Phrases and Idioms

A phrase or an expression that doesn’t have a literal meaning and doesn’t follow the usual language pattern is known as Idiom. The phrases that don’t make much sense if dissected are often idiomatic.

Whereas the phrases provide additional meaning or information to a sentence. It’s a group of words, not the actual sentence. If taken out of a sentence, phrases will be meaningless.

For example: 

• She let the cat out of the bag 

Or,

• It was raining cats and dogs

The first sentence means that something was told to the girl, and she couldn’t keep it a secret.

The second sentence means it is raining very heavily.

Where to use Idioms and Phrases?

English is a captivating language to learn. Its energetic, expressive, and well-versed prose can take you to a different universe. Idioms and Phrases are commonly used techniques by authors to make their words critically acclaimed. We must grasp the idea of Idioms and Phrases and how to utilise them accurately. 

The idioms are usually used in a casual gathering or informal environment, like talking with colleagues, family and friends.

These should never be used in formal communication such as form letters, business proposals, etc.

Idioms are used generally to make subtle remarks and express friendly intent.

Although idioms aren’t some book theory that you have to memorise, it’s simple to use, like one might have heard a catchy idiom and understands the meaning of idioms. They’ll start using it in their usual conversation. It’s as simple as that.

With the Phrases, it doesn’t hold the ground were to use and where not to because if phrases are bifurcated from the original sentence, it will be meaningless. They are just a group of words.

Types of Idioms 

There are two types of Idioms:

• Figurative Idioms
• Prepositional Idioms

Figurative Idioms:

When the idioms have very common meanings or expressions, their origination is not questioned, then it’s called Figurative Idioms.

Many figurative idioms have lost their meanings due to recurrent usage over time.

They can still be used, but overuse would ruin the speaker’s intent.

Prepositional Idioms

When an expression is entirely dependent on the preposition for the meaning of idioms, then it is termed Prepositional Idioms.

For example, why do we say 

• “She put up with him” rather than “She put on with him”?
• “At home” rather than “in-home”? 
• Why is it “sick of him ” rather than “sick from him”? 
• Why do we get in a car but on a boat? 

There is no logical reason; the expressions are idiomatic. moreover, many words take different prepositions for different idioms, for example

“She was waiting on Siddhartha.”

“She was waiting for Siddhartha.”

Both have an entirely different meaning; hence it depends upon the words and their dependency on different prepositions.

Prepositional expressions don’t adhere to guidelines you can retain. Luckily, you can normally depend on your ear and your experience. Whenever you’re uncertain about the right relational word for an expression, one can always dive into the dictionary. In some cases, the entry for a word gives you an expression showing which relational word to use. When the word is associated with several idioms, they are regularly recorded toward the finish of the section.

Types of phrases 

There are three types of phrases in the English Language :

• Noun phrase 
• Verb phrase 
• Prepositional phrase

Noun Phrase

A group of words that consists of nouns and any modifiers.

Verb Phrase 

It is the same as that of a noun phrase.

Prepositional Phrase

Those words explain the relationship between two things and have a prefix as a preposition.

A few examples of Idioms and Phrases with the meaning of all idioms

• If it’s worth a penny, it’s worth a pound

Meaning: when someone has invested money in something, he is doing it on purpose.

• Better to have one bird in your hand than two in the bush

Meaning: time does not repeat. What you have right now may not be there tomorrow.

• A splinter from the past

Meaning: a person’s behaviour or deeds similar to that of his parents.

• Call it a day 

Meaning: stop working on something or wrapping up the work (formal usage).

• Cry over spilt milk

Meaning: regret over something that can’t be rectified.

Conclusion 

Idioms and phrases are the ways to beautify the language that looks presentable. Aspirants, in competitive exams, must be thorough with as many Idioms and phrases they can verse themselves with. For day-to-day life, idioms can also come in handy if we have to convey a long message without being too lengthy. Usage of idioms and phrases should be done intelligently to convey the right message and keep it short and simple. Always make sure to use the idioms wisely as it can make one sound rude and careless towards others.