C. Syntactic compounds

1. Pat and Jack were in London for the first time. During a tour of the shops in the West End they came to an expensive-looking barber's. "Razors!" exclaimed Pat. "You want one, don't you? There's a beauty there for twenty-five bob, and there's another for thirty bob. Which would you sooner have?" "A beard," said Jack, walking off.

2. The children were in the midst of a free-for-all. "Richard, who started this?" asked the father as he came into the room. "Well, it all started when David hit me back."

3. That night, as they cold-suppered together, Barmy cleared his throat and looked across at Pongo with a sad sweet smile. "I mean to say, it's no good worrying and trying to look ahead and plan and scheme and weigh your every action, because you never can tell when doing such-and-such — won't make so-and-so happen — while, on the other hand, if you do so-and-so it may just as easily lead to such-and-such."

4. When Conan Doyle arrived in Boston, he was at once recognized by the cabman whose cab he engaged. When he was about to pay his fare, the cabman said:

"If you please, sir, I should prefer a ticket to your lecture."

Conan Doyle laughed. "Tell me," he said, "how you knew who I was and I'll give you tickets for your whole family."

"Thank you, sir," was the answer "On the side of your travelling-bag is your name."

5. An old tramp sailed up the back door of a little English tavern called "The George and Dragon" and beckoned to the landlady.

"I've had nothing to eat for three days," he said. "Would you spare an old man for a bite of dinner?"

"I should say not, you good-for-nothing loafer," said the landlady and slammed the door in his face.

The tramp's face reappeared at the kitchen window.

"I was just wondering if I could have a word or two with George."

6. "Where are you living, Grumpy?"

"In the Park. The fresh-air treatment is all the thing nowadays."

7. Arriving home one evening a man found the house locked up. After trying to get in at the various windows on the first floor he finally climbed upon the shed roof and with much difficulty entered through a second-story window. On the dining-room table he found a note from his absent-minded wife: "I have gone out. You'll find the key under the door mat."

8. One balmy, blue-and-white morning the old woman stood in her long, tidy garden and looked up at her small neat cottage. The thatch on its tip-tilted roof was new and its well-fitting doors had been painted blue. Its newly-hung curtains were gay… Bird-early next morning Mother Farthing went into the dew-drenched garden. With billhook and fork she soon set to work clearing a path to the apple tree.

(From Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by R. Dahl)

Arrange the compounds given below into two groups: A. Idiomatic. B. Non-idiomatic. Say whether the semantic change within idiomatic compounds is partial or total. Consult the dictionary if necessary.

light-hearted, adj.

butterfly, n.

homebody, n.

cabman, n.

medium-sized, adj.

blackberry, п.

bluebell, n.

good-for-nothing, adj.

wolf-dog, n.

highway, n.

dragon-fly, п.

looking-glass, n.

greengrocer, n.

bluestocking, n.

gooseberry, n.

necklace, п.

earthquake, n.

lazy-bones, n.

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