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Joined: Feb 2006
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1 |
Hello-
I am a senior English Education major currently enrolled in a linguistics class. We all have chosen topics to #1 present in a panel format and #2 research a paper for. I chose idioms because I enjoy having fun with language - I am planning on focusing on idioms in specific, history of idioms and their functions. In catalog searches at local libraries I have come up very empty handed. To the point of my rambling...
Are there any online and/or print resources that any of you know about that could help me in the history and functionality of idioms? Thank you in advance for any and all help.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Hi, Sweetie, what an interesting topic! I'm not sure if any of these will help, but you can try going here: GoogleYou might also go to Info. and Announcements and try Max's Useful Language Links, though not everything there will be about idioms by any stretch. But there are several word and phrase origin links posted there. Thanks again, Max!
Last edited by Jackie; 02/21/06 02:25 AM.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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Welcome to the madhouse. You might want to take a look at The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms (2003).
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
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Suggest you look for books of slang, and not necessarily specifically USn. There's a fine line drawn between "slang" and "idiom".
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
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Cap: Well put. I have long maintained that somebody in the know should compile a list of succinct rules-of-thumb by which the average clod (me) might distinguish an expression as idiom, slang, vernacular, colloquialism, idiom, patoi, argot, metaphor
dalehileman
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
I have a feeling that it will always be difficult to discern idioms in one's own language . This is probably the cause of the meagre results of your search. Idioms, as I understand the term, comprise those parts of a living language that cannot be deduced from rules. To a native speaker, rules are secondary phenomena of rather variable importance. Idioms cannot be identified because they form a continuum. Only from an outside perspective, based on language learned from rules, you perceive idioms by stumbling over them. So as a practical hint, you might start your search in foreign english-teaching literature.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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Quote:
I have a feeling that it will always be difficult to discern idioms in one's own language . This is probably the cause of the meagre results of your search. Idioms, as I understand the term, comprise those parts of a living language that cannot be deduced from rules. To a native speaker, rules are secondary phenomena of rather variable importance. Idioms cannot be identified because they form a continuum. Only from an outside perspective, based on language learned from rules, you perceive idioms by stumbling over them. So as a practical hint, you might start your search in foreign english-teaching literature.
Herr Weißbier! That is a great suggestion. <applause> Indeed, it's hard to recognize idiomatic expressions in one's native language.
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
laurel: Yours is indeed a very good question. I hope you receive some pertinent help from the WS'ers.
However, when you encounter an expression with which you are unfamiliar, go to Google Advanced Search and enter it in the "exact phrase" or "all" box. Then in the "at least one" box, enter
intitle:slang intitle:vernacular intitle:colloquialisms intitle:idioms intitle:patois intitle:argot intitle:metaphors
Subsequently when you employ this tactic it will be unnecessary to replace that condition because it will be available in a dropdown
dalehileman
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dale, do you enter it ALL - as in, do you have to write intitle over and over like that? Or do you do one at a time?
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
bel: You enter it all. However, as I said, you need do it only once because thereafter it will be instantly available in the dropdown
Incidentally it's remarkable how many word lovers don't use and aren't familiar with Advanced Search. It can be very helpful in many ways and I recommend it
dalehileman
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