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An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
A word-by-word translation of an opaque idiom will most likely not convey the same meaning in other languages. The English idiom kick the bucket has a variety of equivalents in other languages, such as kopnąć w kalendarz ("kick the calendar") in Polish, casser sa pipe ("to break one’s pipe") in French [ 13 ] and tirare le cuoia ("pulling ...
A aggravate – Some have argued that this word should not be used in the sense of "to annoy" or "to oppress", but only to mean "to make worse". According to AHDI, the use of "aggravate" as "annoy" occurs in English as far back as the 17th century. In Latin, from which the word was borrowed, both meanings were used. Sixty-eight percent of AHD4's usage panel approves of its use in "It's the ...
Colloquialism (also called colloquial language, colloquial speech, everyday language, or general parlance) is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation among persons in friendship, familial, intimate, and other informal contexts. [1]
Ain't has been called "the most stigmatized word in the language", [25] as well as "the most powerful social marker" in English. [26] It is a prominent example in English of a shibboleth – a word used to determine inclusion in or exclusion from, a group. [25] Historically, this was not so.
In grammar, a phrase—called expression in some contexts—is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consist of a single word or a complete sentence.
New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors. Oxford University Press. Also available as part of New Oxford Style manual (2016). Butterfield, Jeremy (2015). Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. Brians, Paul (1993). Common Errors in English Usage (Web ed.). William James & Company. ISBN 1-887902-89-9.
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Oxford University Press. p. 464. ISBN 0-19-280087-6. Cobbett, William (1883). A Grammar of the English Language, In a Series of Letters: Intended for the Use of Schools and of Young Persons in General, but more especially for the use of Soldiers, Sailors, Apprentices, and Plough-Boys. New York and ...