Chapter 7  Definition of EnglishIdioms 

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Contents: definition of idiom; characteristicsof idioms; classification of English idioms

Objectives: Students should be able to know thedefinition of idiom, characteristics of idioms, and classification of Englishidioms

Difficult points: the definition of idiom; characteristicsof idioms: semantic unity and structural stability; classification of Englishidioms: noun idioms, verb idioms, adverb idioms and sentence idioms. 

Procedures: 

Step I  Brief review of the lastlecture 

Step II  Presentation 

1.   Askstudents whether or not they pay great attention to using English idioms intheir conversation and writing. 

2.   Askstudents to understand the definition of idioms.

3.   Analyzethe characteristics of idioms: semantic unity and structural stability.

4.   Classifyidioms: noun idioms, verb idioms, adverb idioms and sentence idioms 

Step III Answer students’ questions 

Step IV Homework

Exercises:

I.  Decide whether the followingstatements are true or false: 

1. An English idiom is a group of wordswith a special meaning generally different from the meaning of its constituentwords. 

2. The form of English idioms is not oftenfixed. 

3. Many idiomatic expressions come fromthe everyday life of the English people. 

4. The Bible is one of the chief sourcesfrom which idiomatic expressions have sprung. 

5. English idioms are characterized bysemantic unity, structural stability, stylistic terseness, andthought-provoking. 

6. Phrasal verbs are another way of sayingverb phrases.

II. Replace the italicized expressionswith phrasal verbs by selection the appropriate phrasal verb from the listprovided. 

make out, get up, turn up, take me in,take over, look into, go into, put across, come by, make up for, make upto 

1. I waited for her for ages but she didnot come. 

2. I took the children to the zoo today tocompensate for the party they missed yesterday. 

3. I used to believe his tall stories, butnow he can hardly deceive me. 

4. My father was asked to assume themanagement of the London office of his newspaper.

5. We don’t like Tom because he alwaystries to make himself pleasant to the boss in order to win favours. 

6. He knows the theory very well but he’svery poor at explaining the stuff clearly to his students. 

7. Jobs were not easy to obtain when I wasa girl as they are now. 

8. The students arranged a party tocelebrate the sixtieth birthday of the college. 

9. Police are investigating thedisappearance of the diamond necklace. 

10. I can’t understand what he is after.

III.Explain the italicized expressions inthe following sentences: 

1. At half-time, the two teams were allsquare with two goals each. 

2. I’ve only had this television set for aweek and it’s gone haywire already. 

3. The new seats are as easy on the backas they are on the eye. 

4. We had to operate on ashoestring. 

5. You’re always getting yourself involvedwith lamb ducks. 

6. We reject that solution emphatically,decisively and once and for all. 

7. If they don’t pay their hotel bill theywill be put out bag and baggage. 

8. Mary was hurt through and through byBetty’s remarks. 

9. Her sudden departure was a bolt fromthe blue. 

10. When he finally came round to writingthe letter, he found it easier to express his feelings than he hasexpected. 

Key: 

I. 1.T          2.F         3.T        4.T         5.T        6.F 

II. 1. turn up      2. makeup for      3. taking me in      4. takeover   5.make up to        

6. putting across       7. come by    8. got up 9. look into/going into  10. maketo 

III..  

1. an equal amount of points, etc. in agame or competition 

2. go/be wrong; become confused; behave inan uncontrolled way 

3. quite pretty, good-looking (in theopinion of the observer of speaker) 

4. with very little money orresources 

5. a disadvantaged person 

6. now and for the last time 

7. with all one’s belongings 

8. completely 

9. a sudden unexpected event, esp. oneunpleasant or catastrophic 

10. reach the point of doing sth. Afterunavoidable delay