IDIOM

 











Definition of Idiom ;
An idiom latin: idioma, "special property", from greek: ἰδίωμα – idíōma, "special feature, special phrasing, a peculiarity", f. greek: ἴδιος – ídios, "one’s own") is a phrase or a fixed expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal, meaning. An idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning.

Part of Idiom
1. Idiom (language structure)
Idiom is "the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language". Idiom is the realized structure of a language, as opposed to possible but unrealized structures that could have developed to serve the same semantic functions but did not.
Language structure (grammar and syntax) is often inherently arbitrary and peculiar to a particular language or a group of related language.
 For example, although in English it is idiomatic (accepted as structurally correct) to say "cats are associated with agility", other forms could have developed, such as "cats associate toward agility" or "cats are associated of agility". Unidiomatic constructions sound solecistic to fluent speakers, although they are often entirely comprehensible. For example, the title of the classic book English As She Is Spoke is easy to understand (its idiomatic counterpart is English As It Is Spoken), but it deviates from English idiom in the gender of the pronoun and the inflection of the verb. lexical graps are another key example of idiomaticness.
2. Idiom ( disambiguation)
 An idiom is an expression with a figurative meaning.
Idiom may also refer to:

• idiom ( structure nature language)
• instrumental idiom, a concept in music
• programming idiom, a concept in computer science
• Idiom Island, an island in Montana in the Yellowstone River
• Idiom, a company acquired by SDL PCL

Learning a Language with Idioms
Because of idioms, learning a language can be complicated. After you can conjugate verbs, and know a lot of words, you may still have difficulty speaking the language with native users.
This is partly due to the use of idioms and would also depend of which region of a country you were in. Idiom usage is not just regional, but also varies according to people’s interests and social groups.
The best way to pick up on the meaning of certain idioms would be to converse with people and ask them for a clarification of the idiom if you are not clear about the idiom they used. There are also sites on the Internet which will help explain the meaning of idioms.  
Idioms Around the Globe
There are certain things that happen in every culture and there are idioms to deal with them.

• In Norwegian and Czech, “walking around hot porridge” refers to beating around the bush, which is also an idiom meaning not getting to the point.
• If you are in Italy or Turkey and you say you are “as hungry as a wolf” then you are starving.

If it is raining in large amounts, most cultures have an interesting way of saying that:

• In English, it would be “raining cats and dogs”
• In Africa, they might say “it's raining old women with clubs”

• Many languages refer to heavy rain as coming in buckets or as rain coming out of a bucket.

• In Norway they say “it's raining female trolls”
• The Irish say “it's throwing cobblers knives”

Comparing idioms between countries can also be interesting:

• In Finnish, “with long teeth” means you are doing something that you really don’t want to do
• In French, “to have long teeth” means you are ambitious.

The key to understanding the local idioms is to listen carefully and to ask questions of local speakers.
Idioms In the Arts
There are many idioms in the field of music.

• If you “fine tune” something, you make small improvements to it.
• “Changing your tune” means changing your mind.
• If you are “whistling Dixie” or “whistling in the dark” you are overly positive about something.
• If you try and make a decision too early without knowing all the facts, people may tell you that “it’s not over ‘till the fat lady sings.”

Drama and dance have idioms, too, like:

• “Break a leg” means good luck.
• If you are a “ham” you overact.
• If you say, “it takes two to tango” you mean that more than one person is at fault or involved.
• If you “tap dance” your way out of a sticky situation, then that implies that you get out of it in a clever way.
• Being “in the spotlight” means you are the center of attention.

Remember, a group of people with shared interests such as the arts or business will have their own idioms. As with all idioms it will be easier to understand the idioms if you concentrate on what is being said and ask questions about the meanings of the idioms.

Commonly used Idioms

Idiom: a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language

Every language has its own collection of wise sayings. They offer advice about how to live and also transfer some underlying ideas, principles and values of a given culture / society. These sayings are called "idioms" - or proverbs if they are longer. These combinations of words have (rarely complete sentences) a "figurative meaning" meaning, they basically work with "pictures".
This List of commonly used idioms and sayings (in everyday conversational English), can help to speak English by learning English idiomatic expressions. This is a list, which contains exactly 66 of the most commonly used idioms and their meaning.

Smart Idioms

A hot potato

Speak of an issue (mostly current) which many people are talking about and which is usually disputed

Actions speak louder than words

People's intentions can be judged better by what they do than what they say.

An arm and a leg

Very expensive or costly. A large amount of money.

Back to the drawing board

When an attempt fails and it's time to start all over.

Ball is in your court

It is up to you to make the next decision or step

Best of both worlds

Meaning: All the advantages.

Best thing since sliced bread

A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan.

reference :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom
Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/idiom.html#7Glzq6YOrHVL3yCD.99

 http://examples.yourdictionary.com/idiom.html