In our time, knowing English is, if not necessary, then very, very desirable. After all, if you want to travel abroad or communicate with business partners from other countries, you cannot do without it! Or maybe you need to read literature in the original for work, or you are a novice specialist and plan to get a job in the office of a foreign company - these are also reasons to start increasing your knowledge right now. Moreover, this language is not difficult, it is quite possible to learn and consolidate its basic grammar in a few weeks of intensive study, and over time your vocabulary will be replenished. Today, our article deals with a very interesting section - the idioms of the English language. This is not a grammatical, but rather a lexical category, having carefully read it, you will expand your knowledge of the language, and will also be able to carry out a conversation with a foreignopponent at the proper level - colorful and at ease. So, an idiom is a turn of speech that has been established in everyday life, which takes place only in a certain language, and the semantic meaning of which is not the totality of the meanings of those elements (words) of which it consists. A rather difficult definition looks much simpler in practice.
Learning idioms in English
As mentioned above, these expressions reflect the specifics of a particular language. They are formed under the influence of culture, life, habits and customs of any nationality. That is, an idiom is not a separate part of the English language, which you can use or not at will, but a very significant part of its vocabulary. They can be used not only when communicating with friends or colleagues, but are also used at the highest level, and in fiction - in poetry, and even in translations of the Bible. There are several thousand such expressions in the English language. Of course, you don't need to learn every one, even native speakers can hardly remember them all. But here are the most used ones you need to know, because their presence in your spoken or written speech will significantly increase your ability to clearly express thoughts in the language of your partners. So, we found out that an idiom is not only an element of slang, but also a part of the formal style of communication. Therefore, let's look at frequently used expressions, which for convenience are formed into a table and provided with a translation.
| Idiom | Meaning and translation |
| (to be) busy as a bee | to be extremely busy (in Russian there is also a similar expression "to work like a bee") |
| across the board | include absolutely everyone (or all) |
| bean-counter | an accountant, not the person who, like Cinderella, counts the number of beans |
| carry the day | win something with absolute success |
| monkey business- | bad behavior, tomfoolery |
| (something or somebody) as good as gold | good, obedient (for example, a child) (in such cases we say "worth its weight in gold") |
| it is not my cup of tea | (anything) is none of my business or subject |
| it's black and white | a clear, direct question without any pitfalls (this idiom is very popular in business, especially when discussing contracts) |
| to be green with envy | figuratively, of course, "turn green with envy" (this is a rare case of a literal translation of an idiom) |
| once in a blue moon | rarely enough, once in a thousand years |
| A Sunday driver | Not a very skilled, bad driver (that's right, not, literally, a chauffeur who drives a car on Sundays) |
| big cheese | leader, important person, VIP |
| eat crow | admit your mistakes (this idiom has just such a meaning, so don't be surprised if your English-speaking friend or business partner might ask you to "eat the crow" (i.e. acknowledge past mistakes)) |
| add fuel to the flame | strengthen any (usually negative) situation, in other words, add fuel to the fire |
| to be affected by cold | to catch a cold, to be a cold |
| to have a butterfly in the stomach | to experience some kind of strong feeling, although most often this idiom is used in the meaning of "fall in love" |
It is highly recommended to learn by heart what this or that idiom means. This will help you avoid misunderstandings with your English-speaking friends, colleagues or business partners. Plus, using these expressions in your dialogues or correspondence, you can pass for an erudite, eloquent person. By the way, if you are going to learn a language at a sufficiently high level, it is very useful to acquire a dictionary of idioms. Any publication contains about 8 thousand expressions with translation and detailed information about the cases in which this or that phrase is used. This is quite an interesting and useful read, as it allows you to better understand the structure of the language and better understand the cultural characteristics inherent in native English speakers.
