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Idioms. Eli Dennis. Definition. An idiom is a phrase or saying that is custom to a certain group that makes no sense to people outside of the group. An idiom’s meaning cannot be told from what it literally says. Someone must explain to you what it means before you get it.
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Idioms Eli Dennis
Definition • An idiom is a phrase or saying that is custom to a certain group that makes no sense to people outside of the group. An idiom’s meaning cannot be told from what it literally says. Someone must explain to you what it means before you get it. • For example: “It was a piece of cake”, meaning that it was easy. Or: “That costs an arm and a leg”, meaning that something is very expensive.
Idioms aren’t….. • Idioms aren’t known by everyone. It has to be somewhat exclusive to truly be an idiom. • For example, the Statue of Liberty being the symbol of freedom isn’t an idiom because it is world-renown. • Also, idioms don’t include body language. For example, even though shaking someone’s hand may be considered rude and disrespectful in other cultures, it is still not an idiom because idioms must involve speech.
Importance of Idioms • It is important to know about idioms because if you are talking with someone from a different city, state, or country, you need to know that they probably won’t understand some of the sayings you use. • Also, if a book you are reading was written by somebody from another country or time period, you should be prepared to have to look up certain things.
The Outsiders • Most of the idioms in The Outsiders are the slang that Ponyboy and the gang use. They also lived in a different time period so some are customary to the 50’s. • Dally uses the idiom “stay golden” when he is talking to Ponyboy while he is dying. I think he’s trying to say that Ponyboy is the only one of the gang that has a chance to escape poverty and go to college, and that Ponyboy should continue school. • Soda also says Ponyboy “always has his nose in a book” meaning that he reads a lot.
The Giver • Some of the terms that the Community uses to help define rules are idioms. • “Being released’ is an idiom in the community. It is so much of an idiom, that most of the members in the community don’t even know what it really means. However, as the book progresses it becomes clear that “being released” is synonymous with “euthanasia”, or some may argue “murder”.
Fahrenheit 451 • Many of the idioms in this book are or relate to activities that people do in the city. • For example “the family” relates to the TV. It means the characters on the TV. • Another one I found was when the medical technicians come to Montag’s house to fix Mildred. When they leave, one of them says somebody just “jumped off the cap of a pillbox”. This means some one just committed suicide by swallowing pills.
The Mayor of Casterbridge • Since it was written in old English, it was very hard to find any idioms because it was hard to understand. • The idiom “skimmity ride” refers to an embarrassing parade meant to expose secrets in a person’s life.
Idioms in Today’s Culture • Today there are many idioms and things containing idioms. • For example, in the “Amelia Bedelia” books, Amelia Bedelia often does crazy things because she takes the idioms literally. If somebody asked her for “a penny for her thoughts”, she would say what's on her mind and then expect the person to give her a penny. • My favorite example, however, is “hit the road”. In German, this translates to “schlagen de autobahn”, which literally means hit the road.
Homework! • For the homework, find 3-5 idioms that you encounter, and write them on a piece of binder paper along with a brief explanation of what the idiom means and where you found it. Idioms can include ones that you hear from your family, ones you hear on TV, or ones you read in books or magazines.
