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#187532 - 10/31/09 05:21 AM Help guys
mauriziosquall Offline
stranger

Registered: 10/31/09
Posts: 2
Hallo everyone! laugh
I'm a student living in Italy and i'm working on a project dealing with Idiomatic expressions (body- colour- life as a journey ecc..).
My aim is that of showing how many idiomatic expressions are used into tv-shows (such as heroes, dexter, griffin and so on), and what I'd like to know is if that is possible with Wordsmith to have a list of the most common ones in English (or American) for a faster and more accurate research.
I'm working with the subtitles files converted into .txt in order to have a bigger linguistic corpus.
I apoligize for any english mistakes!!

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#187533 - 10/31/09 10:49 AM Re: Help guys [Re: mauriziosquall]
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 9400
Loc: this too shall pass
I don't watch any of your proffered shows, but here's something to get you started: list of idioms
-joe (I may be an idiom) friday

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#187534 - 10/31/09 11:40 AM Re: Help guys [Re: tsuwm]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
You might also try this. For a non native speaker this might be somewhat easier to understand. Just working by alphabeth letter is simpler than by working through categories.

Learn English Today

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#187536 - 10/31/09 12:07 PM Re: Help guys [Re: BranShea]
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 9400
Loc: this too shall pass
? the wiki list is also alphabetized..

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#187537 - 10/31/09 12:16 PM Re: Help guys [Re: tsuwm]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
That wiki page contains one strange error, so maybe more.
A little bird told me Look into the etymology of this expression:

"Er lif t'el baerd " (?) This can't be true. Click the word and see the warning. Has this ever been a Dutch expression? Dutch Google search brings up nothing at all.

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#187539 - 10/31/09 12:34 PM Re: Help guys [Re: BranShea]
LukeJavan8 Offline
old hand

Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 830
Loc: Land of Flat River
You're not questioning the reliability of Wiki, are you?

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#187541 - 10/31/09 12:58 PM Re: Help guys [Re: LukeJavan8]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
I wouldn't dare. I just came onto something weird.

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#187542 - 10/31/09 01:05 PM Re: Help guys [Re: LukeJavan8]
zmjezhd Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
You're not questioning the reliability of Wiki, are you?

The veracity of Wikipedia and other encyclopedias aside, I find it interesting how the word wiki has been genericized from its meaning as a kind of web application to come to mean a particular wiki that uses that software to publish an online encyclopedia. The first instance of wiki as software was on the c2.com website. It is not an encyclopedia, it is the Portland (Oregon) Patterns Repository (link). I am not complaining about this usage, as it is perfectly normal example of semantic drift and it causes no confusion for me, but thought you'd like to know. (In its way it is similar to calling any dictionary a Websters.)

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#187548 - 11/01/09 04:02 AM Re: Help guys [Re: zmjezhd]
mauriziosquall Offline
stranger

Registered: 10/31/09
Posts: 2
Ok guys!! I've just checked the glossary provided by Wiki. This is going to help me! I have just to copy those expressions into a txt file and put it into wordsmith.
By the way, do you know if there are other (good and professional) sites where i can get othere idioms?
Guys I thank you, you've been nice to me! And this site is wonderful, a great source of information for linguistics! You guys are great!!

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#187554 - 11/01/09 03:04 PM Re: Help guys [Re: zmjezhd]
olly Offline
addict

Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 611
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
it is perfectly normal example of semantic drift

Yes, and prior to your examples an even larger change from Wiki meaning fast to Wiki meaning, as you say, a kind of web application.

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#187562 - 11/01/09 06:41 PM Re: Help guys [Re: olly]
zmjezhd Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
an even larger change from Wiki meaning fast to Wiki meaning, as you say, a kind of web application.

Yes, though, the reason they called it wiki, besides the alliteration with web was because of the quick-turn-around in letting everybody edit the web pages; and, Cunningham saw Wiki wiki on the sides of shuttle buses at the Honolulu Airport. So that meaning is interposed between fast and the kind of web application.

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#187565 - 11/01/09 09:09 PM Re: Help guys [Re: zmjezhd]
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12381
Thing I like about the word wiki is that there's a faux etymology running around that it's pidgin from the English 'quick'. Then there's the Tahitian(?) viti which has it's own faux etymology that that it's pidgin from the French 'vite'. Only thing, wiki and viti are cognates.

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#187571 - 11/02/09 12:47 AM Re: Help guys [Re: Faldage]
zmjezhd Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 2270
Loc: R'lyeh
Only thing, wiki and viti are cognates.

Priceless.

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#187592 - 11/02/09 02:58 PM Re: Help guys [Re: Faldage]
olly Offline
addict

Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 611
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
Then there's the Tahitian(?) viti

Yes it is Tahitian.

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#187593 - 11/02/09 03:16 PM Re: Help guys [Re: olly]
latishya Offline
enthusiast

Registered: 11/24/07
Posts: 361
Loc: कहीं &...
Originally Posted By: olly
Then there's the Tahitian(?) viti

Yes it is Tahitian.


I have heard of a writer from New Zealand called Witi Ihimaera. Is his name a cognate also?

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#187607 - 11/02/09 10:23 PM Re: Help guys [Re: latishya]
olly Offline
addict

Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 611
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
Is his name a cognate also?

I couldn't answer that knowingly but would hazard a guess and say no. You should read some of his works.

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