PHRASEOLOGY

I. Answer the following questions.

1) What is the difference between a "free word-group" and a phraseological unit? Are "free word-groups" really free? Is there a clear - cut border-line between the two classes of word-groups?

2) What do these terms mean? Are they synonymous?

a word-equivalent / a holophrase

a set / fixed phrase

an idiom

Can you match the given terms and the following definitions? Explain your answer.

A. "The meaning of the individual words cannot be summed to produce the meaning of the expression as a whole". (D. Crystal)

B. "fossilised chunks of language" (M. McCarthy)

3) What are the main criteria for distinguishing between free word-groups and phraseological units?

Are these criteria wholly reliable? Why or why not?

4) What classifications of phraseological units do you know? What principles are they based on? Discuss the merits and drawbacks of each classification.

II. A. Can you identify phraseological units among these word-groups? Explain how you have done it.

to plead guilty, to be over the moon, a piece of cake, to commit suicide, to hit the sack, down and out, to feel under the weather, as daft as a brush, to take the biscuit, come to think of it, law and order, to be a pain in the neck, a burning issue, to take place, to get the wrong end of the stick, an auspicious sign, to see the light, to toe the line, to talk rubbish, to wrap up the discussion.

B. How many phraseological units can you find in this text? (Use a dictionary if necessary.) Explain how you have done it.

I always try to make the most of any opportunity to make new friends, such as a party or a social event. But if it is not always easy to break the ice, and when you don’t know someone, it is so easy to put your foot in it by saying something insensitive or something which rubs someone the wrong way. But if you keep an eye on what you say, play it by ear or just try to act naturally, it can make all the difference and you may find you stand a good chance of making a new acquaintance or even a good friend.

III. Say what variations, if any, are possible in the following phraseological units. (Consult a dictionary if necessary.)

to build a castle in the air, a sceleton in a cupboard, to fly into a temper, to catch at a straw, a hard act to follow, to tar somebody with the same brush, to have a bee in one’s bonnet, to cross the Rubicon.

IV. Read the following phraseological units and explain their meaning. On what principle are they grouped together? Can you add three more phraseological units to each group?

A. once in a blue moon, to swear black is white, out of the blue, to talk oneself blue in the face, red tape, as black as pitch, as green as grass, in the red, to paint the town red;

B. to take the bull by the horn, to shed crocodile tears, like a cat on hot bricks, an ugly duckling, a wolf in a sheep’s clothing. A crow in borrowed plumes, a black sheep.

V. Classify the following phraseological units

(a) according to the structural principle;

(b) according to the semantic principle (Academician Vinogradov’s classification);

(c) according to the structural-semantic principle (Prof. Kunin’s classification);

to make a mountain out of a molehill, calf love, as cool as a cucumber, by hook or by crook, a fish out of water, to show the white feather, safe and sound, at sixes and sevens, to swim against the tide, gospel truth, to throw the baby out with the bath water, over the hill, on cloud nine.

VI. What is the source of the following phraseological units? Classify these phraseological units according to their origin; complete the diagram.

the Trojan horse, Achilles heel, a labour of Hercules, an apple of discord, forbidden fruit, the salt of the earth, the serpent in the tree, an ugly duckling, the fifth column, to cross the Rubicon, the last straw, to clean up one’s act, the crème de la crème, to cast pearls before swine, Pandora’s box, tabula rasa, castles in Spain, a Dutch treat, to be or not to be, to take arms agains the sea of troubles, breathing one’s last, to be hoist with your own petard, home sweet home.

VII. Give the proverbs from which the following phraseological units are developed.

birds of a feather, to catch at a straw, a bird in the bush, to cry over spilt milk, the last drop / straw, a family skeleton.

VIII. Read the following jokes. What are they based on?

1. "I’d hate to be in your shoes", said a woman as she was quarreling with her neighbour.

"You couldn’t get in them", sarcastically remarked the neighbour.

2. She: Don’t you hate people who talk behind your back?

He: Yes, especially at the movies.

IX. In fiction, phraseological units may be subject to creative adaptation for stylistic purposes.

Can you identify the original phraseological unit?

Try to explain the reason for adaptation.

1. There are many ways to defur a feline. (St. King)

2. a typhoon in a wine glass (James Clavell)

3. The surly bird catches the germ.

4. The offer of the job fell at his feet just when he was demobilized; he hated the idea of it, but was sensible enough to realize that ex-officers cannot be choosers. (Knox)

5. He entended to take an opportunity this afternoon of speaking to Irene. A word in time saved nine. (Galsworthy)

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