Definition:
A set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. Adjective: idiomatic. See also: Collocation.
Etymology:
From the Latin, "own, personal, private"Examples and Observations:
- "The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in his art that he will work at it come hell or high water."
(Stendhal) - "Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint."
(Don Marquis) - "If natural language had been designed by a logician, idioms would not exist."
(Philip Johnson-Laird, 1993) - "Fads are the kiss of death. When the fad goes away, you go with it."
(Conway Twitty) - "I worked the graveyard shift with old people, which was really demoralizing, because the old people didn't have a chance in hell of ever getting out."
(Kate Millett) - "Idioms, in general, are deeply connected to culture. . . . Agar (1991) proposes that biculturalism and bilingualism are two sides of the same coin. Engaged in the intertwined process of culture change, learners have to understand the full meaning of idioms."
(Sam Glucksberg, Understanding Figurative Language, Oxford University Press, 2001) - "Idioms vary in 'transparency': that is, whether their meaning can be derived from the literal meanings of the individual words. For example, make up [one's] mind is rather transparent in suggesting the meaning 'reach a decision,' while kick the bucket is far from transparent in representing the meaning 'die.'"
(Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, Geoffrey Leech, Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Pearson, 2002) - "The thought hit me that this was a pretty pathetic way to kick the bucket--being accidentally poisoned during a photo shoot, of all things--and I started weeping at the idiocy of it all."
(Lara St. John)
Pronunciation: ID-ee-um
