{"id":487,"date":"2015-08-03T07:14:51","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T07:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/97.74.134.56\/?p=487"},"modified":"2015-08-03T07:34:30","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T07:34:30","slug":"what-is-idiom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/what-is-idiom\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Idiom?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Idiom?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The term ‘Idiom’ has various meanings. In its most understood form – Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements or from the general grammatical rules of a language. In simple words, Idioms are words whose meaning is something different from what the words literally stand for.\u00a0 Because of their characteristics, Idioms are called \u2018Figure of speech’ and sometimes ‘Metaphorical Expression’ or simply ‘Metaphor’. \u00a0The word Idiom has been derived from the Greek words idios<\/strong>, meaning personal and private and idiousthai<\/strong>, meaning to make your own. Idioms can be confusing for many of us as we might take the literal meaning of a written or spoken word while it has been used in another sense. This is because we have not heard the combination of words used and they might have a hidden meaning as well. Idioms can become even more confusing if we happen to be in a foreign land. In some cases Idioms tend to be more unusual when they are translated into another language; either its meaning changes or the sentence becomes meaningless.<\/p>\n

However, there are some exceptions, some Idioms can be literal in their sense and they can have a literal meaning in one situation and a different idiomatic meaning in another situation.<\/p>\n

Example<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I sat on the fence<\/strong> \u00a0and watched the game – Here the Bold Text has a Literal Meaning.<\/p>\n

When Happy and Dilshad argue, it is best to sit on the fence<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0and not make either of them angry – Here the Bold Text means ‘Not supporting either side in a dispute’.<\/p>\n

The idiomatic meaning of a sentence thus changes as per a situation. In this manner, an Idiom is a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar. Though they do not follow grammatical rules and are sort of informal expressions<\/strong>,\u00a0 they are popular and have a widespread usage and acceptance in formal communications. Some Idioms are so common that most native speakers do not even realize that they are using idioms. Therefore they are also known as \u2018Sayings<\/strong>\u2019 as well. Sayings and Phrases And Idiom can be easily understood if we know in which context, it is being used. Every language has its own Idioms. There are about 25,000 Idiomatic Expressions in the English language. The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms explains over 7,000 idioms current in British, American and Australian English.<\/p>\n

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Idiom Definitions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n