Уместность употребления идиом при общении на английском языке как иностранном

Research work

«The relevance of English idioms

to international communication»

LOGOS

Moscow Region

Dmitrov

2012

Contents

1. Introduction

The urgency of the given work: Idioms are widely used not only in Russian, but also in English. Idioms of those languages ​​sound different and I was wondering what's the difference?

The purpose of the given work:  to discover why  idioms differ in different languages and if it is still important to use idioms for international communication.

Hypothesis:  The English language has become a language of international communication. Yet English is the mother tongue for only 5.4% of the world’s population, while a further 7% of the world’s population are proficient speakers of English. This means that only around 12% of the world’s population can communicate well in English. People of different countries, nations, cultures and religions use it for different purposes, for example, business, tourism, education, trade, politics. It often  happens that none of the people who communicate are native speakers of English. So, some idioms can  be clear and easily understandable by people of one country but they may seem very difficult for people of another country. Idioms are a phenomenon that can be easily replaced by nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs.  Communication will become easier and we will avoid misunderstanding if we use fewer idioms.

Following problems have been defined:

1. to learn what is an idiom;
2. different types of idioms and  give examples of the most frequently-used ;
3. where and for what idiom  is used;
4. whether it is necessary to use idioms at dialogue with people for which English language is not native, whether the use of idioms will be an obstacle for understanding people each other;
5. to make a logic conclusion.

1. The literary review

1. What is the idiom

Idiom, or phraseological unit, – a figure of speech  in the linguistics which meaning is not clear  if you translate every word it consists of. It may seem  that the words in the idiom are linked  illogically and grammatically  incorrect. That’s why it is so difficult sometimes to understand the idiom and translate it into your native  language.

In the English expression to kick the bucket, a listener knowing only the meanings of kick and bucket would be unable to understand  its true  meaning: to die. Although this idiomatic phrase can, in fact, actually mean  to kick a bucket, native speakers of English rarely use it so. Cases like this are "opaque idioms".

Literal translation of opaque idioms will not convey the same meaning in other languages.

1. Value of idioms in speech

Idioms reflect national  feature of  language, its originality.  In many cases they  are connected with history, religion,  literature, historical personalities,  local peculiarities. In all cases they  are part of culture.  Correct  use of idioms gives speech a unique originality, special expressiveness, accuracy, figurativeness. They make our speech "live" and colourful.

The general tendency of modern English language is transition to wider use of idioms.

1. Kinds of idioms

• Interstyle phraseological units are the steady combinations of words known and used in all styles of language (сдержать слово, от всего сердца).

• Spoken (colloquial) phraseological units are fixed  combinations of words mainly or exclusively used in oral speech (гнуть спину, совать нос).

• Literary  phraseological units are fixed combinations of words, mainly or exclusively used in written speech (с лица земли, в мгновении ока).  According to its structure  phraseological units  can be divided into two groups: phraseological units – sentences  and phraseological units – word combinations.

Idioms can  be  short word combinations, easy enough for understanding. For example: in general – в общем, the root of all evil – корень всех бед,  wolf in sheep’s clothing – волк в овечьей шкуре, the silver screen – кинотеатр, white as a ghost – белый как простыня,  apple of her/his eye – зеница ока

On the other hand,  Idioms can be very difficult to translate into the Russian  language and Russian-speaking people will have problems understanding these idioms.. For example: on end – непрерывно; high and  low – повсюду, везде; hard cash – наличные деньги, cool as a cucumber – невозмутимый,  gravy train – непыльная работа, under the weather – нездоровый.

Some versions of idioms include proper names: Jack of all trades ("Мастер на все руки "), Uncle Sam (дядя Сэм -  Соединённые Штаты). Barbie Doll – an attractive but mindless person (man or woman) - Кукла Барби – привлекательный, но глупый человек (мужчина или женщина);

GI Joe – an American soldier - американский солдат; Jolly Roger – a pirate flag - Веселый Роджер – пиратский флаг;

There are  idioms  which are called similes  such as, as the crow flies – самым кратким путем, cool as a cucumber – невозмутимый, as dunk as a lord -  пьяный в стельку, He is as strong as an ox – сильный как вол, or ancient proverbs/sayings (Still waters run deep – " В тихом омуте черти водятся").

Here are the examples of some idioms divided into different groups

Animal Idioms

• wolf in sheep’s clothing

MEANING: a person who pretends to be good but really is bad

EXAMPLE: Be careful of that man. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

TRANSLATION: волк в овечьей шкуре

• dark horse

MEANING: a candidate little known to the general public

EXAMPLE: He was a dark horse in the race to be President until he gave some good speeches on TV.

TRANSLATION: темная лошадка

• monkey business

MEANING: unethical or bad activity, mischief

EXAMPLE: He should stop that monkey business and try to do the job the correct way.

TRANSLATION: валяние дурака, бить баклуши

• scardy-cat

MEANING: someone who is easily frightened (used by children)

EXAMPLE: The little boy called his friend a scardy-cat because he wouldn’t climb the tree. 

TRANSLATION: трусишка

• copycat

MEANING: someone who copies another person’s work etc.

EXAMPLE: He is a copycat according to the other students in the class.

TRANSLATION: подражатель

Business Idioms

• fair play

MEANING: justice, equal and right action to someone

EXAMPLE: The company is very good to work for as they always use fair play when they are bargaining with their employees.

TRANSLATION: честная игра

• finger in the pie

MEANING: involved in what is happening, receiving money for something

EXAMPLE: The new manager has his finger in the pie in all aspects of our company’s business.

TRANSLATION: наш пострел везде поспел

• heads will roll

MEANING: someone will be punished

EXAMPLE: Heads will roll when our boss learns about the money that we have lost recently.

TRANSLATION: головы полетят ( сленг) , я вам всем головы повыкручиваю!

• in black and white

MEANING: in writing

EXAMPLE: The company refused to deal with the customer’s complaints until they saw them in black and white.

TRANSLATION: черным по белому (написано)

• give kickback

MEANING: money paid illegally for favourable treatment

EXAMPLE: The construction company was taken to court for giving kickbacks to the local politicians.

TRANSLATION: дать на лапу

Colour Idioms

• the silver screen

MEANING: the cinema

EXAMPLE: Valentino was one of the earliest stars of the silver screen.

TRANSLATION: кинематография

• to see someone in his true colours

MEANING: to understand someone’s true character, often for the first time.

EXAMPLE: As soon as he made a fuss about returning her money, I saw him in his true colours.

TRANSLATION: узнать изнутри

• tickled pink

MEANING: be very pleased, thrilled, delighted

EXAMPLE: She was tickled pink that you made the effort to go and visit her when you were in town.

TRANSLATION: доволен как слон

• a golden boy

MEANING: a young man idolized for a great skill, usually in sport.

EXAMPLE: David Beckham is the golden boy of English soccer.

TRANSLATION: успешный

• white as a ghost

MEANING: very pale because of fear, shock, illness etc.

EXAMPLE: My sister became white as a ghost when she saw the man at the window.

TRANSLATION: белый как простыня

Food Idioms

• apple of her/his eye

MEANING: someone or something that one likes a lot

EXAMPLE: The little girl is the apple of her grandfather’s eye.

TRANSLATION: зеница ока

• bad egg

MEANING: a bad person, bum

EXAMPLE: That man is a bad egg so you should try and avoid him if you can.

TRANSLATION: в семье не без урода; больная овца в стаде

• cool as a cucumber

MEANING: calm, not nervous or anxious

EXAMPLE: He is always as cool as a cucumber and never worries about anything.

TRANSLATION: невозмутимый

• couch potato

MEANING: a very lazy person

EXAMPLE: He is a real couch potato and just sits around watching TV and staying indoors all day.

TRANSLATION: лежебока, бездельник

• big cheese

MEANING: an important person, a leader

EXAMPLE: He is a big cheese in his company so you should be very nice to him.

TRANSLATION: большая шишка, босс

Money Idioms

• gravy train

MEANING: getting paid more money than the job is worth

EXAMPLE: The job was a gravy train and I made a lot of money when I was there.

TRANSLATION: «непыльная работа», лёгкие деньги

• nest egg

MEANING: money someone has saved up

EXAMPLE: I made a nice nest egg when I was working and I am now able to go to school.

TRANSLATION: сбережённые на чёрный день

• to take a rain check

MEANING: a promise to repeat an invitation at a later date

EXAMPLE: I decided to take a rain check and go to the restaurant another time.

TRANSLATION: в другой раз

• bring home the bacon

MEANING: earn the family living

EXAMPLE: I have been working hard all month bringing home the bacon for my family.

TRANSLATION: допиться успеха

• bottom dollar

MEANING: your last dollar

EXAMPLE: He spent his bottom dollar on some new clothes to wear for his job interview.

TRANSLATION: последний доллар

Weather Idioms

• under the weather

MEANING: if you are under the weather, you are not feeling very well.

EXAMPLE: If you’re feeling a bit under the weather but can’t work out what’s wrong, try our DIY Guide to self-diagnosis.

TRANSLATION: нездоровый

• come rain or shine

MEANING: if a person does something come rain or shine, they do it regularly, 
 whatever the circumstances.

EXAMPLE: He goes to the gym club every day, come rain or shine.

TRANSLATION: что бы то ни было

• once in a blue moon

MEANING: if something happens once in a blue moon, it occurs very rarely. 

EXAMPLE: Bill has very little contact with his brother. They see each other once
 in a blue moon.

TRANSLATION: раз в сто лет

• storm in a teacup

MEANING: if someone exaggerates a problem or makes a small problem seem far greater than it really is, then they are making a storm in a teacup.

EXAMPLE:

TRANSLATION: буря в стакане воды

• teeth chattering

MEANING:  if your teeth are chattering, you are extremely cold.

EXAMPLE: Was I cold? My teeth were chattering!

TRANSLATION: очень холодно

1. Research work

The aim of my research work is to learn, whether non-native speakers of English can understand idioms correctly. I decided to make a survey. Out of all the idioms I know, I chose 20 idioms. I divided these idioms into two groups: difficult (which can't be understood, if you translate them literally) (вставить все, а в презентацию – несколько) for example tickled pink – довольный, cool as a cucumber – невозмутимый, and simple (which are possible to be translated literally) for example a silver screen – кино,  a golden boy – золотой мальчик. I  made up two texts with these idioms and asked students of different ages from our school to translate them, without using the dictionary. Some of the idioms could be understood from the context which often happens if to use idioms in real conversation. There were 30 people all in all participating in my survey. There were 12 students from Form 7 , 5 from Form 9, 7 from 10 and 6 from 11  

1. As you can see on the first diagram  55 % of all the idioms offered, were translated correctly, but the rest 45 % -  wrongly.
2. The second diagram demonstrates how simple and difficult idioms were translated. 63 % of simple idioms  were  translated correctly, and only 43 % of difficult idioms were understood and translated.\
3. On the third diagram we can see how different age groups (classes) coped with translating the idioms. You can see that pupils of 7th class could translate correctly only 47 % of idioms, 9th class – 58 % of idioms, 10th class – 56 % of idioms, 11th class – 66 % of idioms. We know that 7 class studies the English language at Elementary level, 9 and 10 classes – at Intermediate level, 11 class – at Upper Intermediate level.

1. Conclusion

So, we can draw a conclusion that the understanding of the meaning of idioms depends on the level of knowledge of a foreign language. The lower the level is the fewer idioms will be understood correctly.

All the stories contained the vocabulary that could be easily understood by any age group, the vocabulary of elementary level. This way we can conclude that if we hadn’t used idioms in the texts, students would have understood the texts much better. We could use simple words instead e.g. the apple of one’s eye – to love very much, once in a blue moon – раз в сто лет, storm in a teacup – буря в стакане воды. Then there wouldn’t be any problems with understanding.

When people of different countries (not English speaking) communicate, they mainly use every day English at elementary or pre-intermediate level. The use of the idioms would create misunderstanding. So, if you are not sure that your interlocutor knows the idiom, you shouldn’t use it.

People of different countries have different cultural backgrounds, so some idioms may seem easy for people of Russia, such as apple of one’s eye or silver screen as they have their equivalents in our language. But can we be sure that Norwegians or Indians have the same equivalent in their language? We should avoid misunderstanding.

I have studied the special literature, have turned to dictionaries. I have learnt a lot of new things and have come to a conclusion that for non-native speakers of English it can be difficult  to understand idioms and often it is impossible to translate them literally. All these can cause misunderstanding.

It is necessary to enrich all time the stock of English idioms as steady expressions as an integral component of traditional English speech. Without knowing the exact meaning of an idiom, one can fail to understand it  and, it is possible to get to an awkward  situation.

1. Bibliography

1. Статья «Идиомы» [электронный ресурс]   режим доступа к ресурсу http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom.
2. Литературные и религиозные источники идиом [электронный ресурс] режим доступа к ресурсу http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/.
3. Значение идиом, примеры употребления [электронный ресурс] режим доступа к ресурсу http://www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_idioms/id-b.htm.
4. Категории идиом [электронный ресурс] режим доступа к ресурсу http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/cat/4.html.
5. Идиомы, связанные с погодой [электронный ресурс] режим доступа к ресурсу http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idiom-categories/weather-atmosphere-idioms.htm.
6. Словарь английских идиом [электронный ресурс] режим доступа к ресурсу  http://www.english-easy.info/idioms/#axzz1rcwDyp6I
7. Полезный английский. Идиомы с именами собственными. [электронный ресурс]   режим доступа к ресурсу http://usefulenglish.ru/idioms/idioms-proverbs-with-proper-names.
8. Идиомы-сравнения  [электронный ресурс] режим доступа к ресурсу http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-similes.html.
9. Bob Obee, Virginia Evans. “A multilingual Internet?” [текст] /Bob Obee, Virginia Evans  - Liberty House, New Greenham Park, Newbury: Express Publishing, 2003, 264p.
10. Dictionary of Idioms: Westerhill Road, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow G64 2QT – Harper Collins Publishers, 1997.

Appendix

All idioms

Easy and difficult idioms

Сomparison of quantity of correct translations of idioms in classes