It is difficult to imagine a speech in which such pearls as winged expressions, phraseological units would not sound . This is the wealth of any language, its decoration. The study of stable expressions is devoted to a whole branch of linguistics - phraseology.
What is an idiom?
Philologists in a huge number of bright and unique phrases define three types of turns: phraseological combinations, unity and fusion. Last - this is the idiom. What is a fusion? This is phraseologism that is not semantically divided, that is, its meaning is not inferred from the meaning of the words that make it up. Many of the components of the idiom are already outdated form or meaning, now completely incomprehensible.
A rather striking example is the expression “beat the buck.” It is used when they want to report that someone is messing around, it is unlikely that he wonders what the bastard is and why it should be beaten.
In the old days, this was a fairly easy job that did not require qualifications or special skills, even a child could do: logs were split into blanks, from which the master then made various household utensils, for example, wooden spoons.
The term "idiom" from ancient Greek is translated as "feature, originality", "special turnover." Incidentally, what is an idiom is well illustrated by an attempt to literally translate these turns into foreign languages. It is practically impossible to do this: as they say, an untranslatable pun.
Use of idioms in the literature
It is hard to imagine even a work where phraseological units were not used. Literary speech without their use becomes faded and artificial. The idioms of the Russian language live so organically in it that sometimes they are not even noticed at the time of use.
Try to imagine a dialogue in which one person, telling another about the material well-being of someone else, describes for a long time how rich he is. Most often, he would put it briefly and succinctly: “Yes, hens don’t peck at his money”, as, for example, the heroine A. Ostrovsky does in the play “Our People — Let's Count”.
This expression is found in A. Chekhov, and I. Shmelev, and other classics and writers. And this, of course, is not the only idiom so widespread. Examples can be given endlessly.
The most important sign of phraseological units is their metaphorical, figurative nature. Academician N. M. Shansky even gave them such a definition as "miniature works of art." Can large creations fully exist without them?
Using idioms in the media
Modern newspapers and magazines try to give expressiveness and expressiveness to the presentation of their materials. The language of the media is enriched by the ability of steady momentum not only to identify an object or phenomenon, but also to show their appreciation by the author. The emotionality of phraseological units “works” on this. Their functional and stylistic qualities are widely used in various genres of journalism.
Idioms of the Russian language in the sphere of mass media, they “allow themselves” to swap the words that compose them, as well as add or decrease them, which, by and large, contradicts the scientific point of view on the structure of phraseological units. This is done to enhance the necessary experience.
So, in the press you can find "extended" idioms like "stir up serious passions" instead of the established "kindle passions", "thoroughly soap the neck" - "soap the neck." The phrase "he went through fire and water" can be found without the final words "and copper pipes."
The more inventively the journalist uses phraseological units, the more catchy the material he gets, and the more adequate the reader’s reaction to him.
Using idioms in speaking
For stable lexical turns, as well as for words, the main function is that they are able to name objects and their signs, phenomena and conditions, as well as actions. Idioms of the Russian language able to be replaced with one word and vice versa. So, in colloquial speech much more often instead of the word “carelessly” there is a stable expression “across the sleeves”. If you want to emphasize a small amount of something, instead of the word “little”, “with a gulkin’s nose” or “the cat wept” will rather sound. To confuse - confuse, to your liking (not to your liking) - like (dislike). One can cite many examples of idioms when they win in rivalry with ordinary words.
The conversation sounds much more lively if, characterizing someone's courage, the interlocutors agree that he is "not out of a timid dozen"; that someone did his job not somehow, but “through a stump-deck”; and someone else is dressed in a suit "from the needle", that is, a new one, and after talking, they will go to "kill the worm" instead of the banal "snack".
The role of idioms in Russian
Phraseologisms in our vocabulary occupy a special place. The idioms of the Russian language are widely used both in epic works of folklore, classical and modern literature, being a very important tool for their creation, and in the media and ordinary colloquial speech.
They are found literally at every step, and therefore it is interesting to know their origin and is necessary - meaning, meaning. Thanks to this, it will be possible to correctly and appropriately use them, enriching and making your own speech more colorful. In addition, this knowledge will help to better understand the various literary texts.
The role of idioms in our language is also quite large because, thanks to them, you can express your attitude to a particular event or phenomenon in the most figurative way by “turning on” the figurative meaning.
You can also call the conciseness of speech. Phraseologism, having reduced it, as if squeezing it, gives it great energy.
The role of idioms in foreign languages
Phraseologisms are the wealth of Russian vocabulary. However, this language layer is sufficiently inherent in other systems. Extremely interesting are the Chinese idioms , which are one of the deepest cultural heritage and traditions of this country. In the corresponding dictionary there are about 14 thousand.
It is quite difficult to find the equivalent of Chinese idioms in other languages, because they are often based on some kind of national legend or historical fact.
Similarly, an essential part of the English vocabulary is represented by the idioms of the English language. With the translation, as from Russian to other foreign ones, difficulties arise here too. As an example of a classic stable expression, we can use the English phrase It's raining cats and dogs , which literally translates as “rain from cats and dogs”. This is an analogue of the Russian idiom "it pours like a bucket."
As in our language, in English phraseological conjunctions are used in different speech styles and in different literary genres.
Conclusion
Some of their phraseological unions are used quite often, others less frequently, but each of them is a grain from the “gold reserve” of the national language and national history.
Chinese idioms are especially noteworthy in this sense, since they not only emphasize the “wingedness” of expressions, but are carriers of the traditional culture of China, in which such human qualities as wisdom, honesty and fidelity, rules of decency and friendliness are especially valued. All this is the main content of the phraseological units of the Middle Kingdom.
Having found out what an idiom is, we can conclude: this is the wisdom of one or another people, collected over its entire history and preserved to this day. The presence of imaginative stable revolutions gives any language depth and a special coloring.