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.
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!
Welcome to the madhouse. You might want to take a look at The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms (2003).
Suggest you look for books of slang, and not necessarily specifically USn. There's a fine line drawn between "slang" and "idiom".
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
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.
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.
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
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?
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
>Incidentally it's remarkable how many word lovers don't use and aren't familiar with Advanced Search.
on what do you base this assumption?
"Advanced Search"
I don't use anything else.
k
I found this site for slang while trying out Dale's trick. The site looks very intensive.
http://www.slangsite.com/slang/G.html
Dale, it didn't work. I didn't get a drop-down arrow the next time I logged into search.
I tried looking up a word, then finding the page pointed to. Then I re-opened Google search and there was no drop-down.
Is there a step I am missing?
I think Dale means that the Auto-complete feature of your browser will remember it for you.
Ah. I see. Well, I went into the tools option to try to find the Auto-complete feature and I saw the "forms" was not ticked but two other fields were ticked on.
I did not set up my system. Is there a particular reason that the "forms" should not be ticked on?
bel: You have to give it a hint by typing the initial letter or two into the box, as I believe Myr is saying
I didn't have to screw with my browser but it might be that you lack a crucial algorithm or aren't using Outlook
I clicked the "forms" box in auto-complete and tried again. It worked as soon as I typed in the first couple of letters. That's very interesting.
Thanks all. I've decided to become a little more computer-savvy so I like appreciate these types of tips.
tsu: This assumption is based on the testimony of many word-savvy Googlers; Fiend is a rare exception
Like him I seldom use the homepage except when I have no conditions to attach