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.
The atomic properties have been studied for He-like ions (He atom, Li+, Be2+ and B3+ions). These properties included, the atomic form factor f(S), electron density at the nucleus , nuclear magnetic shielding constant and diamagnetic susceptibility ,which are very important in the study of physical properties of the atoms and ions. For these purpose two types of the wave functions applied are used, the Hartree-Fock (HF) waves function (uncorrelated) and the Configuration interaction (CI) wave function (correlated). All the results and the behaviors obtained in this work have been discussed, interpreted and compared with those previously obtained.
MR Younus…, 2020 - Cited by 2
A Factorial Study for separation anxiety in students, of Baghdad City
Background: Fiber-optic endoscopy is an important
investigation of the large intestine, whether or not the
radiologist (barium enema) has discovered a lesion in
the bowel. Colonoscopy affords a unique opportunity
to direct visualization of entire colonic mucosa. At
the same time, the physician can obtain biopsy specimens, remove polyps, and decompress volvuli.
Most experienced endoscopists and well prepared
patients can reach the cecum in over 90% of patients.
If colonoscopy is properly performed, it has a low
risk of complications, such as perforation and bleeding.
Methods: A total of 70 consecutive patients admitted
to Endoscopy department at Al-Kindy Teaching hospital from September- 2008 to July-2009.
KE Sharquie, GA Ibrahim, AA Noaimi, HK Hamudy, J Saudi Soc Dermatol Dermatol Surg, 2010 - Cited by 2
This study explores the semiotic aspects of American slang, specifically focusing on the phenomenon of reduplicative expressions in informal speech. Despite the extensive research on American slang, limited attention has been given to the cultural and mythical meanings embedded within reduplicative expressions. To address this gap, the study investigates how these expressions convey denotative, connotative, and mythical meanings within casual American discourse. The objectives of the study include: 1. To what extent does Barthes’ semiotic model hold potential for application in this study? 2. How are reduplicative slang expressions widely used in everyday American life? 3. To what extent do qualitative and quantitative methods hav
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Background: Fiber-optic endoscopy is an important
investigation of the large intestine, whether or not the
radiologist (barium enema) has discovered a lesion in
the bowel. Colonoscopy affords a unique opportunity
to direct visualization of entire colonic mucosa. At
the same time, the physician can obtain biopsy specimens, remove polyps, and decompress volvuli.
Most experienced endoscopists and well prepared
patients can reach the cecum in over 90% of patients.
If colonoscopy is properly performed, it has a low
risk of complications, such as perforation and bleeding.
Methods: A total of 70 consecutive patients admitted
to Endoscopy department at Al-Kindy Teaching hospital from September- 2008 to July-2009.
Serum levels of iron,copper,ceruloplasmin and transferrine were estimated in three groups of patients with ?- thalassemia: 24 patients have splenectomy thalassemia major, 29 patients have non splenectomy thalassemia major and 19 patients have thalassemia intermedia , data were compared to normal and pathological controls (anemia and minor). There were significant increase in trace element levels in all studied groups of pateints as compared to normal and pathological controls. Also there were a significant increase in ceruloplasmin levels,While the result revealed that there were a significant decrease in transferrine levels in all groups of patients studied as compared to normal and pathological controls. The result also indicate that the
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Abstract A descriptive (retrospective) (a case-control) study was carried out at Al-Karama Teaching Hospital, Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Surgical Specialties Hospital, and Gastro-Intestinal Tract and Liver (GIT) Hospital for the period of December 1st, 2001 To March 15th 2002. To identify aspects of life-style that may contribute to the occurrence of peptic ulcer (P.U)as risk factors. And to find out the relationship between the demographic characteristic of the group. Non-probability (Purposive) sample of (100) cases who were admitted to the endoscopy department who were later on diagnosed as having