoreThe love of the world and its lusts are the head of sins and the corruptors of religion, and the one who loves and loves them who prefers them over the hereafter is one of the most pitiful of creation, and the least intelligent of them, as he prefers imagination over reality, sleep over wakefulness, fleeting shadow over eternal bliss and the mortal abode over the eternal abode, and he sold the life of eternity for the most luxurious life. In life, it is dreams and sleep or as a fleeting shadow, and as it was said: The intelligent person is not deceived.
The reason for choosing this topic is due to two things:
The first: When I contemplated the reasons for the differences and conflicts that afflicted our wounded and occupied country
The present work focuses on the changing of the structural characteristics of the grown materials through different material characterization methods. Semiconductor CdSxSe 1-x nano crystallines have been synthesized by chemical vapor depostion. (X- ray Diffraction; XRD), (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy; FESEM), measured the characterization of Semiconductor CdSxSe1-x nano crystallines. The optical properties of semiconductor CdSxSe1-x nanocrystallines have been studied by the photoluminescence (PL) (He-Cd pulsed ultraviolet laser at 325nm excitation wavelength) at room temperature. The results showed the change rule of photoluminsence peak at different S
... Show MoreThe recognition of the dynamic organizational capabilities in their actual and influential extent in the work environment achieves a set of positive data that can fall under the addition axes, particularly with regard to the organization's ability to manage human talents in them, so the researchers sought to identify the level of contribution of dynamic organizational capabilities in the management of human talents in terms of Keep them away in the research organization by indicating the level of relationship and impact between them. The presidency of Mosul University was chosen as a field for the current study, and data were collected by adopting the questionnaire form as the main tool for the study. The study used a deliberate
... Show MoreActual and effective organizational dynamic capabilities in the work environment contribute to a number of factors that contribute to the organization's ability to manage its human talents. Thus, the study sought to identify the level of contribution of organizational dynamic capabilities to human talent management based on their dimensions in the investigated organization by determining the level of relationship and impact between these variables. The presidency of Mosul University was chosen as a field for the current study, and data were collected by adopting the questionnaire form as the main tool for the study. The study used a deliberate sample of (42) administrative leaders in the investigated organization and adopte
... Show MoreAims: The present study aims at assessing mothers’ knowledge of breastfeeding in Kirkuk governorate,
besides determining the relationship between mothers’ knowledge and some of their demographic
attributes.
Methodolgy: A descriptive study was used the assessment approach and applied on mothers in Kirkuk
governorate from January 15th 2011 to July 25th
, 2011. Non-probability sampling a convenience sample of
(72) mothers, attending pediatric general hospital in Kirkuk governorate for following up the health status
of their children, was selected for the purpose of the study. A questionnaire was developed for the
purpose of the study. It was comprised of two parts; the first part includes the mothers' demographic
Suggestive ambiguity is a strategy of defense and maneuvering as it provides the speaker both protection and function. To put it differently, it helps the speaker to say whatever he likes and at the same time gives his opponents and friends the interpretation they desire. This is possible due to the flexibility of the linguistic expressions that the speaker uses. To be more clear, the context of situation, peoples' background and world knowledge interact with the significance of the linguistic expressions reaching an allusive situation where two interpretations, positive and negative, are available to the addressees. Such situation enables the addressers to implicate different ideas or messages, accusations, inciting violence, etc. The pres
... Show More