An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand. Idioms tend to confuse those unfamiliar with them, so students of a new language must learn its idiomatic expressions as vocabulary. According to some authors, an idiom is generally a colloquial metaphor, a term requiring some foundational knowledge, information, or experience, to use only within a culture, where conversational parties must possess common cultural references. Therefore, idioms are not considered part of the language, but part of the culture. As culture typically is localized, idioms often are useless beyond their local context; nevertheless, some idioms can be more universal than others, they can be easily translated, and the metaphoric meaning can be deduced. This is one example of an idiom: “break a leg” is a common idiom. - Literal meaning: I command you to break a bone in your leg and you should probably go to the doctor afterwards to get it fixed. - Idiomatic meaning: Do your best and do well. Often, actors tell each other to “break a leg” before they go out on stage to perform If you want to know some idioms, we organize a document with some idioms that you can download or consult whenever you want. Download, read it, understand it and use all of those idioms. This article was published by Prof. María Fernanda Cely Virtual English Tutor CIMM - Sogamoso |
