An idiom is a phrase or an expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal, meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom’s figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. There are thousands of idioms, occurring frequently in all languages. In the English language alone it’s estimated that there are at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions.
– How do we get to the bottom of this situation?
– The old man kicked the bucket.
– I spilled the beans on our project.
– Be positive for every dark cloud has a silver lining.
– Initially, I hated to study, but later when I passed out from college, my college study turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
1. Crystal, A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics, 4th edition. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers
2. Jackendoff, R. 1997. The architecture of the language faculty. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.