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Message board > Help please! IDIOMS and SAYINGS
Help please! IDIOMS and SAYINGS
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Mar0919
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Help please! IDIOMS and SAYINGS
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Hello, everybody! I �m preparing the last exam for this school year, and I �m kind of out of ideas. Trying to get my head together, but not quite myself yet. This bimester, my students and I talked about the difference between a "saying" and an "idiom"... As I understood, and googled, was that a "saying" is a short phrase which gives a piece of advice or words of wisdom, whereas an "idiom" is a short phrase that is written in a figurative way (figure of speech)... I AM REALLY CONFUSED!!!! Do I have this right?!?!? Can you give me some examples of each one, please! Thanks in advance! Mar |
11 Jun 2011
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Zora
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"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is a saying.
"the apple doesn �t fall far from the tree". - idiom.
The difference is one refers to a person or a situation directly... like the apple doesn �t far fall from the tree - and the other is just a saying that we use.
hope the examples make the difference clearer for you Mar.
Hugs,
L.
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11 Jun 2011
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yanogator
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Mar, A saying, maxim or proverb is a piece of wisdom (not always very wise) that is in the culture. Practice what you preach. Into every life a little rain must fall. You can �t fight city hall. An idiom is a part of the language, more than the culture (although the language and the culture can �t really be separated), and is a non-literal way of saying something. That happens once in a blue moon. (That happens very infrequently) The gangster in this movie is going to bump somebody off/rub somebody out. (The gangster in this movie is going to kill somebody). Notice that a saying is a complete sentence, and an idiom is just a phrase that is used as part of a sentence. I �m sure others will be able to add to this deep subject. Bruce |
11 Jun 2011
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yanogator
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Linda, I would call both of your examples sayings. It �s just that the first is literal and the second is figurative, so I might call it an idiomatic saying. Ooh, this language of ours! It could drive anyone crazy. Bruce |
11 Jun 2011
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anitarobi
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I �m not sure about all languages, but it helps my students when I explain talking about translating them - you can translate a saying and it keeps it �s meaning, whereas an idiom cannot be literally translated and still keep its idiomatic meaning. (unless, of course, there is an idiom within a saying, in which case you translate the saying, but the idiom must be translated so as to keep its idiomatic meaning). |
11 Jun 2011
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ueslteacher
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In my language proverbs and sayings usually go together, whereas idioms are called "phraseologisms". And as the oxford dictionary says: idiom - a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words�Let the cat out of the bag� is an idiom meaning to tell a secret by mistake. Just as Bruce said it can be an incomplete phrase which is part of the sentence.Sophia |
11 Jun 2011
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Mar0919
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 Thank you, Zora, Yonagator, Anita & Sophia! I got it a little clearer now. So... to sum it up: a saying can be translated word for word, and gives an advice or expresses experiences in life. An idiom cannot be translated literally but only in its context. Correct? Thanks, guys, you were all so very helpful! Hugs, Mar |
12 Jun 2011
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