How to Teach English Idioms

黃潤華

【Abstract】Teaching the students to know the basic concept， the range， the classification and the source of English idioms and the translation method so that they can use and translate English idioms freely.

【Key words】English idioms， basic concept， range， classification， source， translation method

【中圖分類號】G633.4 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2014）03-0094-03

We often meet English idioms when we listen to the radio， speak to the foreigner， read English books and write an article in English. English idioms are well known to us. It is shown by rough statistics that there is at least one or two English idioms in every one hundred words？蒺 English articles. The quantity of the idiom is not so large， but they are the best things and key points in an article. To understand English idioms deeply is very important for us in foreign language studying and teaching. So it is necessary for us to let the students make clear the basic concept， the range， the classification and the source of English idioms. If we do that， we believe that the students can use and translate English idioms freely.

Ⅰ.The basic concept of English idiom

What is the basic concept of English idiom？ We can know that from a dictionary， that is “Phrase or sentence whose meaning is not obvious through knowledge of the individual meanings of the constituent words but must be learnt as a whole”. English idiom is a kind of special phenomenon in linguistics. The explanation in a dictionary can help us to settle down many problems in foreign language studying and teaching， but I think it is not enough or perfect. We still need to find the answer according to the context. For example， in a report of English sports news， a journalist from Germany mistook the idiom “catch a crab” as catching a ten？鄄legged shellfish， not make a faulty stroke with ones oar （rowing words ）. The idiom in a dictionary has its own place， if we dont know how to look up in a dictionary， it will waste our time or we cant find it without others help. So understanding the basic concept of idioms is very important.

Ⅱ.The range of English idioms

When the British and Americans talk about the range of idioms， different people have different opinions， but most of them think they include three circumstances of the following mostly：

1.All kinds of set phrases， which have the large number in idioms. These idioms have fixed form and special meaning which work as a certain word in a sentence. For example，①Idioms which take verb as the centre： carry out =execute； put off =postpone； take into account =consider； make up ones mind =resolve； ②Idioms which take noun as the centre： flesh and blood=relations；the ins and outs=details； a bed of roses=comfort and ease；③Another kinds of idioms： as changeable as the moon or weathercock； through thick and thin； for the sake of； in order to； as well as； provided that； how so？ far from it； persona non grata （from Latin， means one who is not acceptable in this way）. 2.All kinds of proverbs， sayings， maxims， quotations， etc. which have full meanings. These idioms are all with vivid image and the meaning that generalize for characteristics， most of them include special metaphor function and logic point. eg. Make hay while the sun shines； From each according to his ability and to each according to his needs； Brevity is the soul of wit （Shakespeare）. These idioms have the form of the sentence generally， but sometimes also appear with the form of the phrase set or short language. eg. To make hay （under the sunshine of ）.

3.Words which having the special meaning or usage， are mainly from the compound word. Such as know？鄄how， who？蒺s who， landslide， gooseflesh， stay？鄄at？鄄home， etc. Apart from the compound word， some simple words with special meaning are regarded as idioms. eg .slate （批評得一文不值），card （有趣的人，活寶），dead（十分，到了極點），etc. These phrases， most of them appear only in some limited combinations， just in this limit a part of them can be returned into the range of the idiom.

Ⅲ.The classification of the idioms.

Understanding the range of the idioms is not enough， we must let the students know the classification of the idioms. Then how to categorize for idiom？ The meaning of the idiom and surface meaning of its each composition always have some distance， some are relatively close， some are even not relevant， and briefly in the image that the idiom includes， metaphor and hinting ， there is apparent giving up and obscure difference. The close degree that this kind of difference combines with each composition of the idiom has close relations， for example， meaning difference is the greater the meaning and word of the idiom， its image or hinting， the more obscure， the closer the combination of every composition is. To carry on the classification of the idiom is according to idiom every stability degree and obvious degree， idiom of meaning that composition combine. All are meaningful no matter in theory or on the practicality. It was Swiss scholar Barry （Charles Bally） that proposed this criteria for classification at first. When he mentions idiom （locutions phraséologiques）， he calls what has been combined getting more loose most each composition each by “bind by idiom（聯結成語）” （séries phraséologiques）， Combine degree most close， every composition lose independent one of meaning call “comprehensive idiom（綜合成語）” （unité phraséologiques）， he thinks that there are different transition situations of all sorts of degree between these two. There are a lot of people that divide the idiom into three kinds， five kinds according to this principle after Charles Bally， or even more. We think， the overly excessively detail classification is unnecessary， the situation all right one way or the other can not always be totally dispelled； Divided into the following three kinds， can roughly show the basic characteristics of different idioms：

1.Making up idiom This kind of idiom has a piece of composition a special or meaning lent at least， this is the place where it is different from the general free phrase； Other composition keep original meaning their obvious， whole meaning too easy foundation each meaning of composition receive understanding， this is the place where it is different from leaving one kind of idioms. The regular phrase with common majority and a lot of buzzwords belong to this kind. For example， to pay attention to； to hear with half an ear； specific gravity； poor as a church mouse； sudden as an April shower， etc.

2.Comprehensive idiom What no matter this kind of idiom includes having specially or the composition lending the meaning， can？蒺t be understood according to surface meaning of word， must follow the whole comprehensive meaning of group to understand or according to metaphors included ， hinting or summarizing， to come to associate so that we could understand correctly， this is the place where it is different from the making up idiom. But on the other hand， the relation between the meaning of each composition and meaning of the whole idiom is still quite obvious， in other words， it is reasonable. A part of regular phrases and most proverbs， folk adages all belong to this kind. For example，

3.Merging idiom The meaning of the idiom， can？蒺t be deduced out from the specific meaning of the word or the comprehensive meaning directly or indirectly at all from the point of view of modern English. This kind of idiom includes a few regular phrases， older proverbs， folk adages， the folkways and customs related to old times， mythical legend， and the anecdotes on history， literature， etc.， or old， or too uncommon， common people copy mechanically only in accordance with kind， but does not go to bother about its historical source， so that we can not find out its meaning at all the words. Some are through ascertaining， can also be explained， some are totally unable to ascertain.

The finding as above， the bias in various degree often takes place in the true meaning of idiom and the surface meaning of word. Why does it have this kind of situation？ There are a lot of reasons ， such reasons of the respect as the society of the psychology of having the language and history， etc. So let students understand the source of the idiom is very necessary.

Ⅳ.The source of English idioms

1.The bias of idiom meaning， most occasion change because of semantic change， metaphor of speech hint the result that function produces. There are two basic ways that semantic changes： One is a vague generalization， namely from narrow sense to broad sense， from concrete to abstract， from to ordinary specially. For example， to mask one？蒺s batteries “hiding hostility” belongs to this kind promptly. Another privileges， namely from broad to narrow sense， from abstract to being concrete， from ordinary to special， for example， protection on the move means “security on the march”， which belong to this kind promptly. The metaphor of the speech hints the example on function like poor as a church （simile）； To tread the boards （metaphor）.

2.The idiom makes the present person difficult to understand because the social life， folkways and customs pointed have already become the thing of the past of history sometimes. For example， a saltcellar is put on the dining table while having a meal in western old custom， parents and honored guest sit above the saltcellar， the younger generation and status who is lower sit below， so the idiom sit above or below the salt tells the difference between high？鄄profile and low？鄄profile， high treatment level and low treatment level. People think the persons who will refer to ghosts and gods to swear resent， so some people point to one？蒺s own cap and swear：“If I knew I？蒺d eat my hat”， so talk through one？蒺s hat means “信口開河”.

3.The religion， “the Holy Bible” and ancient mythology are the sources of some idioms. For example， teach the times that right rules in Middle Ages in Europe， the main tributary teaches and threatens the monks and laymen people by dismissing and teaching the book on day， while holding and evicting from the ceremony taught finishing， the persons who preside over tell to “pack up Confucian classics， go out the candle， sound with the clock！”. So bell， book and candle. become the symbol of expelling from church. At the eleventh hour The last group of people entering time that the vineyard work to point “the Holy Bible” （St Matthew？蒺s chapter 12） originally， this is a piece of time or the last moment that can？蒺t be later. So the eleventh hour has meaning at “last moment”.

4.Some idioms involve war way and military life in the past. Playing the trumpet by a messenger first before the knight begins to fight such as Europe Middle Ages， notify the host？蒺s name curriculum vitae， including his noble family status and illustrious battle achievement in the past， if the messenger has died， nobody blows the trumpet for him， so blow one？蒺s own trumpet has meaning of “cracking oneself up”. There was a legend that American Indians in ancient times held a ceremony of burying the axe while making peace in armistice， and digging out the fighting axe when the war arises again， so bury （dig up） the hatchet has meaning of making peace （makes war）.

Source of idioms are very complicated， and the meanings have a lot of change， which may cause difficult to translate generally， it is very difficult to deal with ocular or perceptual knowledge. So we want to teach students to treat idioms not “strain the meaning of the word”. It is very danger.

Ⅴ.Translation method of the idiom

The translation of the idiom is not beyond the scope of literal translation and two kinds of free translation basically with generally translating method. The treatment of the image of the idiom translation is the most important thing. It is student？蒺s most difficult problem too. Now we discuss the question of treatment of the image.

1.Literal translation divides into image literal translation and non？鄄image literal translation. Because the non？鄄image literal translation is not very difficult， we do not discuss here. We only discuss the image question. We can find the image of the idiom the same meaning as translating out the idiom in another kind of language directly， sometimes in a kind of language， for example，

as cold as ice 冰冷

to fish for praise 沽名釣譽

strike while the iron is hot 趁熱打鐵

Some idioms do not have obvious image， we can also adopt this kind of method to translate， such as，

to draw attention 引起注意

to assess the situation 估計情況

knowledge is power 知識就是力量

2.Understanding the image meaning of the original text idiom， though there is no available statement in the translation language， we can imitate the original text to translate out directly too. For example，

a wolf in sheep？蒺s clothing 披著羊皮的狼

No smoke without fire 無火不生煙

A stitch in time save nine 一針及時省九針

3.We can use the same idiom to translate the idioms which has different meaning into another kind of language. For example， to fish in troubled water 趁火打劫

a pretty kettle of fish（a nice 亂七八槽

pair of shoes； at sixes and sevens）

Fools haste makes waste. 欲速則不達

There？蒺s no smoke without fire 無風不起浪

4.The image of the original text idiom can？蒺t be translated （namely the translation comes out improperly）， there is not a suitable idiom in the translation language， we have to translate with freedom phrase or a ordinary sentence to think according to original text. For example，

to cut no ice 毫無效果

to play one？蒺s last card 采取最后手段

Don？蒺t count your chickens before they are hatched.

不可過早樂觀。

It？蒺s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

天下沒有絕對的壞事。

Ⅵ. Conclusion

In sum， we can sum up as follows：

1.Let students understand the basic conception， range， classification and source of the idiom， and grasp the translation method of the idiom， contribute to using English idiom better.

2.The idiom is a kind of language， which is a special form in the course of historical development， is formed by some special phrases or sentences. Some are regular phrases which express certain concept， some are proverb containing the special image or summarizing， folk adage； Transferred meaning has often happened in the word which formed the idiom， the image that the idiom often includes likening or hinting function briefly， so we can？蒺t generally be according to the surface meaning of word to understanding the idioms.

3.The idioms translation is very complicated， so we should consider many kinds of translations method. Translating idioms should often depend on the dictionary and reference book， but can？蒺t totally rely on and use the interpretation of the dictionary.

Reference bibliography：

劉丹青：《英語成語的理解與翻譯》原載《外語教學與研究》1965年第一期。