HANU - English Department Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, M.A.

- Lexicology - 2014

UNIT 8
PHRASEOLOGY: IDIOMS AND PROVERBS

OVERVIEW
In any society that can be named, phraseological units or idioms are
an integral part of its people‘s daily language. They are created primarily to
meet the communication needs, reviewing and disseminating the experience
in life, in work as well as the social and historical experience of the whole
community. As a rule, they are expressed in the form of relatively-stable
word groups.
Phraseological units or idioms are popular, succinct and witty
phrases. That is why they are very familiar, commonly-used and long-lived
in language of the whole community.
The English language is no exception. There are so many idiomatic
expressions in English that learners of English may always find it confusing
to understand what the native speakers of English say during their first
contacts with them. Just take a few for example:
kettle of fish, birds of a feather
Red-letter day, the salt of the earth
and cats and dogs, one‟s salad days, water off duck‟s back
hang one‟s head, talk through one‟s hat, hold water
or (as) common as muck and in deep water, etc.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
Phraseological units or idioms are characterized by a double sense:
the current meanings of constituent words build up certain picture, but the
actual meaning of the whole unit has little or nothing to do with that picture
in itself creating an entirely new image.
Phraseological units or idioms are, in a broad sense, metaphorical
rather than literal. They are more or less invariable or fixed in form or order
in a way that makes them different from literal expressions. Because they
are metaphorical, one cannot usually discover their meanings by looking up
the individual words in an ordinary dictionary. Because they are more or
less invariable, both in wording and in certain grammatical ways, they cannot
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be changed or varied in the way literal expressions are normally varied,
whether in speech or writing. Idioms tend to have other characteristics in
common, although these do not apply generally to every case.
Most, but not all, of these expressions are phrases of two or more
words. Many, but not all, of these expressions belong to informal spoken
English rather than to formal written English. For example,
“Dutch auction” is not an auction taking place in Netherlands. The
meaning of this phraseological unit refers to any auction, where instead of
rising, the prices fall.
“Red-letter day” doesn‘t mean a day for which the letters on the
calendar are printed red but a day on which something good or special
happens or is supposed to happen:
It‟ll be a red letter day for us when we„ve paid off our debt.
Cats and dogs in “it is (raining) cats and dogs outside tonight” has
nothing to do with the domesticated animals we keep in our house. But it
means ―It is raining heavily‖.
“Kettle of fish” is a state of affairs that is confused, difficult,
different from expected. It is not at all related with any kind of container or
any kind of fish. For example,
He is good at playing tennis, but playing in public is a different kettle
of fish.
All the same, someone‟s salad days doesn‘t mean ―days when
someone has to consume salad‖ but it means the years of life when someone
was young and lacking of experience. For example,
We listened to the sad and faded tunes that the band was playing and
remembered how exciting this same music had seemed during our salad days.
It is noteworthy that in the formation of the semantic structure of
phraseological units a cultural component plays a special and very
important role. It marks phraseological units as bearers of cultural
information based on a unique experience of the nation. For example, the
phraseological unit red tape originates in the old custom of Government
officials and lawyers tying up their papers with red tape.
In modern linguistics there is considerable confusion about the
terminology associated with these word-groups. Most Russian scholars use
the term ―phraseological unit‖ while western scholars use the term ―idiom‖.

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There are some other terms denoting more or less the same linguistic
phenomenon:
set-expressions, set-phrases, phrases,
fixed word-groups, collocations.
A.V.Koonin (1972) defines phraseological unit as follows:
“A phraseological unit is a stable word-group characterized by a
completely or partially transferred meaning”.
The definition clearly shows that the degree of semantic change in
phraseological units may vary, i.e. there are phrases with completely
transferred meaning and there are ones with partially transferred meaning.
The former may be represented by such phraseological units as:
to hold a pistol/gun to someone‟s head
to wear one's heart on one's sleeve
to be on pins and needles
a bitter pill to swallow
sick at heart
to steal someone‟s heart (away)
And the latter is presented by phraseological units in which one of
the components preserves its current meaning and the other is used in a
transferred meaning:
to say/speak one‟s piece,
to feel the pinch,
to hit the headlines,
to fall in love (out of love),
to make headway,
to have other fish to fry

PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS VERSUS FREE WORD-GROUPS

A phraseological unit can be seen as a reproduced and idiomatic
(non-motivated) or partially motivated unit built up according to the model
of free word-groups. Therefore, there is a need for criteria exposing the

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degree of similarity and difference between phraseological units and free
word-groups.
There are two major criteria for distinguishing between phraseological
units and free word- groups: semantic and structural.
1. Semantic criterion
The meaning in phraseological units is created by mutual interaction
of elements and conveys a single concept. The actual meaning of a
phraseological unit is figurative (transferred) and is opposed to the literal
meaning of a word-combination from which it is derived. The transference
of the initial word-group can be based on simile, metaphor, metonymy, and
synecdoche. The degree of transference varies and may affect either the
whole unit or only one of its constituents.
It can be said that semantically, the meaning of a phraseological unit
or idiom can be compared to the result of a chemical reaction where
different chemical elements are combined to form a completely new
product. The meanings of phraseological units, in almost all cases, bear no
traces of those of the single words in them. Metaphorical meanings and
certain kinds of invariables are related to each other. For example,
To give up the ghost means to die
To spill the beans means to reveal something, to make something
known.
These meaning are quite different from the literal meanings of the
words in the phrases.
Consider the following jokes:
Man: I hate people who talk behind your back.
Woman: Yes, especially at the movies.

Man: What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Woman: Polish them!
Such jokes as the ones above are based on the misunderstandings
between the two people: The man use the idioms ―to talk behind someone‘s
back‖ with the meaning of ―to speak ill of someone without his or her
presence‖ and ―to be in someone‘s shoes‖ with the meaning of ―to be in the
same situation‖ while the woman take them literally with the meaning of
―to talk or speak from behind someone‖ and ―to wear someone‘s shoes‖.
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Obviously, ―behind someone‘s back‖ has nothing to do with ―location‖ and
―in someone‘s shoes‖ has nothing to do with ―foot wear‖, either.
Many linguists today accept the semantic criterion of distinguishing
phraseological units from free word- group as the major one.
2. Structural criterion
The structural criterion also represents distinctive feature characterizing
phraseological units and contrasting them to free word-group.
Structural invariability of phraseological units finds expression in a
number of restrictions.
a. Restriction in substitution
As a rule, no word can be substituted for any meaningful component
of a phraseological unit without destroying its sense.
One cannot substitute words that are close in the phrases. ―The man
gave up the ghost” means ―the man died”, but a substitution, such as ―the
man gave up the apparition” or ―the man released the ghost”, tends to
make the phrase literal and the idiomatic meaning is lost.
One cannot make even simpler substitutions. For example, a noun
may be replaced by a pronoun in a literal sentence, but this cannot usually
be done in an idiom without loss of the idiomatic meaning. One may say,
literally, he spilt the beans on the floor and he opened the tin of beans and
spilt them on the floor. One many use the idiom in a sentence like he spilt
the beans (meaning he revealed the secret) over my plans to find a new job,
but one cannot say he spilt them over my plans to find a new job.
b. Restriction in introducing any additional components
The restriction suggests no (or rather limited) additions of components.
In a free word-group additional components can be added to modify
words in it to clarify facts:
“The man opened the large tin and spilt the beans on the floor.‖ can
become ―The man opened the large tin and spilt all the black/green beans
on the floor”.
But you cannot do so with a phraseological unit. For example, you
can not say ―He decided to spill all the black/green beans‖ to convey the
idea of ―revealing the truth‖.
All the same, you may say ―she raises cats and dogs and they become
fat cats and fat dogs‖ but it would be funny it you say ―it is raining fat cats and
fat dogs outside‖ to inform that ―it is raining very heavily outside‖.
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c. Grammatical invariability
Grammatical invariability is another type of structural restrictions in
phraseological units. Let us continue to analyze the examples given above
to have a clearer idea.
Both give up the ghost and spill the beans are verb phrases
consisting of transitive verbs (give up, spill) followed by direct object
(ghost, beans). Normally a transitive verb phrase can be changed to a
passive. When one uses an idiom, however, some operations, like the
formation of the passive, are impossible.
To lend a hand to someone (to give help to someone) can be cited as
another example to illustrate this point. When you say ―I will lend a hand to
anyone who asks.” English people understand that you are willing to help
others. But, for sure, if you say ―A hand will be lent by me to anyone who
asks.‖ you will confuse many.
A typical mistake with students of English is to use the plural form
of hand in the phraseological unit to lend a hand to someone
e.g. They always lend hands to us in difficulties.
Though the plural form in this context is logically sound, it is a
mistake in terms of grammatical invariability of phraseological units.
The same is true if the plural form feet in the phraseological unit
―from head to foot” is used instead of the singular form.
It should be noted, however, that in some cases grammatical change
may be applied to phraseological units, but these changes are rather rare and
limited, and usually serve for a stylistic effect. For example, a Black Maria
(a van used to transport suspected criminals to the police station) can
become the Blackest Maria, Black Marias.
V. H. Collins (1958) writes in his Book of English idioms with
explanations: ―In standard spoken and written English today idiom is an
established and essential element that, used with care, ornaments and
enriches language‖.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION
It would be interesting now to look at phraseology from a different
angle namely, how all these treasures of the language are approached by the
linguistic science. The very miscellaneous nature of these units suggests the
first course of action: they must be sorted out and arranged in certain
classes which possess identical characteristics.
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It should be clear from the previous description that a phraseological
unit is a complex phenomenon with a number of important features, which
can therefore be approached from different points of view.
Hence, there exist a considerable number of classification systems
devised by different scholars and based on different principles.
1. The traditional principle
The traditional and the oldest principle for classifying phraseological
units is based on their original content and might be alluded to as
―thematic” (although the term is not universally accepted).
The approach is widely used in numerous English and American
guides to idiom, phrase books, etc. (see, for instance, English Idioms by
L.P. Smith, London, 1922).
L.P. Smith gives in his classification groups of idioms used by
sailors, fishermen, soldiers, hunters and associated with domestic and wild
animals and birds, agriculture and cooking. There are also numerous idioms
drawn from sports, arts, etc.
Smith points out that word-group associated with the sea and the life
of seamen are especially numerous in English vocabulary. Most of them
have long seen developed metaphorical meanings which have no longer any
association with the sea or sailors.
Here are some examples.
To be all at sea
To sink or swim
In deep water
In low water, on the rocks
To be in the same boat with somebody
To sail under false colours
To show one' s colors
To strike one's colors
To weather (to ride out) the storm
To bow to the storm
Three sheets in (to) the wind (sl.)
Half seas over (sl.)
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The thematic principle of classifying phraseological units has real
merit but it does not take into consideration the linguistics characteristic
features of the phraseological units.
2. Semantic principle
The first classification system of phraseological units on the basis of
the semantic principle was suggested by V.V.Vinogradov (1977). His system is
founded on the degree of semantic cohesion between the components of a
phraseological unit. According to Vinogradov phraseological units can be
classified into three types:
phraseological combinations,
unities and
fusions
a. Phraseological combinations
Phraseological combinations include those phases whose meanings
can be inferred from the meanings of the components. They are the least
idiomatic of all the kinds of phraseological units. They may be said to be
clearly motivated. For example,
to draw a conclusion, to lend a hand,
to make money, to pay attention to
to see the light , to show one‟s teeth,
In phraseological combinations words retain their full semantic
independence although they are limited in their combinative power, e.g. to
wage war (but not to lead war), to render assistance, to render services (but
not to render pleasure).
b. Phraseological unities
Phraseological unities include those phases whose meanings are not
the sum of the meanings of its components. Their meanings are somehow
metaphorically or metonymically transferred but they are based on them
and the meaning of the whole can be inferred from the image that underlies
the whole expression. They are also said to be motivated. For example,
to get on one‟s nerves, to make a clean breast of
to play the first fiddle, (to be) old salt
to turn over a new leaf, to take the bull by the horns
to be dressed (up) to the nines
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c. Phraseological fusions
Phraseological fusions include those phrases whose meanings are
highly idiomatic. We cannot deduce the meaning of the whole from the
meanings of their components. They are said to be demotivated. For
example,
to cry stinking fish (to speak ill of one‘s profession),
to pull one‟s leg (to deceive),
at sixes and sevens (in confusion),
down-at-heel (untidy, uncared for)
a mare‟s nest (a discovery which turns out to be false or worthless),
to show the white feather (to show cowardice),
to ride the high horse (to put on airs).
3. The structural principle
The structural principle of classifying phraseological units is based
on their ability to perform the same syntactical functions as words. On the
ground of traditional structural approach, phraseological units can be
divided into:
a. Verbal.
e.g., to take French leave, to make ends meet
to put on airs, keep a straight face
to talk through one's hat,
to eat one‟s word,
to lose one‟s wool
to separate the grain/wheat from the chaff.
b. Substantive.
e.g., forbidden fruit, cat-and-dog life,
bosom friend, white lie,
a word in season, the grass roots,
red tape, the evil eye .
c. Adjectival.
e.g., dead to the world, easy on the eye,
brand new, safe and sound.

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In this group the so-called comparative word-groups are particularly
expressive and sometimes amusing in their unanticipated and capricious
associations:
e.g., (as) good as one‟s word,
(as) cool as a cucumber,
(as) nervous as a cat,
(as) weak as a kitten,
(as) gentle as lamb
(as) pretty as a picture,
(as) large as life,
(as) slippery as an eel,
(as) as green as grass,
(as) drunk as an owl (sl.),
(as) easy as pie.
d. Adverbial.
e.g., In the twinkle of an eye,
high and low, in cold blood
by hook or by crook,
day in, day out,
in the dead of night ,
once bitten, twice shy.

e. Interjectional
e.g., My foot! (certainly not!)
My god! By Jove!
Damn it! Darn me!
Good heavens! Sakes alive! (Amer.)

Smirnitsky (1977) offered a classification system for English

phraseological units which is interesting as an attempt to combine the
structural and the semantic principles. Phraseological units in this

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classification system are grouped according to the number and semantic
significance of their constituent parts. Accordingly, two large groups are
established:
1. One-summit units, which have one meaningful constituent. For example,
to give up,
to make out,
to pull out,
to be tired,
to be surprised.
2. Two-summit and multi-summit units which have two or more
meaningful constituents. For example,
black art,
first night,
common sense,
to fish in troubled waters.
Within each of these large groups the phraseological units are
classified according to the category of parts of speech of the summit
constituent. So,
One-summit units are subdivided into:
a) Verbal-adverbial units equivalent to verbs in which the semantic and the
grammatical centres coincide in the first constituent,
e.g. to give in, put away, turn off
b) Units equivalent to verbs which have their semantic centre in the second
constituent and their grammatical centre in the first.
e.g. to be tired, to be interested, to be surprised
c) Prepositional-substantive units equivalent either to adverbs or to copulas
and having their semantic centre in the substantive constituent and no
grammatical centre, e.g. by heart, by means of.
Two-summit and multi-summit phraseological units are classified
into:
a) Attributive-substantive two-summit units equivalent to nouns
e.g. black art, narrow escape, red tape

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b) Verbal-substantive two-summit units equivalent to verbs,
e.g. to take the floor, take shape.
c) Phraseological repetitions equivalent to adverbs,
e.g. now or never, here and there, now and again
d) Adverbial multi-summit units,
e.g. every other day, once in a while, once in a life time

Smirnitsky also distinguishes proper phraseological units, which, in

his classification system, are units with non-figurative meanings, and
idioms, that is, units with transferred meanings based on a metaphor.

PROVERBS
In every culture there are nuggets of popular wisdom, expressed in
succinct sayings. These are often referred to as proverbs, though several
other terms are also used (e.g. adage, maxim, precept). Proverbs are not
commonly found in everyday speech in English, but in many cultures (e.g.
in Vietnamese and Chinese), they are an important and frequent element in
ordinary conversation.
Consider the following examples of proverbs:
There is no smoke without fire.
Where there is will, there is way.
A bird in hand is worth two in bush.
He who goes here and there knows strange stories
Although proverbs and phraseological units have certain things in
common: they are ready-made blocks whose forms and constituents are
stable, there are still differences between them.
The dissimilarities that strike one can somehow be analyzed in three
aspects:
1. Structurally, phraseological units are a kind of ready-made blocks
which fit into the structure of sentence performing a certain syntactical
function, more or less as words do. For example,
Complement: He is as regular as clockwork in his habits
Predicate: I had a rough ride with my boss

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Subject: This hot potato (a report on a secret meeting) was whizzed
to London by teleprinter.
Proverbs, if viewed in their structural aspect, are sentences, and so
cannot be used in the way in which phraseological units are used in the
above examples.
2. Semantically, proverbs could be best compared to precious
artworks. Like the latter, they are skillfully created from life materials
generations after generations, containing in them cognitive, aesthetic and
educational values to
- provide moral lessons:
Rome was not built in a day.
Time is money. East or west home is best.
- give advice:
Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
A bird in hand is worth two in bush.
Don‟t count the chickens before they are hatched.
- give warning:
As you sow the wind you must reap the storm.
Don‟t trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
The pitcher goes once too often to the well.
- admonish:
Time and tide wait for no man.
Look before you leap.
- criticize:
Everyone calls his own geese swans.
Birds of a feather flock together
Don‟t teach your grandmother to suck eggs
No phraseological unit ever does any of these things.
Phraseological units do not convey whole statements as proverbs do
but for a single concept.
3. Functionally, the function of phraseological units in speech is purely
nominative (i.e. they denote an object, an act, etc.), whereas that of

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proverbs in speech is communicative (i.e. they impart certain
information).
Many linguists see proverbs as a subtype of phraseological units and
studied them together with the phraseology of a language.
Koonin (1972), for instance, includes proverbs in his classification of
phraseological units and labels them communicative phraseological units. From
his point of view, one of the main criteria of a phraseological unit is its stability.
If the quotient of phraseological stability in a word-group is not below the
minimum, it means that we are dealing with a phraseological unit. The structural
type – that is, whether the unit is a combination or a sentence – is irrelevant.
The criterion of nomination and communication cannot be applied
here either, says Koonin, because there are a considerable number of verbal
phraseological units which are word-groups (i.e. nominative units) when the
verb is used in the Active Voice, and sentences (i.e. communicative units)
when the verb is used in the Passive Voice.
e.g. to crossed /passed the Rubicon – the Rubicon is crossed /passed;
to shed crocodile tears – crocodile tears are shed.
Hence, if one accepts nomination as a criterion of referring or not
referring this or that unit to phraseology, one is faced with the absurd
conclusion that such word-groups, when with verbs in the Active Voice, are
phraseological units and belong to the system of the language and when
with verbs in the Passive Voice, are non-phraseological word-groups and do
not belong to the system of the language.
It may be added, as one more argument in support of this concept,
that there does not seem to exist any rigid or permanent border-line between
proverbs and phraseological units as the latter rather frequently originate
from the former.
So, the phraseological unit the last straw originated from the proverb
The last straw breaks the camel's back, the phraseological unit birds of a
feather from the proverbs Birds of a feather flock together, the phraseological
unit to catch at a straw (straws) from A drowning man catches at straws.
What is more, some of the proverbs are easily transformed into
phraseological units.
e.g. Don't put all your eggs in one basket > to put all one's eggs in
one basket;
Don't cast pearls before swine > to cast pearls before swine.
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Questions for discussion and activities
1. What is a phraseological unit?
2. What are the main characteristics of phraseological units?
3. Semantically, what is the difference between phraseological
units and free word-groups?
4. Structurally, what is the difference between phraseological
units and free word-groups?
5. What is meant by grammatical invariability of phraseological
units?
6. What are the main principles of classification of
phraseological units?
7. What is a proverb?
8. Semantically, what is the difference between proverbs and
phraseological units?
9. Structurally, what is the difference between proverbs and
phraseological units?
10. What similarities can be found between proverbs and
phraseological units?

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