The use of common names in idiomatic expressions
The use of common names in idiomatic expressions
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY
the use of common names in
idiomatic expressions
Course Paper
The Student: xxxxxxxx
2009
Contents
Introduction
1. What is an idiom?
1.1 The meaning of
idioms
1.2 The structure of
idioms
1.3 The categories
of idioms
2. Common names
2.1 Characteristic
of Proper nouns
2.2 Place names
2.3 Personal names
3. Practical Chapter.
The use of proper names in idioms
3.1 The methodology
of the research
3.2 Idioms with personal
names
3.3 Idioms with
place names
4. Groups of
personal names
4.1 Idioms with
place names
Conclusions
References
Introduction
The
theme of the paper is “The use of common names
in idiomatic expressions”.
The
subject of the present paper is based on the
collecting common names from idiomatic expressions. The term “common names”
refers to proper names. Proper names are names of persons, places or certain
special things. In the English language proper names are typically capitalized
nouns. They have a number of certain features as well – they are not used in
the plural and are not preceded by adjectives, articles, numerals,
demonstratives, or other modifiers. There are some kinds of proper nouns:
·
Place names.
·
Personal names.
·
Diacritics.
The
aim of the work is to analyze the common
names of English idioms, their types, features and structure. This paper will
show the origins of the proper nouns used in idiomatic expressions.
The
following objectives of the research have been set:
1. To
provide theoretical evidence and discuss on idiomatic English.
2. To
study English idiomatic dictionaries.
3. To
compare, analyze and classify idioms with personal and place names.
Research
methods:
1. Descriptive-theoretical
literary analysis provided a possibility to review numerous issues concerning
features of proper nouns.
2. Contrastive
linguistic analysis is also used in the work with the aim determining the
frequency or intensity of common names usage in relation with idiomatic
expressions.
Relevance
of the work:
As
noted by an increasing number of idiomatic scholars, it is clearly problematic
to assume that idioms form a homogeneous class of linguistic items. Careful
attention must be paid to the many syntactic, lexical, semantic and pragmatic
differences that exist among words and phrases that are generally judged as
idiomatic. The investigation of a wide range of idioms clearly demonstrates
that many idioms are analyzable and have figurative meanings that are at least
partly motivated. Many idioms have individual components that independently
contribute to what these phrases figuratively mean as wholes.
The
views and approaches such scholars as A. Makkai, M. Everaert, R. Moreno helped
to analyze idiomatic English topic in more detailed way.
The
structure of the work:
The
paper consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusions, references and
practical patterns.
A
survey of theoretical issues necessary for the analysis is presented below.
1.
What is an Idiom?
The
ultimate roof of the term idiom is the Greek lexeme idioms, meaning
“own, private, peculiar” (J. Strassel: 1982:13).
In
different dictionaries there could be found quite a lot different explaining
what an idiom is. There are some of the definitions:
1. An
idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings
of its constituent elements or from the general grammatical rules of a language
and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics
(Random House Dictionary: 2009. #"javascript:OpenGlossary('idiom.html');">idiom
is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from
the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard
for ESL students and learners to understand (Dictionary of English idioms and
idiomatic expressions: www.usingenglish.com.reference/idioms).
According
to Ifill T. (2002:78) idioms are as “those that speaker cannot work out simply
by knowing the grammar and the vocabulary of a language”. According to J. Saeed
(2003:60) idioms are “words collocated together happen to become fossilized,
becoming fixed over time”. This is the reason why idioms are set out as non-compositional.
Idioms
are used in a wide variety of contexts and situations. They are often used in
spoken language, in situations that range from friendly conversations to
business meetings. Idioms are used in written English as well, especially in
journalism where writers frequently use them to bring their stories to life.
Knowing
the meaning of idioms let understand the smallest refinements of the language.
However, it is quite difficult to understand the exact meaning of the idiom of
the foreign language because it is related with some kind of problems that are
named in the further chapter.
1.1
The meaning of idioms
An
idiom is a sequence of words which has a different meaning as a group from the
meaning it would have if you understood each word separately. Idioms add color
to the language, helping us to emphasize meaning and to make our observations,
judgments and explanations lively and interesting. They are also very useful
tools for communicating a great deal of meaning in just a few words.
Knowing
whether an expression receives a literal meaning or an idiomatic meaning is
important for natural language processing applications that require some sort
of semantic interpretation.
Idioms
are pervasive in all styles of language use. The problem they present to the
theoretical and computational linguist is not the fact that their meaning
cannot be worked out by the usual mechanisms, for if it were not for other
factors this could be overcome by treating them as ‘big’ lexical items to be
looked up in a list in a fairly straightforward way.
Idiom
is defined as expression that does not mean what it literally said. You cannot understand
the meaning of whole idiom putting the meanings of each word from which
consists idiom together. Put as simply as possible, an idiom is a fixed
expression whose meaning cannot be taken as a combination of the meanings of
its component parts. Thus, the common phrase kick the bucket has nothing
to do with either kicking or buckets, but means simply, “to die.” Idiom has the
meaning only as a unit and has lexical and grammatical stability as well. If
you look at the individual words, it may not even make sense grammatically.
According to M. Everaert (1995), an idiom is an institutionalized expression
which overall meaning does not correspond to the combined meanings of its
component parts. Many idioms are intuitively nontransparent: their meaning is hard
to guess without a special context or previous exposure. In spite of that, very
few idioms are fixed in forms. These features we will discussed in our
following chapter.
1.2 The structure of Idioms
As it was said in our previous chapter,
idioms are not mixed in form. One part of the phrase can be let out, for
example, somebody has been around the block (a few minutes) can be said
without the words a few times, although the meaning remains the same.
This technique is also used for idioms which have become clichés and are
therefore often shortened, such as you can lead a horse to water (but you
can’t make him drink). Some idioms can have any word inserted, depending on
what the speaker is describing. For example, in the idiom the ____ of
somebody’s dreams the underline space indicates that the range of nouns,
adjectives, etc which could be inserted is unlimited.
In addition to that, the main idiom can
have several less popular versions. For example, sell like hot cakes (go
like hot cakes). It shows that idioms are not frozen units. In internal
structure of idioms there also could be found some changes. Let
us begin with the most minimal way in which an idiom can be altered from its
base form: morphology:
1.
a.
I will take them to task for their indolence.
b.
I am taking them to task for their indolence.
c.
I took them to task for their indolence.
d.
I have taken them to task for their indolence.
2.
a.
George and Simon have their ups and downs.
b.
George and Simon are having their ups and downs.
c.
George and Simon had their ups and downs.
In
these example sets, we will analyze the idioms take NP to task and
have one’s ups and downs to be the listed forms of the idioms in (1) and
(2). These examples clearly show that the verb tense can be changed in the
internal structure of the idiom. We can make a conclusion that those idioms
which were classified as “completely frozen” exhibit this kind of behavior (trip
the light fantastic vs. tripping the light fantastic vs. tripped
the light fantastic) (M. Everaert: 1995:45).
It
has been widely noted that the individual words in an idiom cannot be replaced
by synonyms and still retain the idiomatic reading of the phrase. This is what
qualifies them as fixed forms. In most non-idiomatic discourse, a speaker can
use synonymy to create a new sentence with the same semantic meaning. That
means that changing a word from the idiom with its synonym we will not get the
synonymic idiom. In spite of that, idioms can be synonymous among themselves.
For example:
John
kicked the bucket.
John
kicked the pail.
One
thing that is readily noticeable about idioms is that many seem to resist
undergoing transformations that similar non-idiomatic constructions can readily
undergo while retaining the same sense. For example:
John
kicked the bucket.
The
bucket was kicked by John.
In
spite of that sentence is transformed its meaning remains the same.
All
these changes can be found in all categories of idioms.
1.3 The categories of Idioms
Idioms
have been classified into several groups. Many idioms are derived from the
names of body parts and bodily functions:
·
cover one's back – do
something to protect yourself from criticism or future blame;
·
blood, sweat, and tears – great
personal effort;
·
in cold blood- without feeling;
·
feel (something) in one's bones – sense
something, have an intuition about something.
Other big group is idioms derived from animals names:
·
as weak as a kitten – weak,
sickly;
·
hit the bulls-eye – to reach
the main point of something;
·
dog-eat-dog – ready or willing to
fight and hurt others to get what one wants;
·
monkey see, monkey do – someone
copies something that someone else does.
The
third big group is idioms derived from food and preparing it:
·
full of beans- to feel energetic, to be in high
spirits;
·
grist for the mill- something that can
be used to bring advantage or profit;
·
take the cake- to be the best or worst of
something;
·
cook (someone's) goose- to damage or ruin
someone.
Those are three the most common groups of idioms in English
language. All these idioms are based on daily life events. They have risen from
daily routine, from following the animal’s behavior as well as the human’s body
reaction to different situations. They are often used in every day’s speech and
they are quite intelligible.
Other idioms are quite rare in English language. For example,
politics idioms:
·
body politics
– A group of people organized under a
single government or authority (national or regional);
·
fifth columnist
– a member of a subversive organization
who tries to help an enemy invade;
·
on the stump
– politicians are campaigning for support
and votes.
One
rarer group is idioms based on crimes and police as well:
·
behind bars
– to be in prison;
·
new sheriff in town
– a new authority figure takes charge;
·
after the fact- after something (a crime etc.) has
occurred.
These expressions are quite difficult to understand. For
example, idiom new sheriff in town could be understood as a fact that a
town has really got a new sheriff.
The category with common names in idioms is not the smallest
one but it is not the most common one. We could say with some exceptions.
For example, idioms are widely known and understandable as
well as common used in English language. This category we will analyze in our
work.
·
Achilles heel – a person's weak
spot;
·
Adam’s apple – a bulge in the
throat, mostly seen in men.
2.
Common names
Common
name – a noun that is not normally preceded by an article or other limiting
modifier, as any or some, and that is arbitrary used to denote a particular
person, place, thing without regard to any descriptive meaning the word or
phrase may have, as Lincoln, Beth Pittsburgh.
(#"#">#"#">www.wikipedia.org)
·
Adages: Murphy’s law – ascribed
to Edward A. Murphy who stated “If there's more than one way to do a
job, and one of those ways will end in disaster, then someone will do it that
way.” (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Adjectives: parkinsonian – James
Parkinson (as in parkinsonian syndrome), Stalinist -Joseph Stalin.
(www.wikipedia.org)
·
Cartoon characters: Baby Face
Finlayson, from The Beano comic – Baby Face Nelson, Nero,
Belgian comic character by Marc Sleen is named after the Roman
emperor Nero. (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Chemical elements: curium (Cm,
96) – Pierre and Marrie Curie, promethium (Pm, 61) – Prometheus,
a Titan from Greek mythology. (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Human anatomical parts: Achilles
tendom – Achilles, Greek mythological character, Adam’s apple
– Adam, Biblical character. (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Ideologies: Leninism – after Vladimir
Lenin, Maoism – after Mao Zedong. (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Inventions: Braille – Louis
Braille, diesel engine – Rudolph Diesel. (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Mathematical theorems: Ptolemaios
theorem (geometry), Atkinson’s theorem (operator theory). (www.wikipedia.org)
·
Prizes, awards and medals: Nobel
Prize – Albert Nobel, O. Henry Awards – O. Henry. (www.wikipedia.org)
3.
Practical Chapter. The use of proper names in idioms
3.1
The methodology of the Research
The
aim of the research work is to analyze the use of proper names in English
idioms and to identify origins of these names. Idioms were classified into two
groups: with personal names and with place names. The definitions of the
collocated idioms were presented as well and they were illustrated with
examples. The scope of the work is 97 idioms which were selected from the
following sources:
·
Longman Idioms Dictionary (1999).
·
www.dictionary.com.
·
www.usingenglish.com.
The
distribution of all taken examples is shown in figure No. 1.
Figure No.1 Kinds of idioms
Research
methods employed in the work are as follow:
·
Descriptive-theoretical literary
analysis provided a possibility to review
numerous issues concerning features of proper nouns.
·
Statistical method – was
salutary for the processing of the results of the empirical part of the
research.
The
English language has quite a long list of idioms. Idioms with personal and
place names among all the idioms are not the prevailing ones. To compare both
idioms with personal and place names researched in our work we can draw a
conclusion than idioms with personal names are used more frequently in the
English language. In our sources we have found only 24 ones with place names
and even 73 idioms with personal names, in percent style, accordingly 25 % and
75 %. For example:
·
Be robbing Peter to pay Paul – to
take money from one part of a system or organization that needs it and use it
for another part of the system or organization, so that you deal with one
difficulty but still have problems. (Longman Idiom Dictionary:1999:261). Idiom
with personal names.
·
New York minute
– (USA) if something happens in a New York
minute, it happens very fast. (www.usingenglish.com). Idiom with
place name.
3.2
Idioms with personal names
We
have analyzed 73 idioms with personal names and while analyzing the idiom we
have noticed that they could be divided into groups according to their origins.
We distinguished the following groups:
1. Names
derived from mythology.
2. Names
derived from religion.
3. Names
based on characters of the books, films, cartoons etc.
4. Names
derived from folk mythology.
5. Names
of the real persons.
6. Others.
Results
of this analysis are shown in figure ¹ 2.
Figure ¹ 2.Origin of personal names
in idioms
According
to the results we made conclusions that religion and mass media influence
people’s language the most. Idioms with these names are quite popular and very
often used in spoken language. For example, idioms based on religion
characters:
1. Raise Cain
– to complain a lot about something in an
angry or noisy way because you are determined to get what you want
(www.usingenglish.com).
2. Put
the fear of God into somebody – to make someone feel
frightened of doing something wrong by making them realize the bad things that
could happen if they do it (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:139).
3. Adam's apple
– the Adam's apple is a bulge in the
throat, mostly seen in men (www.usingenglish.com).
Let
us see the origin of the name Cain –this person was
the first murderer according to scriptural accounts in the Bible – Genesis
4 and in the Qur'an – 5:27-32. The biblical account, from the King James' Version,
tells us how Cain and Abel, the two sons of Adam and Eve, bring offerings to
God, but only Abel's is accepted. Cain kills Abel in anger and is cursed by God
(Îøèáêà! Íåäîïóñòèìûé îáúåêò ãèïåðññûëêè.).
The
next big group is idioms with personal names which are taken from famous books,
songs, cartoons. For example:
1. Rip van Winkle
– Rip van Winkle is a character in a story
that slept for twenty years, so if someone is a Rip van Winkle, they are behind
the times and out of touch with what is happening now (www.usingenglish.com).
2. Mickey Mouse
– something that is intellectually trivial
or not of a very high standard (www.usingenglish.com).
3. Live
a life of Riley – used in order to say that
someone has a very comfortable, easy life without having to work hard or worry
about money (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:210).
Let
us look at the origin of the name Riley – this phrase originated in a
popular song of the 1880s, “Is That Mr. Reilly?” by Pat
Rooney, which described, what its hero would do if he suddenly came into a
fortune (#"#" title="Lord Salisbury">Lord Salisbury decided
to appoint a certain Arthur
Balfour to the prestigious and sensitive post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Not lost on the British public
was the fact that Lord Salisbury just happened to be better known to Arthur
Balfour as “Uncle Bob”. In the resulting furor over what was seen as an act of
blatant nepotism, “Bob's your
uncle” became a popular sarcastic comment applied to any situation where the
outcome was preordained by favoritism (#"#">Achilles' heel
– a weakness of someone’s character that
causes them problems, or the weak part of a place, system, argument where it
can easily be attacked or criticized (www.usingenglish.com).
2. Midas touch
– the ability to earn money very easily
(www.usingenglish.com).
3. A
sword of Damocles – something bad that may
affect your situation at any time and make it much worse (Longman Idioms
Dictionary: 1999:335).
All
these persons are well-known from Greek mythology. The death of Achilles was
not mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, but appeared in later Greek and Roman poetry
and drama concerning events after the Iliad, later in the Trojan War. According
to a myth arising later, his mother, Thetis, had dipped the infant Achilles in
the river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable where
the waters touched him -- that is, everywhere but the areas covered by her
thumb and forefinger – implying that only a heel wound could have been
his downfall.
3.3
Idioms with place names
Analyzing
the idioms with proper names we have found 23 idioms with place names. That is
25 % of all researched idioms. We have discovered that all the place names
mentioned in idioms were real. In spite of that some of them were mentioned in
the Bible, for example, Road to Damascus
– if someone has a great and sudden change
in their ideas or beliefs, then this is a road to Damascus change, after the
conversion of Saint Paul to Christianity while heading to Damascus to persecute
Christians, place Damascus is real. The most common place name used in idioms
is Rome. For example:
·
All roads lead to Rome
– This means that there can be many different ways of doing something
(www.usingenglish.com).
·
Fiddle while Rome burns
– used when you disapprove because someone is spending too much time or
attention on unimportant matters instead of trying to solve bigger and more
important problems (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:288).
·
Rome was not built in a day
– this idiom means that many things cannot
be done instantly, and require time and patience (www.usingenglish.com).
Idioms
with personal names are more frequently used than idioms with place names.
4.
Groups of the personal names
In
our research we have distinguished 6 main groups of the origin of the personal
names used in idioms. The distinguished groups are the following ones:
Names
derived from mythology:
1. A
sword of Damocles – something bad that
may affect your situation at any time and make it much worse (Longman Idioms
Dictionary: 1999:335).
2. A
Pyrrich victory – used about a situation in which
you are successful, but you suffer so much that it was not worth
winning(Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:368).
3. Achilles' heel
– a weakness of someone’s character that
causes them problems, or the weak part of a place, system, argument where it
can easily be attacked or criticized (www.usingengllish.com).
4. Before you can say Jack Robinson
– used in order to say that something
happens very quickly (www.usingenglish.com).
5. Between
Scylla and Charybdis – in a situation in
which there two possible choices or actions both of which are equally bad
(Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:297).
6. Cut
the Gordian cut – to solve a very complex problem
in a simple way (www.dictionary.com).
7. Davey Jones' locker
– Davey Jones' locker is the bottom of the
sea or resting place of drowned sailors (www.usingenglish.com).
8. Midas touch
–the ability to earn money very easily
(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Pandora's box – If
you open a Pandora's Box, something you do causes all sorts of trouble that you
hadn't anticipated (www.dictionary.com).
10.Peeping Tom
– A peeping Tom is someone who tries to
look through other people's windows without being seen in order to spy on
people in their homes (www.usingenglish.com).
Names
derived from religion:
1. Not
know somebody from Adam – used in order to say
that you do not know someone at all, or have never seen them before (Longman
Idioms Dictionary: 1999:2).
2. Adam's apple
– the Adam's apple is a bulge in the
throat, mostly seen in men (www.usingenglish.com).
3. Be
hand of God – very good luck, or a bit of cheating
that helps someone to succeed, especially in a game of football
(www.dictionary.com).
4. For Pete's sake
– this is used as an exclamation to show
exasperation or irritation (www.usingenglish.com).
5. God
willing and the creek don’t rise – a humorous
expression used in order to say that you hope you will not have problems doing
something (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:139).
6. God’s
gift to – if someone thinks they are God’s gift
to a group of people or an activity, they behave in an annoying way that shows
they think they are more important to that group or activity than they really
are (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:139).
7. Is Saul also among the prophets?
– It's a biblical idiom used when somebody
known for something bad appears all of a sudden to be doing something very good
(www.usingenglish.com).
8. Jumping Judas!
– An expression of surprise or shock
(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Mohammed
must go to the mountain – used in order to say
that if someone you want to see, especially someone important, will not or can
not come to you, you have to make effort to see them, even if it is difficult
(Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:236).
10. Painted Jezebel
– a scheming woman (www.usingenglish.com).
11. Patience of Job
– If something requires the patience of
Job, it requires great patience (www.dictionary.com).
12. Put
the fear of God into somebody – to make someone feel
frightened of doing something wrong by making them realize the bad things that
could happen if they do (www.dictionary.com).
13. Raise Cain
– to complain a lot about something in an
angry or noisy way because are determined to get what you want
(www.usingenglish.com).
14. So
help me God – used in order to emphasize that
you really mean what you are saying or promising (Longman Idioms Dictionary:
1999:139).
15. Work
all the hours God sends – used in order to say
that someone spends all their time working very hard (Longman Idioms Dictionary:
1999:139).
Names
derived from real persons:
1. 50
million Elvis fans can’t be wrong – used to say
that something must be true because so many people think so (Longman Idioms
Dictionary: 1999:103).
2. Bob’s
your uncle – said after you tell someone how to
do something, in order to emphasize that it will be simple and will definitely
achieve the result they want (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:33).
3. Freudian Slip
– if someone makes a Freudian slip, they
accidentally use the wrong word, but in doing so reveal what they are really
thinking rather than what they think the other person wants to hear
(www.usingenglish.com).
4. Happy
as Larry – very happy (www.dictionary.com).
5. Heath
Robinson – used to say about a system, machine
etc that does something ordinary in a way that is very complicated and not at
all practical (www.dictioanry.com).
6. Hobson's choice
– a situation in which there is only one
thing you can possibly do, unless you do nothing (www.usingenglish.com).
7. In like Flynn
– refers to Errol Flynn's popularity with
women in the 40's. His ability to attract women was well known throughout the
world (www.usingenglish.com).
8. Look
a right Charlie – to look very strange or stupid,
so that people laugh at you, or feel that people are going to laugh at you
(www.dictionary.com).
9. Murphy’s
law – used to say that the worst possible
thing always seems to happen at a time when it is most annoying, preventing you
from doing what you are trying to do (Longman Idioms Dictioanry:1999:58).
10.Real McCoy
– used in order to say that something is
real, and not a copy. (www.usingenglish.com).
11.Rich as Croesus
– very rich (www.usingenglish.com).
12.Rube
Goldberg – used about a system, machine etc that
does something ordinary in a way that is very complicated and not at all
practical (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:291).
13.Smart Alec
– A smart Alec is a conceited person who
likes to show off how clever and knowledgeable they are (www.usingenglish.com).
Names
derived from folk etymology:
1. Any Tom, Dick or Harry
– an expression meaning everyone, used
especially when you disapprove because there is no limit on who can do a
particular activity (www.usingenglish.com).
2. Be
robbing Peter to pay Paul – to take money from one
part of a system or organization that needs it and use it for another part of
the system or organization, so that you deal with one difficulty but still have
problems (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:261).
3. Benjamin of the family
– the Benjamin of the family is the
youngest child (www.usingenglish.com). .
4. For the love of Pete
– usually used in exasperation, as in 'Oh,
for the love of Pete!' (www.usingenglish.com).
5. Great Scott
– an exclamation of surprise
(www.usingenglish.com).
6. Home, James
– (UK) this is a clichéd way of telling
the driver of a vehicle to start driving (www.usingenglish.com). .
7. Jack-of-all-trades
– -trades is someone that can do many
different jobs (www.usingenglish.com).
8. Jane Doe
– Jane Doe is a name given to an
unidentified female who may be party to legal proceedings, or to an
unidentified person in hospital, or dead. John Doe is the male equivalent
(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Joe
Bloggs – a name used to represent all ordinary
people and their thoughts, feelings and situation (www.dictionary.com)
10.Johnny on the spot
– A person who is always available; ready,
willing, and able to do what needs to be done (www.usingenglish.com). .
11. Uncle Sam
– the government of the USA
(www.usingenglish.com).
Names
based on characters of the books, films, cartoons:
1. An
Aladdin’s cave of something – a place where a lot
of particular type of thing can be found, especially something interesting or
unusual (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:56).
2. Aunt
Sally – used about someone or something that
is often blamed or criticized by a particular group of people, even when there
is no reason (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:10).
3. Be
like Darby and Joan – used to talk about
old husband and wife who live very happily together (Longman Idioms Dictionary:
1999:78).
4. Brahms
and Liszt – drunk (Longman Idioms Dictionary:
1999:40).
5. Do a Lord Lucan
– (UK) if someone disappears without a
trace or runs off (Lord Lucan disappeared after a murder)
(www.usingenglish.com).
6. Even Stevens
– if everything is equal between people, they are even Stevens
(www.usingenglish.com).
7. I’m
all right Jack – used in order to show
disapproval when someone’s attitude shows that they do not care about a problem
that other people are having, because it does not affect them
(www.dictionary.com).
8. Jekyll and Hyde
– used about someone who has two totally
different parts to their character, one very good and the other bad
(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Keep
up with Joneses – to try to have all the
things that your friends and neighbors have, and do all the things that they do
(www.dictionary.com).
10. Live
a life of Riley – used in order to say that
someone has a very comfortable, easy life without having to work hard or worry
about money (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:210).
11. Mickey Mouse
– something that is intellectually trivial
or not of a very high standard (www.usingenglish.com).
12. Rip van Winkle
– Rip van Winkle is a character in a story
who slept for twenty years, so if someone is a Rip van Winkle, they are behind
the times and out of touch with what's happening now (www.usingenglish.com).
13. Smile
like a Cheshire cat – to have a big smile
on your face, so that you look silly or too pleased with yourself
(www.dictionary.com)
14. Take the Mickey
– to you tease someone
(www.usingenglish.com).
15. Vicar of Bray
– (UK) A person who changes their beliefs
and principles to stay popular with people above them (www.usingenglish.com).
Other
names:
1. A
doubting Thomas – used about someone who does not
believe that something is true, or says that it has not been proved to them
(Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:347).
2. Barkus is willing
– this idiom means that someone is willing
to get married (www.usingenglish.com).
3. Be
whistling Dixie – to be saying that something is
untrue (www.dictionary.com)
4. Buggles' turn
– when someone gets promotion through
length of service rather than ability, especially in the British civil service
(www.usingenglish.com).
5. Clever
Dick – used about someone who is annoying
because they are always right or always think they are right
(www.dictionary.com).
6. Going Jesse
– (USA) if something is a going Jesse,
it's a viable, successful project or enterprise (www.usingenglish.com).
7. Jack the Lad
– A confident and not very serious young
man who behaves as he wants to without thinking about other people is a Jack
the Lad (www. usingenglish.com).
8. John Q Public
– (USA) John Q Public is the typical,
average person (www.usingenglish.com).
9. Nervous Nellie
– Someone excessively worried or
apprehensive is a nervous Nellie (or Nelly) (www.usingenglish.com).
10.Not
known whether you are Arthur or Martha-to
feel very confused, especially because you have too much to do
(www.dictionary.com).
4.1
Idioms with place names
1. All roads lead to Rome
– This means that there can be many different ways of doing something
(www.usingenglish.com).
2. Big Easy
– (USA) The Big Easy is New Orleans,
Louisiana (www. usingenglish.com).
3. Coals to Newcastle
– (UK) Taking, bringing, or carrying coals
to Newcastle is doing something that is completely unnecessary
(www.usingenglish.com).
4. Crossing the Rubicon
– When you are crossing the Rubicon, you
are passing a point of no return. After you do this thing, there is no way of
turning around. The only way left is forward (www.usingenglish.com).
5. Dunkirk spirit
– (UK) Dunkirk spirit is when people pull
together to get through a very difficult time (www.dictionary.com).
6. Fiddle
while Rome burns – used when you disapprove because
someone is spending too much time or attention on unimportant matters instead
of trying to solve bigger and more important problems (Longman Idioms
Dictionary: 1999:288).
7. From Missouri
– (USA) If someone is from Missouri, then
they require clear proof before they will believe something
(www.usingenglish.com).
8. Himalayan blunder
– a Himalayan blunder is a very serious
mistake or error (www.usingenglish.com).
9. Lie
back and think of England – a humorous
expression used when someone has sex without wanting it or enjoying it, and
often used when someone has to do another activity or job that they do not want
to (Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:106).
10.Man on the Clapham omnibus
– (UK) The man on the Clapham omnibus is
the ordinary person in the street (www.usingenglish.com).
11.More front than Brighton
– (UK) If you have more front than
Brighton, you are very self-confident, possibly excessively so
(www.usingenglish.com).
12.New York minute
– (USA) If something happens in a New York
minute, it happens very fast (www.usingenglish.com).
13.Not
for all tea in China – used in order to
emphasize that you do not want to do something, and no reward would be big
enough to make you to do i (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:340).
14.On Carey Street
– (UK) If someone is on Carey Street, they
are heavily in debt or have gone bankrupt (www.usingenglish.com).
15.Road to Damascus
– If someone has a great and sudden change
in their ideas or beliefs, then this is a road to Damascus change, after the
conversion of Saint Paul to Christianity while heading to Damascus to persecute
Christians (www.usingenglish.com).
16.Rome was not built in a day
– This idiom means that many things cannot
be done instantly, and require time and patience (www.usingenglish.com).
17.Saigon moment
– (USA) A Saigon moment is when people realize
that something has gone wrong and that they will lose or fail
(www.usingenglish.com).
18.Somebody
met his/her Waterloo – used in order to say
that someone has finally met a person or thing that can defeat them (Longman
Idioms Dictionary: 1999:373).
19.Send someone to Coventry
– (UK) If you send someone to Coventry,
you refuse to talk to them or co-operate with them (www.usingenglish.com).
20.Set the Thames on fire
– If you do something remarkable, you set
the Thames on fire, though this expression is used in the negative; someone who
is dull or undistinguished will never set the Thames on fire
(www.usingenglish.com).
21.Shipshape and Bristol fashion
– If things are shipshape and Bristol
fashion, they are in perfect working order (www.dictionary.com).
22.The
black hole of Calcutta – used about a place
that is very dark and very hot and too full of people or things
(www.dictionary.com).
23.When in Rome, do as the Romans do
– This idiom means that when you are
visiting a different place or culture, you should try to follow their customs
and practices (www.usingenglish.com).
24._____
for England – a humorous way of saying that
someone does a lot or too much of a particular activity (Longman Idioms
Dictionary: 1999:106).
Conclusions
The
analyses presented in this study are an answer that proper names are quite
often used in English idioms. We have analyzed 97 idioms: 73 with personal
names and 24 with place names. The origin of personal and place names in
English idioms are of different types. In spite of this we identified the
following six groups of the origin of personal names:
·
Mythical
·
Derived from religion
·
Based on characters of the films, books,
cartoons.
·
The real persons.
·
Folk etymology.
·
Others.
The
analysis showed that idioms with personal names are used in English language
more frequently that idioms with place names.
Almost
all the place names are authentic, not made-up. Among personal names the most
frequent were names derived from religion and characters of books, films etc.
Number of idioms with personal names that derived from mythology was the
smallest one.
References
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(2000).
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4.
Locke J. (1869) An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding.
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6. Longman idioms dictionary
(1999). Longman.
7. Makkai, A. (1972). Idiom Structure in English.
The Hague: Mouton.
8. Mill J. S. (1843) A
System of Logic.
9. Moreno R. Relevance Theory and the
construction of idiom meaning (Îøèáêà! Íåäîïóñòèìûé îáúåêò
ãèïåðññûëêè.)
10. Oxford Talking Dictionary.
11. Pulman S. (1986) The
recognition and interpretation of idioms. University of Cambridge Computer
Laboratory.
12. Saeed, J. I. (2003), Semantics. Oxford:
Blackwell.
13. Strässler J. (1982). Idioms in English – a
pragmatic analysis. Gunter Narr Verlag.
14. Valeika L. (2003) Introductory course in
theoretical English grammar. Vilnius pedagogical university.
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