英语词汇学_Unit_12_English_Idioms

EnglishLexicologyUnit12EnglishIdiomsWhatisanidiom?•Idiomsconsistofsetphrasesandshortsentences,whicharepeculiartothelanguageinquestionandloadedwiththenativeculturesandideas.Therefore,idiomsarecolourful,forcibleandthought-provoking.•Strictlyspeaking,idiomsareexpressionsthatarenotreadilyunderstandablefromtheirliteralmeaningsofindividualelements,forexample,flyoffthehandle(becomeexcessivelyangry)andputupwith(tolerate).•Inabroadsense,idiomsmayincludecolloquialisms,catchphrases,slangexpressions,proverbs,etc.TheyformanimportantpartoftheEnglishvocabulary.•Thischapterwilldealwithidiomsintermsoftheircharacteristics,classificationanduses.OverviewOriginofidiomsCharacteristicsofidiomsSemanticunityStructuralstability(syntacticfrozeness)GradableidiomaticitySemanticopacityClassificationofidiomsMetaphoricalidiomsnominalverbalprepositionalEnglishPhrasalverbsEnglishproverbsEnglishslangEnglishtwinwordsUseofidiomsTranslationsOriginofEnglishIdiomsLiteraryworksTheBibleMythologyFablesHistoricaleventsAnimalmetaphorDailylifeHomeIdiomsfromliteraryworksscrewone’scourage（鼓起勇气、壮起胆子）--ShakespeareMacbethtothemannerborn（与生俱来的）--Hamletpondofflesh（合情但悖于情理的要求）--MerchantofVenicemanFriday（忠仆、得力助手）--DanielDefoeRobinsonCrusoeBrevityisthesoulofwit.(Shakespeare)Livenottoeat,buteattolive.(Franklin)Knowledgeispower.(Bacon)IdiomsfromtheBibleJudas’skiss（犹大之吻，比喻出卖朋友）muchcryandlittlewool（雷声大，雨点小，比喻空叫喊——根据圣经故事：魔鬼看见纳巴尔在羊身上剪羊毛，也模仿着在猪身上剪，结果把猪弄得嗷嗷叫，却什么也没有剪下来）turntheothercheek（忍受暴力、忍受侮辱，上帝在布道时讲如果有人打你的左脸，你就把右脸也递出去)Thespiritiswilling,butthefleshisweak.（心有余而力不足）Sparetherodandspoilthechild.（棒打出孝子）。IdiomsfromMythologyPandora’sbox（潘多拉的盒子，引申为灾祸之源）Sphinx’sriddle（难解之谜，狮身人面怪兽提出“什么动物早晨四条腿，中午两条腿，而晚上三条腿”的谜语）theheelofAchilles（亦作theAchilles’heel，阿基里斯的脚踵，引申为唯一的弱点、要害）betweenScyllaandCharybdis（比喻进退维谷、腹背受敌）DeadSeafruit（比喻某些事物金玉其外、败絮其中，华而不实）Idiomsfromfablesnakedtruth（原原本本的事实、赤裸裸的事实）killthegoosethatlaidthegoldeneggs（杀鸡取卵、涸泽而鱼）sourgrapes（聊以自慰的话，狐狸吃不到葡萄就说葡萄是酸的）bellthecat（替别人冒风险，老鼠要给猫带上铃铛的寓言故事）cat’spaw（被别人利用的人，猴子想吃火中的栗子，骗猫为其火中取栗）thelaststraw（终于使人不能忍受的最后一击）awolfinsheep’sclothing（披着羊皮的狼，比喻危险人物、面善心毒的人）crywolf（狼来了！比喻发假警报）Idiomsfromhistoricaleventsmeetone’sWaterloo（一败涂地，出自1815年的“滑铁卢之战”，类似中国的败走麦城）burnone’sboats(bridges)（破釜沉舟，讲的是古罗马恺撒等名将出征时，常烧毁船只，士兵无路可退，只有勇往直前，战胜敌人）Idiomsfromanimalmetaphoraswiseasowls（聪明，西方人认为猫头鹰是聪明智慧的象征）asquietasmouse（安静如鼠，非常安静）astimidasrabbit（胆小如鼠）nospringchicken（已不再年轻的女人）swan’ssong（告别演出，源于天鹅将死时凄婉的鸣叫声）buryone’sheadinthesand（采取逃避措施、逃避现实，鸵鸟在遇到危险的时候会把头埋在沙子里）comeoutofthecocoon（停止自我封闭，开始与人交往）Idiomsfromdailylife(navigation,agriculture,etc.)ontherocks（触礁、濒临毁灭）allatsea（茫然）gowithstream（随波逐流）holdoutan/theolivebranch（愿意讲和，在西方橄榄枝被认为是和平的象征）reapwhatonehassowed（种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆）bedofroses（舒适的生活）ascoolascucumber（泰然自若、冷静）turnonanewleaf（改头换面）hearthroughthegrapevine（道听途说）beataroundthebush（旁敲侧击）besourgrapes（尖酸刻薄的人）spillthebeans（泄露秘密）CharacteristicsofidiomsSemanticunityEachidiomisasinglesemanticunity.Themeaningofanidiomisopaque;i.e.themeaningofanidiomisnotthetotalsumofthemeaningofitsconstituents.tillthecowscomehome:foraverylongtime;foreverHome•Thesemanticunityofidiomsisalsoreflectedintheillogicalrelationshipbetweentheliteralmeaningofeachwordandthemeaningoftheidiom.Manyidiomsaresemanticallyinexplicable.•Forexample,Howdoyoudo.Literallyitmeans‘Inwhatwaydoyoudothings’,whichisfarfromitsidiomaticusage.Similarly,raincatsanddogswhichisusedinthesenseof‘rainheavily’literallymakesnonsense.StructuralstabilityThestructureofanidiomusuallyremainsunchangeable.burythehatchet*burytheaxin(*the)questionoutof(the)questionManyidiomsaregrammaticallywrong,butidiomaticallyaccepted.Longtimenosee.Likecureslike.Gogreatguns.Home•First,theconstituentsofidiomscannotbereplaced.Takeinabrownstudyforexample.Usedasafreephrase,wecansayinabrown(red,green,white,etc.)studyorinabrownstudy(room,den,hall,studio,cell,etc.).However,asanidiomtomean‘deepinthought’,thestructureisfixed.•Secondly,thewordordercannotbeinvertedorchanged.Forexample,bytwosandthreesandtitfortatarenottobeturnedintobythreesandtwosandtatfortit.Similarly,thelion’sshareisnottobereplacedbytheshareofthelionthoughitisacommonpracticeinfreephrases.•Thirdly,theconstituentsofanidiomcannotbedeletedoraddedto,notevenanarticle.Forinstance,outofthequestionmeans‘impossible’.Ifthearticletheisdeleted,theidiomaticitywillbelostanditwillsignify‘noquestion’instead.Inquestion(beingconsidered)ontheotherhanddoesnotallowtheadditionoftheas*inthequestion,becausethelatterisnolongeranidiom.•Finally,manyidiomsaregrammaticallyunanalysable.Forexample,diamondcutdiamond.MeanwhilethereexistsastructurallysimilaridiomLikecureslike,inwhich-scannotbedeleted.(As)sureaseggsiseggs(quitecertainly)mayserveasanotherexample.Itisgrammaticallywrong,butidiomaticandwidelyaccepted.Gogreatguns(dosthvigorouslyorsuccessfully)GradableidiomaticityNoticetheidiomaticityofidiomsisgradableandmaybestbethoughtasacontinuum（连续体）.idiomssemi-idiomslooselyidiomaticexpressions(themeaningcanbeunderstoodfromtheliteralmeaningoftheconstituents)makefriendswithsb.rainca