1、The Different Meanings of English IdiomsWith or Without ArticlesAbstract: An idiom is one of the most colorful words in different kinds of languages. Usually, it conveys the human races history, culture, customs, politics, etc. So, it has many characteristics. A brief introduction of English idioms
2、is at first in this discussion. And some knowledge of articles follows. This paper focuses on one of idioms characteristics, which are the different meanings of English idioms with or without articles. English idioms have many origins. As to the forms of idioms, colloquialisms, proverbs, slang, and
3、other fixed phrases, which are often neglected in other books, are also taken into consideration in this paper. All these mentioned above are served to achieve two purposes: they enable us to have an exact understanding of English idioms and to use them correctly. Key Words: idiom; article; understa
4、nding; use Classification number：TQ425.6+9Document code： A I. Introduction English is the most popular language in the world. As well as Chinese, it contains lots of idioms. Idioms are fixed phrases or brief sentences, which are abstracted from peoples living experience. Usually, they are used gener
5、ation by generation. Parts of them are easy to understand, but some are not. Theyre not only used in literature, but also in politics, technology, and other fields. Maybe a little change makes it unlike. So, we must learn it carefully. In this paper, it talks about the articles in idioms. II.A Knowl
6、edge of English Idioms and Articles 2.1. A Brief Introduction of English Idioms 2.1.1. What is an idiom? An idiom is a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit. For example, “skate on thin ice”. If we translate th
7、is phrase word by word, we can know it means “在薄冰上滑冰”. But in fact, it means “adventure”. “Skate on thin ice” is very dangerous; on the other word, its a kind of adventure. Some idioms are the same, as “Look for a needle in a haystack”(大海捞针), “like father, like son”(有其父,必有其子), “A rolling stone gathe
8、rs no moss”(滚石不生苔), and so on. 2.1.2. The Categories of English Idioms Different people have different opinions about this. Here, in this paper, we divide it into three types: colloquialism, proverbs, and slang. The topic of this paper is discussed following the dividing. 2.1.3. The Characteristics
9、of English Idioms Idioms have lots of characteristics, but the main ones are three: 2.1.3.1. Structural Stability The structures of idioms are rather stabled. So idioms are often regarded as “fixed phrases”. We discuss this in the following three aspects: 1)The arrangement of words in idioms can not
10、 be changed. If its changed, the meaning will be no longer. Such as “before long”, it means “不久以后”, but “long before” means “在很久以前”. Moreover, “weve got to thank him for it” and “weve got him to thank for it”. Just changing the place of “him”, the meanings are contradicted. The former means “我们为此应向他
11、致谢”,and the later means “这事是被他弄糟的”. 2)Can not add or delete words at will. This will be discussed in later paragraph. 3)Can not replace words as one pleases. We can not change the phrase “slow coach(迟钝、愚笨的人) ” into “slow carriage”. And also we can not replace the word “lay” in “lay a foundation(打下基础
12、)” by “set”, “put”, or “place”, etc. Some idioms have similar structures, and even have same meanings, such as “burn ones boats” and “burn ones bridges”. Both mean “破釜沉舟”. But that doesnt mean when we replace the word “boats” in “burn ones boats” by “bridges”, we get the new idiom “burn ones bridges
13、” which has the same meaning as the former. By the way, some idioms can be changed. Such as “make up ones mind” can be changed into “make up our minds”, “made up ones mind”, or “making up ones mind”. There are many examples, like “a stitch in time saves nine” (及时一针可省却九针)= “a word in time saves nine”
14、 (关键时说句话可省却将来许多口舌), “a living dog is better than a dead lion” (好死不如赖活)=“the dead lion is in preference to the live dog” (宁要死狮而不要活狗). 2.1.3.2. Content Unity Content unity means that we cant translate idioms just word by word. For example, “walls have ears”. The literal meaning is “墙壁有耳朵 ”. It seems v
15、ery funny. In fact, the purpose of this idiom is to tell you must be careful when you do something. It means someone will listen to your secret secretly. There are so many examples, such as “two heads are better than one”, it means the more the people are, the more the methods are. So, only consider
16、ing it as a unity, we can get the correct meaning. 2.1.3.3. Understanding Difficulty The reasons of this are the following aspects: Every idiom has its own background when it formed, and it contains some special meaning. When time flies, the old time is far away. So its difficult to understand the s
17、pecial meaning. Such as “get down to brass tacks”(直截了当). If you dont know the words “brass tacks” mean “things which are no doubt about” (勿庸置疑的事实) in old London , you never know its meaning. Because some idioms have such features as strong nationalities, the place and history, etc., making them diff
18、icult to understand. For example, the literal meaning of “to carry coals to Newcastle” is “运煤到纽卡索”. If you dont know Newcastle is the coal centre of Britain, it is very difficult to know the meaning of this idiom is “unnecessary“, too. Because diverged from the context used at first or forgotten the
19、 historical incidents produced, some idioms become difficult to understand. Because of the expression privileges, that is to say the expression meaning goes beyond the literal meaning, and makes some idioms difficult to understand. Some idioms include allusion. If dont understand allusion, it is ver
20、y difficult to understand and master its meaning, even scarcely know what one has said. Because idioms often use metaphor, that makes it difficult to understand. . A Brief Introduction of Articles Article is a specialized word in grammar. It contains definite article “the”, indefinite articles “a/an
21、”, and zero article. It used to limit the core word of the noun phrases. Example, “苹果”-apple, “一个苹果 ”-an apple, “这苹果”-the apple, and so on. III. The Different Meanings Whether There Are Articles in English Idioms The article is the least one in number of all kinds of words. But, its very important i
22、n a sentence. Of the same structures, whether having or having no articles, their meanings are very different. We discuss it in the following ways. 3.1. Articles in Colloquialisms a. Definite Article “the” For examples, in the charge of(被管理); in charge of(管理) a. I have placed the documents in the ch
23、arge of my bank manager. b. The nurse was left in charge of the children. in the flesh(本人); in flesh(肥胖) a. It was quite a thrill to see a real movie star in the flesh. b. The man is in flesh. The second sentence means the man is fat. If we change those two phrases in the two sentences, the first on
24、e means that to see a movie star become fat is a very happy thing. Thats really funny. 3. in the future(将来); in future(以后) a. No one knows what will happen in the future. b. You must be more careful in future. 4. in the front of(在前部); in front of(在前面) a. There was a large hole in the front of the bu
25、ilding. b. The children streamed into the zoo, with the teacher in front of them. 5. in the red(亏损); in red(身穿红色衣服) a. The company had been operating in the red until he took over. b. Havent you seen the little girl in red? 6. in the drink(在海里); in drink(喝醉) a. The warship is now in the drink. b. It
26、 was impossible for him to keep a secret when he was in drink. Be cautious about the two phrases. When you write to your parents, dont be abused by these two phrases. If you write “Im very sad when my girlfriend say goodbye to me, so Im in the drink”. Your parents will think that you want to be suic
27、ide. 7. in the character of(扮演); in character of(符合) a. He scored a great success in the character of a Cockey workman. b. The way you tell me he acted towards you is quite in character. 8. in the name of(以名义); in name of(有名无实) a. I arrest you in the name of the law. b. The captain of the ship was c
28、aptain in name of only, for he exercised no authority. 9. in the pink(健康); in pink(粉红衣着) a. Dorothy and her family are all in the pink. b. She appeared in pink today. 10. in the sight of(在看来); in sight of(看得见) a. All men are equal in the sight of God. b. We are in sight of the enemy. 11. in the view
29、 of(按意见); in view of(考虑到) a. In the view of the magistrate the offence was not a serious one. b. In view of the prisoners good character hitherto, he was placed on probation. 12. in the secret(参与秘密); in secret(私下的) a. Is you brother in the secret? b. The treaty was negotiated in secret. 13. in the r
30、ough(未加工的); in rough(粗略的) a. The lumber in the rough has been conveyed to the construction site. b. Ive got the essay written out in rough but I have yet to revise it. 14. in the time of(在时代); in time(及时) a. The great exhibition was held in the time of Queen Elizabeth. b. He got back in time for the
31、 meeting. 15. in the case of(至于); in case of(防备) a. Poverty depressed most people; in the case of my father it was otherwise. b. Always keep a bucket of water handy, in case of fire. 16. in the possession of(被占有); in possession of(占有) a. All the deeds are in the possession of my solicitor. b. When i
32、n possession of new machines, we can double our production. 17. on the board(在会上讨论); on board(在船上) a. The point will be on the board at the next meeting of the Directors. b. On his first night on board he didnt sleep very much. 18. on the occasion of(在.之际); on occasion(s)(有时) a. This was given us as
33、 a present on the occasion of our silver wedding. b. We no longer keep up the close friendship of a few years ago, though we still visit each other on occasion(s). 19. behind the times(落后于时代); behind time(迟延的) a. His views on education are ridiculously behind the times. b. He is always behind time with his payments.
