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Idioms are classified as figurative language (the use of words in an unusual or imaginative manner). (Reason 2) Idioms can make your writing more engaging. Read also about foreign audiences missing word connotation. However, bear in mind that using an idiom could throw a spanner in the works. Often, context will ensure your non-English speakers follow the conversation (especially as many idioms are fairly obvious analogies). The new project pays us again for our previous work. Such an opportunity is once in a blue moon. Option for a Non-native-speaking Environment Here are some examples of how you might tune your words for a foreign audience: It is a well-noted observation that non-native English speakers can "understand the first meaning but not the second."Įssentially, this is a warning that any foreigners among your readers might not understand the meanings of the idioms you use (which makes perfect sense given that idioms – by definition – don't mean what their words mean). (Reason 1) Foreigners might not understand your idioms. Here are two good reasons to think more carefully about idioms.
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Here are thirty more examples of idioms with links to the pages explaining their origins. ("To let sleeping dogs lie" means to avoid restarting a conflict.) ("To have an axe to grind" means to have a dispute with someone. ("A good Samaritan" is a person who helps someone in need with no thought of a reward.) (The idiom a flash in the pan means something that shows potential at the start but fails thereafter.) Idioms are classified as figurative language, which is the use of words in an unusual or imaginative manner.įigurative language includes the use of metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, euphemisms, and pun. He's been pushing up the daisies for a year.Īn Idiom Is a Form of Figurative Language.