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.
Narcissism is a complicated phenomenon that can be reflected in the narcissist’s language. Investigating narcissism in terms of linguistics, and pragmatics in particular, does not seem to have been given its due attention, as this study reveals. Thus, this study is an endeavor to discover how narcissism is reflected in the American movie Big Eyes (2014). It is known for introducing narcissistic behaviors. This paper aims to identify the types, motivations, and pragmatic manifestations of narcissism in the selected movie. Three pragmatic theories are chosen to scrutinize narcissism in the data: Searle’s speech acts (1969), Grice’s maxims breaching (1975), and Culppeper’s impoliteness (1996). To cope with the nature of the
... Show MoreReliable estimation of critical parameters such as hydrocarbon pore volume, water saturation, and recovery factor are essential for accurate reserve assessment. The inherent uncertainties associated with these parameters encompass a reasonable range of estimated recoverable volumes for single accumulations or projects. Incorporating this uncertainty range allows for a comprehensive understanding of potential outcomes and associated risks. In this study, we focus on the oil field located in the northern part of Iraq and employ a Monte Carlo based petrophysical uncertainty modeling approach. This method systematically considers various sources of error and utilizes effective interpretation techniques. Leveraging the current state of a
... Show MoreOur research tends to study the poetic attempt of Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab and examine it stylistically, and we suggested his mature collection '' Rain song'' as a pattern for our textual analysis of the poet's attempt.
In the beginning , we confirm that branches of applied structures meet to produce poetry such as narration , drama , cinema , mythology , allegory , various religious and historical texts , previous events , and special cumentary events related to work production. If all above-mentioned was complicated and disregarded throughout a single text , the text writer would not secure positive results that might keep open continuity between him and his readers.
Therefore , this issue w
... Show MoreThe present study aims to evaluate the effects of methotrexate (MTX) with and without vitamin A (Vit. A) on some biochemical parameters and histological structure in male rabbits liver. Twenty male rabbits weighing 1250-1480 gm were divided into four equal number groups. The first group was given 2 ml distilled water as control group. The second group was given MTX (20 mg/kg), the third group was given Vit. A (5000 IU), while the fourth group was given MTX (20 mg/kg) +Vit. A (5000 IU) in alternative days. Following four weeks of treatment, lipid profile total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), [low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)]; in addition to thyroid hormones tr
... Show MoreThe exchange rate is of great importance at the global and local levels alike, as this importance increases with the increasing rates of development of economic relations between countries of the world due to openness and integration into the global economy, expressed by the expansion of the volume of trade and financial relations between countries. The Central Bank of Iraq has set the need to stabilize this price as a goal to reduce inflation rates and reduce them to the internationally accepted rates by using the foreign currency sale window to achieve a balance between the forces of supply and demand for foreign currency and to preserve the value of the Iraqi dinar. The research concluded that the central bank was It has a maj
... Show MoreThe research aims to develop alternatives to transportation at the entrance to the Educational City (University of Baghdad) during the morning and evening peaks, which result from of the traffic congestion at the entrances to the educational city (the University of Baghdad), and affects the emotional, functional, and social performance of the whole city, and leads to hotbeds of confluence and congestion at the entrances in the morning and evening peaks. This movement was measured on the ground for pedestrians and vehicles. Some criteria were adopted to determine the density of road length to the area and density of roads for the number of users and the rate of the area served by roads. The research reviews the experiences of some
... Show MoreThe present study aims to identify the most and the least common teaching practices among faculty members in Northern Border University according to brain-based learning theory, as well as to identify the effect of sex, qualifications, faculty type, and years of experiences in teaching practices. The study sample consisted of (199) participants divided into 100 males and 99 females. The study results revealed that the most teaching practice among the study sample was ‘I am trying to create an Environment of encouragement and support within the classroom which found to be (4.4623). As for the least teaching practice was ‘I use a natural musical sounds to create student's mood to learn’ found to be (2.2965). The study results also in
... Show MoreIn addition to the primary treatment, biological treatment is used to reduce inorganic and organic components in the wastewater. The separation of biomass from treated wastewater is usually important to meet the effluent disposal requirements, so the MBBR system has been one of the most important modern technologies that use plastic tankers to transport biomass with wastewater, which works in pure biofilm, at low concentrations of suspended solids. However, biological treatment has been developed using the active sludge mixing process with MBBR. Turbo4bio was established as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for wastewater treatment plants in the early 1990s and ran on minimal sludge, and is easy to maintain. This
... Show MoreThe Love Creek Nature Center, one of the three nature centers located within the boundaries of Berrien County, is owned and operated by the county for public enjoyment and instruction of nature. The 44.5 ha study area, located seven km east of Berrien Springs, and two km southwest of Berrien Center, on Huckleberry Road, in T6S, R17W, sections 16, 17 (Lat. 41° 56' N; Long. 86° 18' W) is made up of deciduous woods and abandoned fields at various stages of succession. It is bounded on the east by the Berrien County Dog Pound and Huckleberry Road, to the north by cultivated Berrien County land and the Berrien General Hospital, to the west by the recently closed Berrien - Oronoko Township Landfill Dump; and to the south b
... Show More