English is an amazing language that reflects many different cultures. Americans have many popular sayings and figures of speech that, if taken literally, make no logical sense. If you mention the phrases “white elephant,” “spill the beans,” or “to pull someone’s leg,” they make no sense unless you are familiar with the culture.
The word “idiom” is used to describe these forms of speech. Idioms are considered to be part of a nation’s culture, and idioms can make learning a foreign language quite challenging. Scholars have estimated American English to contain at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions. People learning a new language must memorize the meanings of these phrases like vocabulary, because the interpretations of idioms can be unclear.
Yet, popular sayings that seem rather silly when taken literally, do have origins that at one time actually made sense. The origins of many common idioms reflect history and folklore.
Etymology is the study of word origins. Studying word etymologies can be interesting, enlightening, and humorous. Have you ever wondered about the origins of many popular sayings? Here are a few common idioms and the history behind them.
“Caught Red-Handed”
One popular saying is “to be caught red-handed.” This phrase means that someone was found in the act of doing wrong. At one time, this was phrase was quite literal.
In many communities of the past, stealing a neighbor’s livestock or other animal was a common problem. Many thieves would butcher the stolen animal and cook it for dinner. However, simply possessing chicken soup or a nice beefsteak could not be definitive proof of the thief’s guilt. The crook had to be caught with the blood of the freshly killed animal on his hands to proven guilty ...
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...kers who were not completely sane. In Carroll’s time, felt hat-makers used the poisonous metal mercury while working with hats. One symptom of mercury poisoning is insanity.
Every language has its share of idioms. These are only a sampling of the thousands of popular sayings that make the English language so interesting. The next time you use a phrase, consider its possible origins. Many times, if you give it enough thought, you may be able to figure out the etymology yourself. If it is still a mystery, using Google for only a few minutes will broaden your knowledge of our amazing language.
Works Cited
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/steal?region=us
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/P1710/
http://www.brownielocks.com/wordorigins.html
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/08/07/origins-of-familiar-phrases/
http://www.fun-with-words.com/etym_phrases.html
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Slang is the key reason words take on new meaning. A teenage girl may say a guy is hot! This does not mean he is sweating, it means he is good looking. This is an example of slang. People familiar with slang will understand this meaning, while those unfamiliar will not. As our culture changes so does our slang and words take on new meanings. Let’s take a closer look at the word burn. Some of the definitions may surprise you.
For example, a lot of colloquialism was used when Aibileen, a character in The Help, said, “I reckon that’s the risk you run, letting somebody else raise you chilluns” (Stockett 2). Because African Americans were treated unequally, they were denied a good education just because they spoke very differently than white people. The speech of an African American was one of the many reasons why whites were racist towards them. Also, Aibileen used slang when she said, “Around Lunchtime, when my stories come on tee-vee, it gets quiet out in the carport” (22). An African American’s word choice may be considered colloquialism because they use a lot of slang in their daily language. Aibileen, from The Help, is one character that talks with a very uneducated mannerism. Overall, the way that an African American talks can decide on how a racist a white person was towards
African American Slang has had many other names: Ebonics, Jive, Black English, and more. The Oxford English Dictionary defines slang (in reference to language) in three different ways: 1) the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type 2) the special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling or profession; the cant or jargon of a certain class or period 3) language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense. Whatever one’s perspective on slang, it is a natural and inevitable part of language. In this paper I will discuss examples of current slang being used that some people may not understand.
"What MISTERROOSEVELT Is Saying." : The Suprising Origins of the Word "Thug" N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
I heard some funny retro expressions like “JK,” which means one is “just kidding,” and “on the square,” which means one is not. I heard a familiar “JBF” and “TIMATOV!” but also “TPR!” and the “CFG!” “TMS!”
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
Another display of this ironic logic is with the Knights who say “Ni”. They are an example of a Red Herring Argument. They attempt to distract Arthur and his men from their original task with meaningless quests and tasks. Monty Python places the task of “cutting down the greatest tree with a herring” to ironically relate to this type of logic. It could have been anything else, but the herring was used to relate to this type. From this, we learn that there will often be many things in life to sidetrack us.
Promisingly, English language idioms have prominent and historical place over the language components which are beautifying by English language ancestors of all ages. Origin structures a kind of universality and pinnacle levels towards language lovers. Undoubtedly and unmatchingly knowing about English language idioms origin pays precocious and prevalent. It is categorically vague to come to a conclusion of an idiom by just reading. It remains just a jest as literally idioms have very profound and hidden meanings which are savory to know. By having a donkeys years, it doesn’t comprehend a donkey has years, in fact that is seclusion to have the same kind of meaning by just reading that idioms. A donkey’s year scrupulously have a clear meaning
I enjoy that phrase as it is used at the end and is literally true.
This can be seen in the interaction between Hamlet and Polonius in which hamlet continuously insults and makes fun of Polonius. In the conversation Hamlet tells Polonius how he should keep Ophelia away from hamlet before he gets her pregnant. He also states how he is a “fishmonger” or the lowest of the low and he is lacking in intelligence because he doesn’t understand the true meaning of Hamlet’s words. In this Puns and double language makes the words take a whole different meaning then
Pragmatics Aspects: Deixis and Distance, reference and inference, conversational implicature, anaphoric and cataphoric reference, presupposition, entailment, direct and indirect speech acts and speech events, cultural context and cross cultural pragmatics, conversational analysis and background knowledge, denotation and connotation meaning, the four maxims and hedges.
The six major barriers to communication according to McLean (2010) are the use of clichés, jargon, slang, sexist and racist language, euphemisms, and doublespeak. These were discussed in the context
Similar to many other lively pleasures, humor can only be experienced if it resonates with a person. Without some kind of comprehension, there cannot be any type of reaction. Only once an outlandish statement, inappropriate remark, or unexpected situation, is remotely understood will a person be able to label it comical or sober. Since there are billions of people worldwide with their own languages including it’s respective idioms, euphemisms, the age old saying of “there is truth in every joke” applies to each culture individually.