英语词汇学课件_Unit_12.pptVIP

UNIT 12 ENGLISH IDIOMS (I) Contents Introduction 汉语： 熟语 成语 狐假虎威，乐不思蜀，三人成虎 惯用语 拍马屁，走后门，捞油水 歇后语 擀面杖吹火——一窍不通 谚语 众人拾柴火焰高 12.1 Definition of English idiom The speech proper to, or typical of, a people or place; a dialect or local language. An expression unique to a language, especially one whose sense is not predictable from the meanings and arrangement of its elements. kick the bucket: to die idiom VS. free phrase take off I take my hat off to him for the way he arranged the party. Take off your clothes; they’re very wet. Alice is clever at taking off the headmistress. Take your hand off my shoulder. 12.2 characteristics of English idiom 12.2.1 Idiomaticity : refers to the nature of idioms and the degree to which a usage can be regarded as idiomatic. dry goods take step The baby took her first steps. (literal, non-idiomatic) They took some steps to put the matter right. (figurative, grammatically open, semi-idiomatic) She took steps to see that was done. (full idiomatic, grammatically closed) 12.2.2 unitary meaning/ semantic unity rain cats and dogs, have an axe to grind 12.2.3 syntactic frozenness / structural stability The constituents of idioms cannot be replaced. in a brown study, bury the hatchet/tomahawk The word order cannot be inverted or changed. by twos and threes, friend and foe, the lion’s share The constituents of an idiom cannot be deleted or added to, not even an article. out of the question, *build (up) on (the) sand Many idioms are grammatically unanalysable. like cures like, diamond cut diamond, (as) sure as eggs is eggs It ain’t over until the fat lady sings. parody creative adaptation on the other hand/paw 12.2.3 Classification Ex.P377-1 12.3 Metaphorical/figurative idioms 12.3.1 Definition eager beaver, black sheep, dark horse between the devil and the deep (blue) sea the devil