American history reflected in idioms. Structure of Idioms. Differences and usage in American English and British English. Influence of the American English on the world of idioms. Main differences in usage. English idioms and their usage in everyday life.
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Министерство образования и науки Республики Татарстан

Управление образования исполнительного комитета

Нижнекамского муниципального района Республики Татарстан

III Республиканская юношеская научно-исследовательская конференция

"Я - исследователь"

г. Нижнекамск

Школа №10

Класс 11 "Г"

Секция: английская филология

НАУЧНО-ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКАЯ РАБОТА

Тема: The Usage of English and American Idioms

Руководитель Салихзянова Лилия Григорьевна,

учитель английского языка

I квалификационной категории

Учащийся Почитаев Алексей

Нижнекамск 2008

Contents

• Introduction
• 1. Chapter 1. American history reflected in idioms
• 1.1 What is an idiom?
• 1.2 Structure of Idioms
• 1.3 Idioms reflecting events of the 17^th century
• 1.4 Idioms referring to the 18^th century
• 1.5 Idioms referring to the 19^th century
• 1.6. Idioms referring to the 20^th century
• 2. Chapter 2. Differences and usage in American English and British English
• 2.1 Influence of the American English on the world of idioms
• 2.2 Main differences in usage
• 3. Chapter 3. English idioms and their usage in everyday life
• 3.1 My own example of using idioms in daily speech
• 3.2 Examples of idioms from my textbook
• Conclusion
• Literature
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2

Introduction

All over the world free using idioms in speech is a difficult problem for people, learning English language as a foreign one. Idioms often cause serious difficulties even with people, who know English very well. And if they intentionally avoid using idioms, in this case their oral and written speech, most likely, will be dull and high-flown. So we think that this research is quite actual.

Idioms make our speech more expressive, vivid, and imaginative. Having a rich vocabulary of idioms, you can not only understand shades of meaning, stylistics, emotion, but you also will enrich your speech, made it more natural, that, of course, will make your intercourse easier with foreign colleagues and friends.

People, who improving in English language, should precisely understand that using idioms in daily intercourse isn't foppery or tribute to a style of the end of XX century. On the contrary, understanding and right using idioms testifies about high level of possession of English language.

Aims of the research:

to explore the world of English and American idioms

to analyze school textbooks and show how to use idioms in practice

Tasks:

to research the history of idioms

to demonstrate a variety of them

to help other students to use idioms

The object of the research, thus, is an idiom as a linguistic phenomenon. Its subject comprises investigation of usage of idioms in practice.

Methods: analysis, comparison, illustrative method, method of material evaluation

The results of the research can be used by English-learners and the teachers of English.

Chapter 1. American history reflected in idioms

1. Chapter 1. American history reflected in idioms

1.1 What is an idiom?

Any language has a lot of idioms. Idiomatic expressions are a vital component of English in particular. They reflect mentality and culture of the people, speaking this language. If we compare English and Russian language, we will also find out a great number of idioms, like “has remained with a nose”, “to sit in a pool” or “ate a dog" and so on in Russian language.

An idiom is a phrase or expression that has a meaning different from what the words suggest in their usual meaning. All idioms have some sort of meaning behind them such as “Butterflies in my stomach”. The meaning is a feeling caused by nervousness. Idioms can be really funny but some are really tricky.

Idiom (noun) - an expression conforming or appropriate to the peculiar structural form of a language; in extend use, an expression sanctioned by usage, having a sense peculiar to itself and not agreeing with the logical sense of its structural form; The term red herring, an idiom meaning 'false trail', is used of something which is neither red nor a herring.

English and American idioms are very different. Such American phrase as to put one's foot into it, meaning to make a public offence, in British English is passed by phrase to drop a brick, which won't be clear for the majority of the people, living in USA.

Idioms are very widespread in modern English language. We can divide all idioms into different parts according to their meaning. They're everywhere around us. (Appendix 1)

english american idioms usage

1.2 Structure of Idioms

Most idioms are unique and fixed in their grammatical structure. The expression to sit on the fence cannot become to sit on a fence or to sit on the fences. However, there are many changes that can be made to an idiom.

Some of these changes result in a change in the grammatical structure that would generally be considered to be wrong. To be broken literally means that something is broken. The lamp is broken so I cannot easily read my book. To be broke is grammatically incorrect but it has the idiomatic meaning of to have no money. I am broke and I cannot go to a movie tonight.

There can also be changes in nouns, pronouns or in the verb tenses. I sat on the fence and did not give my opinion. Many people are sitting on the fence and do not want to give their opinion. Adjectives and adverbs can also be added to an idiomatic phrase. The politician has been sitting squarely in the middle of the fence since the election.

Many idioms are similar to expressions in other languages and can be easy for a learner to understand. Other idioms come from older phrases which have changed over time.

To hold one's horses means to stop and wait patiently for someone or something. It comes from a time when people rode horses and would have to hold their horses while waiting for someone or something. "Hold your horses," I said when my friend started to leave the store.

Other idioms come from such things as sports that are common in the United Kingdom or the United States and may require some special cultural knowledge to easily understand them.

To cover all of one's bases means to thoroughly prepare for or deal with a situation. It comes from the American game of baseball where you must cover or protect the bases. I tried to cover all of my bases when I went to the job interview.

The development of the language is always connected with the development of society. In this context, it will be of great interest to see the relationship between history and language. Perhaps the most obvious demonstration of this relationship will come from identification and analysis of those idioms, which reflect American history or rather American culture of this, or that historic period.

Studying idioms many authors call attention to the fact that they can more easily than other language units cumulate and store facts about the past, cultural semantics of a nation, traditions, customs, folklore, etc. because of the so called "cumulative" function of a language. The element, which renders the information, is called "national-cultural component". There exist many definitions of an idiom, but most theorists stress three main features: that this linguistic unit consists of more than one word, it is stable, and idiomatic, that is the meaning of a whole unit does not emerge from the meaning of words it consists of.

Etymological analysis of the data obtained showed that it is possible to distinguish several groups of idioms according to the period in the history of the U. S. they reflect.

1.3 Idioms reflecting events of the 17^th century

A very important historic event is reflected in the idiom “a witch-hunt”, the idiomatic meaning of which is: "a search for, and persecution of, people whose views are regarded as evil: The McCarthy witch-hunt in the United States from 1950-54 sought out members of the Communist Party." (Ki...