A Study on the Culture of English Idioms with Names 英语毕业论文.docVIP

PAGE PAGE 1 A Study on the Culture of English Idioms with Names 1. Introduction English, as a universal language, is flexible and active, which has more than 20,000 idioms, with about 4,000 idioms used in daily life. English idioms derived mainly from culture, take historical events, ancient legends and religions, for example. To understand exactly the culture of idioms enables us to use idioms appropriately. Studies about English idioms have a long history in home and abroad, which are focused on structures, semantics and functions; however, works on the culture of English idioms with names are relatively scarce. This paper gives detailed information and organized views on English idioms with names and their cultural connotations, which is from diverse aspects: religions, historical figures, fairy tales, folk culture and current events and news. 2. Definitions of English idioms It is quiet difficult to give a clear-cut definition to the word “idiom”, for there are various views on this term, which might lead us to confusion. 2.1 Various definitions of English idioms in dictionaries In Webster’s New World Dictionary (1972), we find the definition of “idiom”: An accepted phrase, construction, or expression contrary to the usual patterns of the language or having a meaning different from the language or having a meaning different from the literal. In Collins COBUILD Advanced Learners’ English Dictionary (2006), it presents that “ An idiom is a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one they would have if you took the meaning each word separately. In Oxford English Dictionary (1970), it defines that “A form of expression grammatical construction, phrase ect, particular to a language; a particularity of phraseology approved by a usage of knowledge, and often have a significance other than its grammatical or logical one. 2.2 A general definition of English idioms Generally, idioms are expressions in a language, which co