Idioms

An idiom is an expression with a meaning that is completely different from the individual words in the expression. Knowing the individual words doesn't mean you will know the meaning of the expression because the direct meaning doesn't apply. It's the idiomatic meaning of the expression that is important.
e.g. When a native speaker says, "It's not my cup of tea" they are usually trying to say that they don't like something or that it is not type of thing that they like, rather than saying directly that a cup of tea doesn't belong to them.

All languages have idioms and unfortunately for learners, idioms do not usually translate from one language into another. Transferring idioms from your language directly into English can make you sound strange and very unnatural. The idiom from your language may have an equivalent in English but the words might not be the same.
e.g. There is an English idiom "to make a mountain out of a molehill", which means to make a problem or issue seem larger or more than it is. The equivalent idiom in German is, "to make an elephant out of a mouse". Using idioms from your language can sound strange to a native speaker, although they may be able to understand the meaning from the context.

In addition, using idioms inaccurately can have the same effect of sounding strange. If you use an idiom inaccurately, you may not communicate the meaning or the meaning might be taken as the direct meaning of the words instead of the idiomatic meaning you are trying to communicate.
e.g. If someone said, "it's not my cup of coffee" instead of, "It's not my cup of tea" a native speaker would assume you are directly saying the coffee is not yours.

Another thing to be careful of is that some idioms are old fashioned and are not used much in everyday speech.
e.g. Many learners I meet know the idiom "It's raining cats and dogs" meaning "it's raining heavily", but I don't think I've ever heard a native speaker use it in natural conversation. A native speaker would be more likely to say, "It's pouring down". or "It's hammering it down".

Another point to be aware of is that idioms are often closely related to a country's culture. Often the words used in an idiom come form a country's culture, geography, mentality or historical background.

e.g. there is a British idiom, "I'm all at sea" which means you are confused or fail to understand something. The equivalent in Swedish is, "I'm sitting in the lake". If you look at the maps of the countries you can see that Britain is an island surrounded by sea and that Sweden is a country with a lot of lakes. The geography of the country has had an effect on the words used in the idiom.

There are hundreds of idioms in English and using them will help you to sound more normal and natural in conversation. A learner with a very good level of English can often sound too formal and therefore unfriendly if they do not use any idioms. Also not understanding idioms will mean that a learner finds it hard to understand everyday English conversations.

Generally, idioms are not formal but it is wrong to say they are informal as many idioms are used in ordinary situations and contexts such as business meetings, serious discussions and everyday conversations

Idioms are usually fun to learn and you should take time to learn them when you find / hear them. When you feel you have understood the meaning of an idiom you should try to use it in appropriate a context or situation.

Overall when learning an idiom my advice is

• make sure you know exactly what it means
• make sure you know exactly which situations it's appropriate to use it in
• make sure you know the form of the idiom exactly (they are fixed expressions)
• make sure you are comfortable using them, but don't be scared to try. I'm sure most native speakers will understand if you make a mistake
• Try to guess the meanings of idioms from the context they are used in
• If you are not sure about any of the points above avoid using them get advice from a native speaker, dictionary or the internet.
  
  Remember - Idioms are a really fun way to learn a language as well as expanding your knowledge of the language, you will learn more about a country's culture.

Have a look at the following post about summer in the school. Notice the idioms highlighted in bold. See if you can understand them from the context. Come back to this blog in a few days to get full explanations and further examples and practice.

Summer In The School

So, summer's here (see previous post June) and all the staff in the school are rushed off their feet as there are a lot of learners here trying to brush up their English. It's an incredibly fun time of year in the school as we welcome people from all walks of life. Some of the young learners are trying to find themselves while some of the older learners are attempting to climb to the top of the career ladder or get out of a rut but whoever the learner may be they are all bending over backwards to improve their English.
Summer is an excellent time to be in London because there are no end of things to do, from music festivals to day trips, from outdoor theatre to exhibitions. No matter, who you are, where you're from or what you do, there are things to do in London which are right up your street.
So, why not come and visit us, experience the city and meet some new people from around the world? You never know you might just have the time of your life and your English could go from strength to strength and make all the difference to your life and career.