Idioms

[:en]

Last month I talked a little bit about proverbs. These are common sayings in English that provide meanings to live by or to express common sense. One example : Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Similarly in English there are idioms. Idioms can sometimes sound like proverbs , but they are quite different.

The word ‘ idiom ‘ comes from the Greek language and means ‘ one’s own ‘. This tells you that idioms are special and unique to a language. If English is not your first language , idioms may seem strange or not logical. However , idioms can be found in most languages , including Bahasa Indonesia. The reason that people use idioms is simply that we all love playing with language.

Look at this example : Don’t forget your umbrella. It is raining cats and dogs. Obviously this doesn’t really make sense , but what it does do is put a picture in your mind , and it tells you that it is raining heavily. Why rain and cats and dogs are related , I don’t know !

Idioms are great fun to learn , and if you can use them occasionally , it shoes you have a strong command and understanding of English. Like most things , if you would like to learn some idioms and / or their meanings , you just type idioms into google and you will find hundreds of websites about idioms for games , matching exercises etc.

Here are some of my favourites , and of course , there are hundreds more. Look up the meanings yourself , and see if you could use them in a sentence.

# When the topic of homework came up , I dropped it like a hot potato.

# It is important to have friends you can talk to as no man is an island.

# My mum wakes up early most days and says , the early bird catches the worm.

# Often it is easier to work in small groups because there can be too many chiefs and not enough Indians when you work in big groups,

# ( my no. 1 favourite ) Trying to memorise all the countries in the world is as usful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

# If I complain about dad trying to help , he says , “ Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

# Meeting new friends often shows that you can’t judge a book by its cover.

# Working with a partner shows that two heads are better than one.

# Ipads are the best things since sliced bread.

How many of those idioms have you heard before ? They are very common in languages and they make your ideas and thoughts much more interesting and alive.

Go for your life and be brave in using English. It won’t kill you .

[:zh]Last month I talked a little bit about proverbs. These are common sayings in English that provide meanings to live by or to express common sense. One example : Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Similarly in English there are idioms. Idioms can sometimes sound like proverbs , but they are quite different.

The word ‘ idiom ‘ comes from the Greek language and means ‘ one’s own ‘. This tells you that idioms are special and unique to a language. If English is not your first language , idioms may seem strange or not logical. However , idioms can be found in most languages , including Bahasa Indonesia. The reason that people use idioms is simply that we all love playing with language.

Look at this example : Don’t forget your umbrella. It is raining cats and dogs. Obviously this doesn’t really make sense , but what it does do is put a picture in your mind , and it tells you that it is raining heavily. Why rain and cats and dogs are related , I don’t know !

Idioms are great fun to learn , and if you can use them occasionally , it shoes you have a strong command and understanding of English. Like most things , if you would like to learn some idioms and / or their meanings , you just type idioms into google and you will find hundreds of websites about idioms for games , matching exercises etc.

Here are some of my favourites , and of course , there are hundreds more. Look up the meanings yourself , and see if you could use them in a sentence.

 

# When the topic of homework came up , I dropped it like a hot potato.

# It is important to have friends you can talk to as no man is an island.

# My mum wakes up early most days and says , the early bird catches the worm.

# Often it is easier to work in small groups because there can be too many chiefs and not enough Indians when you work in big groups,

# ( my no. 1 favourite ) Trying to memorise all the countries in the world is as usful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

# If I complain about dad trying to help , he says , “ Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

# Meeting new friends often shows that you can’t judge a book by its cover.

# Working with a partner shows that two heads are better than one.

# Ipads are the best things since sliced bread.

 

How many of those idioms have you heard before ? They are very common in languages and they make your ideas and thoughts much more interesting and alive.

Go for your life and be brave in using English. It won’t kill you . [:id]Last month I talked a little bit about proverbs. These are common sayings in English that provide meanings to live by or to express common sense. One example : Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Similarly in English there are idioms. Idioms can sometimes sound like proverbs , but they are quite different.

The word ‘ idiom ‘ comes from the Greek language and means ‘ one’s own ‘. This tells you that idioms are special and unique to a language. If English is not your first language , idioms may seem strange or not logical. However , idioms can be found in most languages , including Bahasa Indonesia. The reason that people use idioms is simply that we all love playing with language.

Look at this example : Don’t forget your umbrella. It is raining cats and dogs. Obviously this doesn’t really make sense , but what it does do is put a picture in your mind , and it tells you that it is raining heavily. Why rain and cats and dogs are related , I don’t know !

Idioms are great fun to learn , and if you can use them occasionally , it shoes you have a strong command and understanding of English. Like most things , if you would like to learn some idioms and / or their meanings , you just type idioms into google and you will find hundreds of websites about idioms for games , matching exercises etc.

Here are some of my favourites , and of course , there are hundreds more. Look up the meanings yourself , and see if you could use them in a sentence.

 

# When the topic of homework came up , I dropped it like a hot potato.

# It is important to have friends you can talk to as no man is an island.

# My mum wakes up early most days and says , the early bird catches the worm.

# Often it is easier to work in small groups because there can be too many chiefs and not enough Indians when you work in big groups,

# ( my no. 1 favourite ) Trying to memorise all the countries in the world is as usful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

# If I complain about dad trying to help , he says , “ Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

# Meeting new friends often shows that you can’t judge a book by its cover.

# Working with a partner shows that two heads are better than one.

# Ipads are the best things since sliced bread.

 

How many of those idioms have you heard before ? They are very common in languages and they make your ideas and thoughts much more interesting and alive.

Go for your life and be brave in using English. It won’t kill you . [:]