Idioms and Clipped Words: Understanding Figurative Language and Modern English, Lecture notes of English Literature

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IDIOMS

These are expressions that have different meanings from the meanings of the words that compose them. Many idioms cannot be explained by the strict rules of grammar although their general use has given them a reputable standing. a fair – weather friend – one that deserts you in times of difficulties a wet blanket – a person who dampens your enthusiasm a greenhorn – an inexperienced person a bird’s-eye view – a view of an area seen from above better-half – husband or wife the dies is cast – a decision is made feather in your cap – something to be proud of baptism of fire – first experience under dangerous circumstances a swan song – a significant deed or statement made by a person before he dies in the same boat – in the same situation small fry – an insignificant person a red-letter day – an important day a Herculean task – work requiring very great effort on pins and needles – to be nervous and jumpy let the cat out of the bag – to reveal a secret take it with a grain of salt – to accept it with a reservation toe the line – to rules and conventions a bag of wind – a boastful person rest on your laurels – cease striving for more nip in the bud – to destroy at the beginning fair and square – do something honestly fit to be tied – wild with rage keep up with the Joneses – imitate others in your social group lead a dog’s life – live miserably make a big splash – achieve fame and publicity in the nick of time – just in time snake in the grass – a dangerous, treacherous person elbow room – opportunity for freedom of action rub elbows with – to associate closely with Some idioms used are word combinations, as verb-adverb combinations, verb – preposition combinations and noun-preposition combinations, in which case, they are simply called idiomatic nouns. beef up – strengthen back-up – support come across – find by chance dole out – give away die out – become extinct fall back – retreat get away – escape hand in – submit look forward to – expect with pleasure make up – complete pick up – collect run over – hit by vehicle size up – estimate talk over – discuss bring about - cause to happen carry out – perform a duty call off - cancel do away with - abolish fool around – aimlessly walk give up – stop trying hold on - wait

inquire into – investigate leave out - omit pick out – choose run out of – become short of show off – display ability take off – remove wipe out – destroy completely CLIPPED AND BLENDED WORDS Clipped words are shortened forms of words. In these words, the latter part is usually dropped. Among the most common clipped words are: ad (advertisement) exam (examination) coop (cooperative) fax (facsimile) disco (discotheque) gent (gentlemen) doc (doctor) math (mathematics) photo (photography) pro (professional) prof (professor) rebs (rebels) recap (recapitulation) Blended words are made up of two or more words. In these word combinations, the first and second syllables of the first word are usually retained. In the case of the succeeding words, either the initial or final syllables are retained, or the entire word is retained. bioecology (biology-ecology) brunch (breakfast-lunch) cyborg (cybernetic-organism) docudrama (documentary-drama) infanticipating (infant-anticipating) kidult (kid-adult) psywar (psychological warfare) tele-conference (telephone/television- conference) telefax (telephone-facsimile) telemarketing (telephone-marketing) telethon (telephone-marathon) sitcom (situation-comedy) As the English language continues to grow, and as technology keeps advancing, more clipped and blended words may come into being. It is necessary for you to be updated on the latest technological and linguistic innovations. One way of keeping yourself updated is by reading.