Words / B2

ID-ee-uh-m/ˈɪdiəm/

An idiom is a set phrase whose meaning is not the sum of the words: kick the bucket; a sporting idiom. Phrase is wider; proverb is a moral saying. Do not translate the idiom word for word. Idiomatic English is a listening trap. Do not call any long sentence an idiom.

Meaning

A phrase whose meaning is not obvious from the separate words.

Examples

• “Do not translate the idiom word for word in the reading paper.”
• “The commentary asked whether the dialect was idiom or idiolect, which is the language sense.”

Good to know

an idiom; idiomatic English. Wider: phrase. Moral saying: proverb. Reading and translation papers. Set meaning, not a proverb every time.

Near in meaning

phrase

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