In Expressions^x, Colloquial expressions^x

Pucca wrote:Conchita57, yes! It was that one! Paddling on the beach, but why isn't it an idiom? I thought it was..what is it then?An idiom is a particularly colloquial expression where the words do not have their literal meaning . The phrase 'paddling on the beach' is used in its literal sense.

Extra junk in her trunk' means extra fat (junk) on her body (trunk). Am I right?Your interpretation is fine. "Love handles" is a colloquial expression for the extra fat on the waist/hip region.

Hello, I was the one who posted this question. I have a friend in Germany who is a college studdent that initially asked me the question. He writes... 'Lately I was sitting in a translation course and once in a while one of our lecturers says something I don't quite believe ;-) What do you...

I think the majority of disagreement to my post so far has been on the actual points. The points are well known and well established. What's more, and I am hesitant to say this as doing so appeals to authority, mathematical geniuses who currently are contructing a mathematical paragon for the...

Hi all, Recently, I've seen in a movie a colloquial expression 'set 'em up for sb', like in 'Set 'em up for me and my friend'. It was spoken by a guy in a bar so my guess is that it'a a way of asking for 2 beers or shots but I'm not sure about that. Can you tell me what he meant? Thanks a...

It's a colloquial expression. It's not "proper" grammar (which, by the way, is spelled with an A, not an E), but you WILL hear it. It may be highly regionalized, but it's certainly used where I live. Have you seen my pen? It seems to have gone missing. Darn it! Where's the television remote?...

"Perhaps I should call the author herself and ask her." If she's available I think that's a very good idea. Some translation agencies won't allow translators to speak to clients in case they are by-passed but for difficult phrases or terminology, I think it's essential to be able to ask the...

I would call it a roly-poly doll (that's a long "o" sound, as in the verb "roll.") Roly-poly can also describe a short, plump, jolly person (like Santa Claus) and it is also a colloquial expression for a bug that rolls up into a ball when disturbed (www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/...

Itasan wrote:apple polisherLDCE says it is BrE.If so, what is the British equivalent? The BrE equivalent colloquial expression is bootlicker , = a person who behaves obsequiously (It has nothing to do with kicking anything!) Similar to BrE colloquial..crawler, = a person who behaves...

Eimai_Anglos wrote:It's just a colloquial expression. I recommend not trying to analyse it! It's probably wise for non-natives to avoid expressions like this anyway until they're really sure of themselves. But there's no reason I can see for not analysing colloquial expressions, which...