IV. Idioms
Refined and sanctified by long usage, idioms have been described as the crystallization of language. Without idioms our language would become dull and dry, whereas an appropriate use of them in our speech and writing will add to the strength and vividness posed of few words, contain an extremely profound and rich meaning; for another most idioms carry a vivid image.
An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special meaning which is different from the meanings of the words that form it. To “read a book”, for instance, is not an idiom, for the meaning of the phrase is the meanings of the three words put together, and “a book” can be replaced by other words like “a newspaper” or “a magazine”. To “read between the lines” is different. The four words that form the idiom give no hint as to what it means and none of the words can be changed to form another understandable phrase.
English is rich in idioms. The following types of idioms are most common: 1. Phrasal verbs
e.g. put up with: tolerate; live with turn out: prove
look forward to: expect
carry on: conduct or transact
come across: be confronted with
2. N. + prep. + n.
e.g. a straw in the wind: a slight hint that shows which way things may develop
the apple of one’s eye: sb. or sth. dearly loved
like a fish out of water: feel uncomfortable or awkward because of being in
unfamiliar surroundings
in a world of one’s own: live a life of fantasy without communicating with other
people; in private
3. Prep. + n.
e.g. in kind: (of payment) in goods or natural produce, not in money on the air: broadcasting
at length: eventually, at last; in great detail
(come off/through) with flying colors: make a great success of sth.
4. V. + n.
e.g. won’t hold water: (of theories) to be not sound when tested slip one’s mind: forget
kill two birds with one stone: get twice the result with half effort
go to the dogs: (of an organization, institution, etc.) change so that it is no longer
as efficient, productive, etc. as before
5. As… as…
e.g. as big as life: as big as the actual size of…
(Believe it or not, he was here yesterday ~.)
as easy as pie/ABC
as different as night and day/black and white as poor as a church mouse as innocent as an angel
as wise as Solomon
as cunning as a fox/an ape as greedy as a Jew/bear as cruel as a tiger
as stubborn as a bear/mule as hard as rock/stone as steady as iron as round as a ball
as light as air/a feather as red as rose
as silent as the Sphinx as rich as a millionaire as soft as silk as white as snow
as dark as coal/pitch/ink
as proud as a peacock/rooster as cool as cucumber as cold as ice as heavy as lead
as swift as an antelope/wind
as merry as a lark/cricket/king/prince as silly as an ass/a goose as strong as a horse/an ox as mute as a fish as nimble as a goat as clear as crystal as brave as a lion as blind as a bat as busy as a bee
as scarce as chicken teeth as slippery as an eel as firm as rock
as timid as a hare/rabbit as fit as a fiddle
as good as gold
6. Pairs of words
e.g. (to stand) wear and tear: to last well
high and dry: (of a ship) stranded; aground
He left her ~ in a strange country without any money. touch-and-go: uncertain as to the result
It was ~ whether we would get to the airport in time.
The patient is out of danger now, but it was ~ [i.e. uncertain whether he would
survive] for a while.
(to have sth. done) in black and white: (have it) recorded in writing or print
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safe and sound
fair and square vim and vigor fair or foul pots and pans odds and ends weal and woe thicks and thins at sixes and sevens
Tweedledum and Tweedledee neither fish nor flesh to mind one’s P’s and Q’s hither and thither 7. Sayings
One man’s meat is another man’s poison. A stitch in time saves nine. Take it or leave it.
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched: First catch your hare, then cook it. To run after two hares, you can catch neither. When the cat’s away, the mice will play. Jack of all trades and master of none. Grasp all, lose all.
Man proposes, God disposes. Once bit/bitten, twice shy.
A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Where there is a will, there is a way. When there is life, there is hope. The child is father of the man. There is no smoke without fire.
Don’t you see the writing on the wall? No cross, no crown.
An idle youth, a needy age.
Follow love, and it will flee; flee love, and it will pursue. As you sow, so will you reap. Many a pickle makes a nickel. Money makes the mare to go.
V. Figures of Speech (修辞手法)
Words used in their original meanings are used literary, while words used in extended meanings for the purpose of making comparisons or calling up pictures in the reader’s or listener’s mind are used figuratively.
As a Chinese idiom goes, “With all its beauty the peony needs the green of its leaves to set it off.” The rich and colorful content of writing can be expressed through such artistic devices as
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figures of speech, which contribute much to its expressive and emotional power.
A knowledge of various figures of speech commonly used in writing will help us not only to appreciate beauty of language, but also learn to use the various rhetorical figures in our own writing.
The most common of figures of speech are the following:
1.
Simile
Simile is a direct comparison, in which subject, reference and indicator of resemblance are all
present, its formula being: Subject + indicator of resemblance + reference. Time flies like an arrow.
One day apart seems like three years ― to miss somebody very much. like a duck to water: to feel just like a fish in water. as dry as saw dust: It is like chewing wax ― insipid. like a cat on hot bricks: like an ant on a hot pan. He is something of a musician/a political chameleon. soft as dove’s down ― William Shakespeare free as mountain winds (Ibid.)
rapid as the shadow of a cloud ― Thomas Hardy
happy as a rose tree in sunshine ― William M.Thackeray I wandered lonely as a cloud ― William Wordsworth 2.
Metaphor
Metaphor is an implied comparison in which both subject and reference are used, but no indicator of resemblance. Metaphor is more advanced than simile, for comparison is implied in the structure, instead of being expressed by an indicator of resemblance. It’s formula is: Subject + to be + reference:
Time is money.
An inch of time is an inch of gold.
With money you are a dragon; without it you are a worm. Money becomes the king.
Many retirees are couch potatoes. The newspaper is a jungle of ads. It takes two to tango. It’s lonely at the top.
Some special interest groups hijack the people through uncontrolled profit and inflation. My life is one long curve, full of turning points. All the world is a stage. He has a heart of stone. She is a bookworm. She is really a Barbby.
Sometimes you go into what I call a bubble boom. Every bubble bursts. Efficiency is undermined in a jungle of red tape.
The scandal took a lot of luster off the president’s status. Life is but a dream.
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Life’s but a walking shadow. ― William Shakespeare TOEFL/IELTS is a bridge to foreign universities. His friend has become a thorn in his side. You are your mother’s glass.
3. Personification
Personification is a figure of speech in which human beings are compared to inanimate things or vice versa. Being new, original and impressive, personification can make an abstract truth more vivid and expressive.
In the following sentences human attributes are given to abstract qualities, to objects or to animals:
Action speaks louder than words.
Walls have ears ― beware of eavesdroppers. Failure is the mother of success. a walking dictionary
(cf. a living dictionary; know-it-all)
an old stick-in-the-mud: someone who is old-fashioned and fights change.
(old diehard; old fogey ) A rolling stone gathers no moss:
It implies that a person who is constantly moving and changing from one place or occupation to another will never gain a steady, established position.
(cf. A rolling stone gathers no moss; constant change of one’s profession accumulates no wealth. )
The autumn wind is sighing.
Spring awakened, and all nature smiled. Clothes can make the man. Dusk came stealthily.
This time fate was smiling to him.
Thunder roared and a pouring rain started.
A lie goes halfway around the world before truth has time to get its trousers on. The match will soon be over and defeat is staring us in the face. Money won’t buy time.
Fortune smiled on me; I got the scholarship.
Flu/SARS stalked about, touching one here and there with his evil finger.
4. Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing is substituted for another associated with or suggested by it. The thing spoken of and the thing meant may be wholly unlike, but the relation between them is such that the mention of one suggests the other, e.g. “The drunkard loves his bottle.” Here there is no resemblance, but very close relation.
In writing when metonymy is well employed, brevity and vividness may be achieved: The early bird catches the worm. Rats desert a sinking ship.
Any ox that can pull the plough is a good ox, whether it’s red or black.
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