IDIOM /Idi𐐨m/

Cut Raudhatul Miski,

UIN Suska Riau
2020
Do you know this expression?

All at sea…
“I had the computer turned on and I had the
book to tell me how to operate it but I
couldn’t really understand anything. I was all
at sea”.
There are plenty more fish in the sea

“Sally told me that her friend didn’t like her

anymore. She was upset but just told her
there are plenty more fish in the sea. You will
find other friends. Don’t worry about it”.
 Why use idiom?
A linguist argue that not only are idioms an important
part of the language and culture of the society (Ji-Xin
2009), but they also carry more impact than non-
idiomatic expressions because of their close
identification with a particular language and culture
(Nida 2001: 28).

Seidl and McMordie (1978: 1) found that people tend to

use idiom in using language when they are speaking or
writing, especially when the are describing about
emotion or mental condition.
 Linguists also uncover that idioms are important part in
native speaker communication as it is part of their cultural
heritage.

People may use many idioms to show their creativity in

language although it will be a little odd if you use too many
idioms.

But, this is to prove that people won’t only use their logic
meaning but also want to illustrate their creativity and
richness in expressing ideas using metaphorical meaning.
Idiom gives more colors in words with efficient and creative
way.
Instead, some say that they feel more
comfortable and precise to say what they feel
and what they think by using idioms.
Idioms give concise and exact way of saying an
idea in which denotation words don’t have.

And I bet, using idioms properly in speaking and

writing, it will make you more alive and
natural!
As it is mentioned, the meaning of idioms is
unpredictable, we cannot guess the meaning
lexically from the words that constituent it.
It makes idiom is challenging.
Although it is quite challenging for EFL learners
to understand the meaning of idiom, but
knowing and using idiom appropriately in
speaking and writing will make learners
sounds clever and natural an for sure, it will
help a lot in doing TOEFL/IELTS Test
Let’s get closer to idiom..
 DEFINITIONS of IDIOM
from dictionary
The word ‘idiom’ derives from Latin and Greek in 1565 - 1575
Latin idioma which means special property
Greek ἰδίωμα–idiōma, which refers to special features, special phrasing.

1. McArthur (1992: 495) in The Oxford Companion to the English Language defines idiom as
a combination of words which have a figurative meaning owing to their common usage.

2. Neufeldt in her Webster's New World Dictionary (1991 ; 670) describes definition of an
idiom in detail:

“a phrase, construction, or expression that is recognized as a unit in the usage of a given

language and either differs from the usual syntactic patterns or has a meaning that differs
from the literal meaning of its parts taken together”.

Anna Dabrowska (2018)

 Conclusion
Can you draw your understanding about idiom
definitions?
Some examples of idioms
No English Indonesian
1 A good marksman may miss Sepandai pandai tupai melompat jatuh juga
2 Killing two birds with one stone Sekali mendayung dua tiga pulau terlampaui

3 Kick the bucket Sekarat

4 Chow down Duduk rileks dan nikmati makanan
5 Blue moon Jarang terjadi
6 Like selling ice to the Eskimos Menjaring angin
7 When in Rome do as the Roman do Dimana bumi dipijak di situ langit di junjung
8 Match maker Mak comblang
9 What a load of rubbish Omong kosong
10 Face the music Hadapi kenyataan
11 Different pond different fish Lain lubuk lain ikannya
12 Can’t teach old dog new tricks Bagai mengukir di atas air
13 It’s easy to spot the mistakes of others Semut di seberang lautan nampak, gajah di
but not your own pelupuk mata tidak nampak
14 Stage-fright Demam panggung
We were dusting the Knicks-knacks on the shelves of the Wonderopolis library the other day
when we overheard an interesting conversation between the goldfish in the bowl by the
window:

Fish 1: Are you as bored as I am, Red? I wish we could go outside.

Fish 2: Are you kidding me, Carl? It’s raining cats and dogs out there.

Fish 1: Right, but I figured we could find a puddle to swim around in.

Fish 2: Sounds dangerous to me. What happens when the rain stops and the Sun dries up the
puddle?

Fish 1: Didn't think about that. That would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Fish 2: Yeah, the grass is always greener on the other side of the glass. We should probably stay
here and just swim around randomly all day.

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-people-use-idioms
I attach some others examples..
take a look at it…
I recommend you to check the references in
the next slide. Follow the links, get to it to
upgrade your understanding about English.
 References

McCarthy, M. & O’Dell, F. (1999). English Vocabulary in Use. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.
Franklin, H. B., Meikle, H. G. & Strain, J. E. (1970). Vocabulary in
Context. United States of America: The University of Michigan Press.
Hurford, James R. (2007). Semantics: A Course Book. Cambridge
University Press.

https://www.eslbuzz.com/
https://www.idntimes.com/
https://www.researchgate.net/
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/64365
 Exercises
• Answer the questions below!
1. Describe what can you conclude about idiom?
2. Rewrite the idioms that you read in this
material complete with its meaning in
Indonesian.
3. Related to question 2, choose 2 idioms of your
favourite, write a short story (100-150 words)
using the idioms.
Thank you