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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).
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning could not be readily deduced from the meaning of its individual words. The word comes from the Greek ἰδίωμα (idioma) – the distinctive style of a particular person. The traditional example is "kick the bucket" which is normally understood to mean dying. The extent to which a phrase is thought ...
Idiom. An idiom is a phrase or expression that usually presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Some phrases which become figurative idioms, however, do retain the phrase's literal meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. [ 1]
Esperanto – je la tago de Sankta Neniamo ("on Saint Never's Day") — a loan-translation from German (see below). Finnish – sitten kun lehmät lentävät - when the cows fly. Also jos lehmällä olisi siivet, se lentäisi (if cow had wings, it would fly), implying futile speculations.
blue-gown – a beggar, a bedesman of the Scottish king, who wore a blue gown, the gift of the king, and had his license to beg. bonnet-piece – a gold coin of James V of Scotland, so called from the king being represented on it as wearing a bonnet instead of a crown. Brown, Jones, and Robinson – three middle-class Englishmen on their ...
kisser. The mouth or face. Although the etymology is obvious – that which kisses – it apparently first appeared as boxing slang in 1860 (OED). [ 38] knock for six. Cricket To surprise or shock (someone). In cricket, a "six" results from a ball that is hit in the air and beyond the boundary of the field.
Willy-nilly (idiom) An 18th century artwork by William Hogarth featuring a disorderly setting. Willy-nilly is an English-language idiom and a slang which describes an activity, an action or event that is done in a disorganized, unplanned, or vacillating manner. [1] [2] [3] The term is derived from Shakespearian expression " will ye, nill ye ...
cachet. lit. "stamp"; a distinctive quality; quality, prestige. café. a coffee shop (also used in French for "coffee"). Café au lait. café au lait. coffee with milk; or a light-brown color. In medicine, it is also used to describe a birthmark that is of a light-brown color (café au lait spot). calque.