-Nine-
Although we wouldn't dare
use them in any of our English essays,
idioms exist everywhere outside the
world of academia. Be it a reference
to domesticated pets falling from
the sky in the event of a rainstorm or
two friends who are as close as two
certain legumes in a pod, idioms are
all around us. While we have grown
up both hearing them and using them,
these curious--alright, downright
ridiculous--phrases riddle our daily
conversations, and confuse non-
Americans everywhere.
According to www.phrases.
org, most idioms or phrases originate
from one of the following three
sources: William Shakespeare, sailors
at sea, or the Bible. Apparently when
Shakespeare wasn't writing about
love-struck yet ill-fated teenagers
or the assassination of a Roman
dictator (well, technically when he
was writing about those), Billy S. was
creating phrases such as: "a sorry
sight," "dead as a doornail," "fair play,"
"fight fire with fire," "good riddance,"
"green eyed monster," "vanish into
thin air," and "in a pickle." While his
contributions to the world of literature
and drama aren't exactly chopped
liver, his contributions to the world
of idioms are certainly underrated..
Without his phrases, Green Day would
never have composed such a classic
hit (I'm referencing "Good Riddance,"
for those of you who aren't paying
attention) and expressing that we are
in a quandary or a difficult situation
would be a lot less fun.
Idioms that we usually
associate with pirates really
originate from sailors, such as "walk
the plank" and "shiver me timbers."
Seriously, try and imitate any pirate
without using those idioms and
you just won't be able to do it. The
Bible has contributed phrases such
as "a man after his own heart," "at
his wits end," "bite the dust," "sour
grapes," and "the writing is on the
wall." If the Bible's value wasn't
clear before, it certainly should be
now.
The real question at hand
is one that we've been asking since
we learned how to speak: Why?
Why do we use idioms? What
possesses us to say that something
easy was "a piece of cake" instead
of just calling it "simple"? Clearly,
as is the case with many "why"
questions in life, there is no clear
cut answer. One succinct and
straightforward www.wiki.answers.
com contributor (yes, it's a reliable
and very valuable source) took
a whack at an answer: "People
use idioms to make their speech
more attractive and impressive,"
he suggested, noting that "idioms
are a way to make language more
vivid and descriptive." This seems
like a standard, politically correct
response; however, while it may
answer the question, it does not
explain why people use idioms in
particular, rather than layering on
the adjectives.
Yet it seems to me that
perhaps the real reason people
pepper their speech with
idioms is a little less politically
correct. A nation is defined
by its language, a key part of a
country's culture. Essentially,
idioms--weird, esoteric parts
of a language--are the "inside
jokes" of a nation. Only those
who grow up speaking the
language will truly understand
the essence of each idiom;
everyone else is literally on the
outside of an inside joke. While
positing that idioms increase
a sense of nationalism would
just be presumptuous, their use
definitely does create a certain
level of cliquey-ness (arguably,
simply a lesser form of
nationalism) that is inherent in a
nation. Idioms are the nuances
of a language that make a nation
unique. As another esteemed
www.wiki.answers.com
contributor noted, people use
idioms "because they want to
use other words that the other
person cannot understand."
There's no "beating
around the bush" (yes, that
was intentional): idioms are
weird. They usually don't
make too much sense--no
offense, Shakespeare. But
ultimately, they are what
make each country's language,
and consequently, culture,
distinctive. While some may see
idioms as a "dime a dozen", take
into account that "every cloud
has a silver lining;" sometimes,
idioms can be the "icing on the
cake." Just not in English essays..
LANGUAGE
Idioms are not for idiots
LeeLee Borzak (`10)
Breaking Down a Language