Nowadays know English if you are not sure, it is very, very desirable.After all, if you want to travel abroad or to communicate with business partners from other countries, without it you can not do!Maybe for you it is necessary to read the literature in the original, or you are - beginner and expert planning to get into the office of a foreign company - is also a reason to begin to multiply their knowledge right now.Moreover, the language is not difficult, it can be quite basic grammar and learn to fix a few weeks of intensive training and eventually be supplemented and your vocabulary.Today in this article is considered a very interesting section - idioms of the English language.This is not a grammatical, rather, lexical categories, which read carefully, you will expand your knowledge of the language and be able to carry a conversation with a foreign opponent at the right level - colorful and easy.So idiom - is established in the common parlance of speaking, which occurs only in a specific language, and the meaning of which is not a set of values of the elements (words), of which it is composed.Quite difficult to determine in practice looks much easier.
Learning idioms in English
As mentioned above, these expressions reflect the specifics of a particular language.They are formed under the influence of culture, life, habits and customs of a nation.That is an idiom - this is not a separate part of the English language, which is optional, you can use or not, and quite a substantial part of his vocabulary.They can be used not only in dealing friends or colleagues, but used at the highest level, and in literature - poetry, and even in translations of the Bible.In English, there are several thousand similar expressions.Of course, one does not need to learn, even native speakers can hardly remember them all.But most employed need to know necessarily, because their presence in your spoken or written language will greatly enhance your ability to clearly express thoughts in the language of your partner.So, we found out that idiom - this is not only an element of slang, but also part of the formal style of communication.So let's look at frequently used expressions that are formed for the convenience of the table and accompanied by a translation.
idiom | meaning and translation |
(to be) busy as a bee | be extremely busy (in Russian, too, there is a similar expression "to work as a bee ") |
across the board | include absolutely all (or all) |
bean-counter | accountant rather than the person who, like Cinderella, counts the number of beans |
carrythe day | win anything with absolute success |
monkey business- | bad behavior tomfoolery |
(something or somebody) as good as gold | good, obedient (for example, a child) (yWe say in such cases "weight in gold") |
it is not my cup of tea | (something) is not my business or topic |
it's black and white | clear, clear question,where there are no pitfalls (this idiom very much like to use in business, especially when discussing contracts) |
to be green with envy | in a figurative sense, of course, "green with envy" (this is a rare case of a literaltranslation of idioms) |
once in a blue moon | quite rare, once in a thousand years |
A Sunday driver | not too skilled, no-good driver (yes, but not if translated literally, the driverwhich operates the machine on Sundays) |
big cheese | leader, an important man, VIPs |
eat crow | admit their mistakes (this idiom has it a value, so do not be surprised that your English-speaking friendor business partner may ask you to "eat crow" (that is, to recognize previously committed mistakes)) |
add fuel to the flame | enhance any (most negative) situation, in other words, to add fuel to the fire |
to be affected by cold | catch a cold, be hoarse |
to have butterfly in the stomach | feel any strong sense, even though most of this idiom is used to mean "love" |
Highly recommendedmemorize what means this or that idiom.This will help you avoid misunderstandings with your English-speaking friends, colleagues or business partners.Plus, using these expressions in his conversations or correspondence, you can pass an erudite, eloquent person.By the way, if you're going to learn the language at a high level, it is very useful to buy Dictionary of idioms.Every edition contains about 8000 phrases with translations and detailed information about the cases in which it is used or that phrase.It's pretty interesting and useful reading, because it allows a better insight into the structure of the language and a deeper understanding of the cultural peculiarities inherent English speakers.