This year we'll be learning a lot of idioms in class. Here you have links to three good idioms websites.
1.- A large collection of idioms listed alphabetically, with brief definitions: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/
2.- A selection of "self-study idiom quizes" with answers: http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html
3.- A website explainig the origins of dozens of popular idioms: http:// www.idiomsite.com/
I like idioms, yesterday I looked for some on the net about birds and some of them caught my eye like "birds of a feather flock together". I have to go, I´m very busy and I´m running around like a headless chicken!!
ReplyDeleteA friend who is living in London came yesterday at home. We were talking about my Englih class. I show her the idioms´fotocopy and she said that there were some very, very common, for instance:
ReplyDelete* it is not rocket sciencie
* tongue in cheek
* bite your tongue
* red tape
But unfortunately due to crisis the most she knows is "get the sack" but she said it is more common "be fired"
I’ve glanced at the recommended websites, and I’ve selected just few idioms.
ReplyDeleteIn an athletic race, if two runners arrive neck and neck, the photo finish helps to decide who is the winner.
In a forum, we could introduce the last speaker, but not less important than the first, saying: “Last but not least, Mr. Smith, doctor in English Literature, specialist in Oscar Wilde work”
And another idiom I find is mumbo jumbo. “I found him in a disco, he was so drunk he was talking mumbo jumbo. I didn’t understand what he was trying to say.”
One of the difficulties I find in the the use of idioms is to introduce them a natural way. I think is really hard to control the nuance of every expression. For example, I don’t know if I use mumbo jumbo my speech could sound old fashioned or too colloquial.
Hi mates;
ReplyDeleteI like idioms because I think some of them are ingenious and funny (in Spanish too) but I feel like Neus, that I am not sure when can I use them. For example, in Spain when a person used a lot of idioms seems a bit oldfashioned and know-it-all. Is it the same in English?
One of my favourites idioms is: "If there is a will, there is a way". It means that if you really wanted somethihg you will find the way of get it.
See you this afternoon!