English Idioms and Customs

張小喬

Abstract： Customs is a kind of social phenomenon. They are not the product of individuals but that of the collective in the society， which are affected by politics， economy， religion， literary art and so on and then affect those things in reverse. English idioms are greatly influenced by English customs.

Keywords： Idioms custom religion society

As we all know： Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if we know the meaning of every word you see or hear， we may not understand the idiom because we don't understand the culture behind it. As a special part of culture， language， especially idioms， inevitably reflects the customs of the nationality. Now I will discuss them in greater details in the following aspects：

1. English Idioms Influenced by Diet Habits

English idioms related to some food

The dietary habits of a nation have a very close relationship with its geographical environment and lifestyle， they are indirectly related with the language， especially with the idioms. Bread， butter， jam and cheese are some food eaten in English families and there are many idioms originated from them. Here are some examples：

（1） bakers dozen

At the first sight of the idiom， we may think it means “bakers twelve” because “dozen” refers to “12” as a cardinal number. However， the real meaning is quite different from what we think.

It was first used in Britain in the 1400s. At that time， the government imposed very strict rules on the weight of all kinds of bread. However， at that time， it was not so easy to ensure the exact weight of the bread. To avoid punishment on the lack of weight， bakers often gave customers one more bun for free. In this way， “bakers dozen” later got the meaning of “thirteen” instead of “twelve”. Later， more people began to use this idiom for they had to buy buns almost every day. The reason for its popularity also lies in that British people think the number of “13” is an omen and may bring about bad luck so “bakers dozen” is used as a euphemism for “13” in British culture.

E.g.1 My mother bought a bakers dozen of apples in the supermarket

（2） know （on） which side ones bread is buttered

In this idiom， all the words seem simple and easy yet when combining them together， we are really at a loss as to its meaning. We know butter is used to make the bread more delicious. If a person knows “on which side ones bread is buttered”， he will have tasted the bread. Its just like that in real life， if one knows how to win people over， he will get more benefit.

The two have some similarities in nature. So the idiom is relevant to the meaning “know how to cultivate popularity”.

E.g.2 He wouldnt get angry with his boss daughter---he knows on which side his bread is buttered.

English idioms related to pubs

In Britain， pubs （for Public House） can be seen almost everywhere in the country. They are divided into public bars and lounge bars where whiskey and beer are sold. In Britain， a pub is an important cultural location and a place where adults chat and make friends with each other. In the pub， people get relaxed after a days work， thus the pub culture comes into being and many idioms are generated from such a culture.

（1） small beer

As is known， there are different sorts of beer and small beer not very strong in taste， which may not leave a very deep impression upon peoples mind. So the metaphorical meaning of it is “trivial things or people of little importance”.

E.g. 3 The other things seemed very small beer to me in comparison with study.

（2） beer and skittles

We know the meaning of “beer” and that of “skittle”， but we may not know the meaning of this idiom. Actually， it is easy to guess the right idea. Suppose that we are playing skittles while drinking beer on the playground. Then what do you think of it？ Surely you will feel relaxed and comfortable. So “beer and skittles” stands for “the carefree life one enjoys most”.

2. English Idioms Influenced by Pet Words

For many years， animals have a very close relation with mankind. Due to the development of modern science and technology， mankind seems no longer to depend on animals as much as before but still they regard them as their good friends. One thing illustrated for this is that people keep animals as pets and hence forms “pet culture”. Interesting enough， pet culture bears strong characteristics in terms of nationality and region. This point is best represented in the various understandings of the animal “dog” .

To most people， dogs are very familiar with as they are one of the first animals tamed by human beings and they contribute a lot to the development of human society. They serve as the house guard when people go out and they are good companions when hunters go hunting… For British people especially， dogs are often associated with good words. They consider dogs to be loyal and dependable and think highly of them among all the animals though at times they also mean something bad with words related to dogs. In contrast to this， we Chinese people usually use “dogs” in cursing words to show our scorn to someone. Most of the time what leaves in our impression is that dogs are dirty and filthy. Such a difference may lead to misunderstandings and therefore， there is a need to learn more about the knowledge of cultural background in different nations.

（1） help a lame dog over a stile

From this idiom， we can see how much British people love dogs. They will even help a lame dog when it is in trouble. However， “a lame dog” here does not really refers to a dog， instead it has a connotative meaning， that is， a person in trouble or with difficulty in doing something. In time of trouble， any help is necessary and appreciative. It is similar in meaning with the Chinese “雪中送炭”.

E.g.4 He is the sort of man who is always helping lame dogs over stiles.

（2） You want to know whats wrong with you？ This is whats wrong with you. You are going to the dogs， you are lying down with dogs， you are waking sleeping dogs---dont you know enough to leave before the last dog is dead？ （Gordon Lish， The Merry Chase）

Here the author uses 4 canine idioms in succession. Actually he is blaming someone but in an indirect way. Each of them emphasizes the authors view and gives a vivid description of what he wants to say. Vivid as it is， it is difficult to understand without the relevant cultural background.

“Going to the dogs” in fact means “to degenerate”； “lying down with dogs” is originated from the proverb “He that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas（與狗同眠者必惹一身跳蚤；與壞人為伍者必惹一身麻煩）”；“waking sleeping dogs” derives from “Let sleeping dogs lie （勿惹睡狗）” which means “not to trouble or not to bother others”. “To leave before the last dog is dead” is from “stay until the last dog is hung （逗留到最后一刻）”. In this paragraph， the image of dog is vague and if we intend to translate the idioms literally with the Chinese character “狗”， it will be rather awkward and lack in characteristics. So we should translate by taking culture into consideration. Such as follows：

“你知道你錯在哪兒嗎？你就錯在這兒。你在積薪厝火，你在火上澆油，你在引火燒身，你在玩火自焚，——難道你非要等火燒到眉毛才知道走開嗎？”

So we must know the connotative meaning behind the words if we want to preserve the figurative image and the unique style of translation while explicating it almost equivalently.

3. Conclusion：

We have many examples related to the pets and customs； from the examples mentioned above， we can see that the characteristic of idioms， as W.J.Ball once said， is “the use of familiar words in an unfamiliar sense”. Owing to this reason， we can never take things for granted， particularly the meanings of the English idioms.