Search results for 'tag:Idioms tag:Expressions' matching tags 'Idioms' and 'Expressions'

Re: A cover letter sentence

Mister Micawber — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:41:59 GMT

.
An expression, I suppose. An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that compose it.

Looking for a word or an expression

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:53:43 GMT

To all the kind helpers

Due to the work I have to think of a word, or an expression used when calling someone being really silly and naive with a joking, intimate tone.
I hope I didn't make myself sound too vague. It is like the nuance calling somebody, oh you are being just silly.
Or, oh, you silly rabbit( An expression which I am not sure if I use it right)

Could someone tell me what is the right word, idiom or right phrase to use when in the above situation?
Better to be simple and easy to remember, for what I am trying is to come up with a slogan to cater to some Asian customers.

Really appreciate your time. Thank you.

heroicageOscar

Re: grammar checkS!

Fandorin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:28:18 GMT

Hi,Ellisa.

E3, Extending word use

Words have different meanings according to different contexts as well as different usages. Words ~~also~~ can also be used as metaphorical meanings to express our feelings about things which creates images gradually. Even some metaphors become so popular that they are used as fixed phrases which is are accepted as idioms. On the other hand, the words of metaphorical and idiomatic are becoming cliches which are not welcomed (well accepted) to people to be used.

E4. Word combinations

Word combinations or the Collocations are words which ~~co-occur~~ occur with each other. For English speaker, it is seems as normal and acceptable since ~~they~~ those ~~are used to using that through~~ to be used in (are usually found in) custom and practice. ~~The~~ word combination ~~made~~ makes 'lexical phrases' which indicate ~~fixed~~ bound expressions ~~phrases~~ for some words. Aside from phrasal verbs, collocations and compound words stand in language ~~also go together with~~ beside functional phrases, idiomatic or fixed expressions and verbal expressions. As we can see above, sometimes words are ~~sometimes~~ insufficient to account for the different kinds of meanings.For example, A phrasal verb, for example(this is also possible), has a totally different meaning. In other words, they've created a meaning units by combining words.

grammar checkS!

Ellisa — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:04:13 GMT

Hello teachers!
I'm summarising my texts book and it's not easy to make grammatically right sentences.
Please check the wrong grammar for me.
Thanks in advance!!!

E3, Extending word use

Words have different meanings according to different contexts as well as different usages. Words also can be used as metaphorical meanings to express our feelings about things which creates images gradually. Even some metaphors become so popular that they are used as fixed phrases which is accepted as idioms. On the other hand, the words of metaphorical and idiomatic are become cliches which are not welcomed to people to be used.

E4. Word combinations

Word combinations or Collocations are words which co-occur with each other. For English speaker, it is seen as normal and acceptable since they are used to using that through custom and practice. The word combination made 'lexical phrases' which indicate fixed phrases for some words. Aside from phrasal verbs, collocations and compound words, language also go together with functional phrases, idiomatic or fixed expressions and verbal expressions. As we can see above, words are sometimes insufficient to account for the different kinds of meanings. A phrasal verb, for example, has a totally different meaning. In other words, they've created a meaning units by combining words.

Re: idiom VS proverbs

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:26:01 GMT

Proverbs have more meaning, such as a lesson to learn.
Idioms are just colorful expressions, not offered to provide a moral or deep thought.

Re: ing & verb

CalifJim — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:41:35 GMT

mbouti
1. I am used to working hard(er).

2. I used to work hard(er).

These are two different grammatical patterns with two different meanings.

1. be used to ---ing means be accustomed to -ing.

I am used to working hard talks about your ablity to work hard because you have worked hard so often before. It suggests that you are comfortable in a situation where you are working hard. It suggests that working hard comes easily and naturally to you.

You can use this expression in all the tenses:

I am used to working hard. I was used to working hard. I will be used to working hard. I have been used to working hard. And so on.

For this idiom you must have a form of the verb to be followed by the exact words used to.

________

2. used to --- means regularly or habitually in the past.

I used to work hard talks about a period of time in the past when you had the habit of working hard.

You cannot change the tense of this expression. It is always in the simple past: used to, didn't use to, etc.

________

Examples:

I have drunk wine quite often. I didn't like it at first, but now I do. I have become accustomed to it. Now I am used to drinking wine.

Years ago I was not very good at playing the guitar. I had not had much practice. Playing the guitar had not yet become a natural and comfortable habit for me. I was not used to playing the guitar.

If I practice skiing every day, I think I will be used to skiing by December. That is, I believe that skiing will come naturally to me by then.

___

When Karen was a child she used to live one block from school. It was her habit to walk to school every day. That is, she used to walk to school every day.

You look familiar. Didn't you use to work at IBM? (Wasn't working at IBM something that you did regularly during some period of time in the past?)

I used to walk five miles a day. (There was a period of time in the past when I had the habit of walking five miles every day.) Now I don't walk more than one mile a day.

Mike didn't use to like children until he became a father.

___

<<< Can I say "I am used to work harder & I used to working hard." >>>

No. No. No.

The idiom that contains a form of to be (am, is, are, was, were, ...) must have the ---ing.

The idiom that does not contain a form of to be must not have the ---ing.

Re: It can be...

Avangi — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:55:52 GMT

I believe the expression, "It can be a mistake," would mean, "depending on how you look at it, with the information we have right now, it can be viewed as a mistake, and it can be viewed as correct." (perhaps based on a technicality)

The four versions you quote above seem to suggest that more research is needed to determine if it's a mistake. (True or False?) "Those car tracks couldn't have been made on the night of the murder, because it rained hard all that night." (Maybe it didn't.)
The moon is 35,000 miles from Earth. (Is it, really?) Mark Twain died and was born while the earth was visited by Haley's comet.

"can't be hungry" is an idiom meant to express an opinion - not a fact.

- A.

Re: many times/ many a time

Tanit — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:04:52 GMT

This thread reminded me of something I've wanted to ask here for a long time.

I've encountered the expression "Many's the time" only once: it's the opening sentence of the song "American Tune" by Simon and Garfunkel.
As far as I understand, it's a synonym for "Many times" and "Many a time".
Is it an American idiom? How would you classify it (poetic/formal/stiffy...)? Would you use it an ordinary conversation?

Thank you!

Re: The next / Next

Mr Wordy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:29:02 GMT

I think the difference in meaning that they're highlighting relates to the words "immediately following", which means "immediately following in time, starting now". Here are a few points relating to this usage that immediately come to mind. I don't claim that this is in any way complete.

In "next + noun" combinations, "the" is normally omitted only in the "immediately following in time" sense, and only with named days and months, seasons, and a few specific words such as "week", "month", "quarter", "year", "time", etc.:

Next Monday is my birthday.
I'll be 40 next July.
Next summer we're going on holiday to Japan.
It's going to be hot next month.
Next year will be tough.
Next time I see you, I'll be married.

You cannot use "the" in this sense with named days and months. For example, "The next Thursday is 12 April" is wrong. However, you may be able to do so with words such as "week", "month", "year", "time", etc.:

The next year will be tough.
The next time I see you, I'll be married.

But it depends. You would not, for example, usually say "It's going to be tough the next year."

When referring to events in the past you can use "the", even with named days and months. Randomly Googled examples:

The following winter the galleys lay on the Loire, but the next summer they cruised on the east coast of Scotland...
The next Monday we went to the soap market together...

For expressions consisting of a number and a time period, you have to use "the". For example,

The next six months will be the hardest.
Our biggest challenge is the next three years.

"The" may also be omitted in certain special idioms (such as "next thing you know"). However, with most other "next + noun" combinations, you usually have to use "the" (or any of various words that can take the place of the article), though there are almost certainly other exceptions that I haven't mentioned.

The next train leaves in an hour.
He's the next Marlon Brando.
Where's our next meal coming from?

Re: what to make

CalifJim — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:36:49 GMT

It's not "what to make"; it's "what to make of". The word then intervenes in your example, making it difficult to see that the full idiom is what to make of, which means How should we interpret ...? (said of something that is puzzling). The idiom is used most often with expressions of not knowing.

The man in the train suddenly jumped up and began to shout in a strange language. No one on board knew what to make of his strange behavior. (No one knew how to interpret it. No one knew the meaning or cause of it.)

I don't know what to make of Sally's remark at the party last night. (I don't know how to interpret the remark. I don't know what she meant. Her remark puzzles me.)

Most young children have no idea what to make of magicians' tricks. (They don't understand how the tricks are done. They have no way of assigning meaning to the tricks.)