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A Study of the Problems of Learning and Translating Idioms
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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.

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Publication Date
Mon Sep 01 2025
Journal Name
Dirasat: Human And Social Sciences
‎“Parents Who Cause Harm”: A Study of the Attachment Theory in Christopher Durang’s ‎‎‘The Marriage of Bette and Boo’‎
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  Objectives: This study aims to examine toxic parental behavior and its impact on children based on the attachment theory. It also explores how early parental relationships influence future relationships with partners and children. The research assesses types of toxic parenting (dysfunctional, harmful, and psychologically damaging parenting behaviors) and their resulting insecure attachment patterns—avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized—through the characters in The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Methods: Toxic parents play a decisive role in children’s lives, affecting how they view themselves and impacting their behavior. The study uses a psychological evaluation method that relies on the attachment theory (1978), first prese

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Publication Date
Sun May 24 2026
Journal Name
Journal Of Physical Education
A study of some variables biomechanics in clean and jerk for the world champions men and women
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Publication Date
Mon Jan 01 2024
Journal Name
المجلة العراقية للعلوم السياسية
Climate changes and their impact on Iraqi women: a study into the causes and necessities of response
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              Climate change is a global environmental issue and a common concern for humanity, and it is an inevitable result of civilization development, especially after the industrial revolution All areas of life                                                             At the level of the Iraqi situation , Iraq faces several challenges posed by Climate change , Such as high temperature, lack of rain, water scarcity , land salinity , and the increase in the proportion of sand and dust storms and the resulting disasters, which impedes development and hinders efforts to reduce poverty , enhance livelihoods , and reduce conflict  to obtain natural resources.                            

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Publication Date
Wed May 12 2021
Journal Name
Annals Of The Romanian Society For Cell Biology
Contribution Ratio of Cognitive Learning Outcome in the Performance of the Two Skills of Mastering by Parallel Spherical Standing and Equilibrium on the Balance Beam
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The purpose of this paper is to identify the statistical indicators of the searched variables and identify the relationship between the cognitive learning outcome and the performance of the two mastering skills by parallel spherical standing and equilibrium on the balance beam. And the identification of the percentage of the cognitive learning outcome contribution to the performance of the two mastering skills by parallel spherical standing and the equilibrium on the balance beam. The two researchers used the descriptive approach in the survey method and the correlational relations, being the most appropriate to the nature of the research problem. The research community for the second stage students in the College of Physical Education and

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Publication Date
Thu Jun 01 2017
Journal Name
Journal Of The College Of Languages (jcl)
The Effect of Teaching English Vocabulary Learning Strategies on Iraqi Intermediate School Students’ Vocabulary Performance and Reading Comprehension
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The present study aims at empirically investigating the effect of vocabulary learning strategies on Iraqi intermediate school students’vocabulary performance and reading comprehension. The population of the present study includes all the 1st year male students of  Al-Wark’a intermediate  school of Al-Risafa 1/ General  Directorate of Education for the first course of the academic year (2015-2016). To achieve the aim of the study ,a pre-test and post-test after (5) weeks of experiment are administrated .The sample of the present study consists of (100) subjects :(50) students as an experimental group and other (50) students as  a control group . The subj

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Publication Date
Wed Nov 25 2020
Journal Name
Plos One
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical education: Medical students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding electronic learning
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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education and healthcare systems worldwide. The disease can cause life-threatening conditions and it presents challenges for medical education, as instructors must deliver lectures safely, while ensuring the integrity and continuity of the medical education process. It is therefore important to assess the usability of online learning methods, and to determine their feasibility and adequacy for medical students. We aimed to provide an overview of the situation experienced by medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical students regarding electronic medical education.

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Publication Date
Wed Jan 01 2020
Journal Name
Ieee Access
Smart Routing Management Framework Exploiting Dynamic Data Resources of Cross-Layer Design and Machine Learning Approaches for Mobile Cognitive Radio Networks: A Survey
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Publication Date
Sun Dec 12 2010
Journal Name
Journal Of Planner And Development
A documentary study of natural resources and ways of protecting them
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The problem of research is that there are ways to protect and sustain environmentally important sites in Iraq. There are no documentary sources for these sites, such as the natural landscape of natural and important natural resources, which suffer from severe environmental neglect

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Publication Date
Sun Dec 01 2019
Journal Name
Al- Mohtaref Journal
Impact of The Use of Electronic Concept Mapping Strategy in Learning and Retaining Some of The Skills of The Ground-Moving Carpet in Women's Artistic Gymnastics
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The study aimed to identify the use of the electronic concept maps method in learning some of the skills of the floor exercises in the artistic gymnastics for third graders ,as well as to identify the best group between the two research groups (experimental And the officer to learn and retain some of the skills of the floor exercises in the artistic gymnastics of the research subject , and the experimental method was used and included the sample research on students of the collage of Physical Education and Sports Sciences/University of Baghdad, third grade, and has selected (10) Students for each group of The experimental and controlling groups randomly by lottery and after the completion of the period of implementation of the experiment wh

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Publication Date
Wed Apr 01 2015
Journal Name
Al–bahith Al–a'alami
University Youth Attitudes towards Electronic Advertisements and their Relationship to the Behavior of the Consumer A Field Study of a Sample of Students of the College of Mass-Communication / University of Baghdad as a Model
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This research aims at identifying the communicative habits and content reflections on the communication process, especially the young audience which is one of the main group for whom the announcements are made. Because young people face life with passion and aspiration making them respond to each effect used by the media in the design of the advertising using all the effective techniques, attractive methods for young children like depending on drama, technical tricks, music and logos easily to be remembered and responded to the desires of the young in their entertainment. This research also aims at identifying the impact of the internet as a channel of commercial advertising on the purchasing behavior of young people at the universities

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