Practical work no.18

Identification of the principles on which idioms are selected.

Objectives: to identify of the principles on which idioms are selected.

Ex.1. a. Read the following text. Compile a list of the phraseological units used in it. Classify them according to different classification systems for phraseological units.

English has many colloquial expressions to do with parts of the human body — from head to toe! Here are some of the commonest ones.

To keep your head is to remain calm, but to lose it is to panic and do something foolish. If something is above or over your head, it is too difficult for you to understand. An egg-head is an intellectual, and someone who has their head screwed on, is very sensible.

If you split hairs, you are very pedantic, but if you don't turn a hair you are very calm. To pay through the nose is to pay a very high price for something, but if you turn up your nose at something you despise it. If you are all ears, you listen very attentively, and if you keep your ear to the ground, you listen and watch out for signs of future events. To see eve to eye with someone is to agree with them, and if you don't bat an eyelid, you show no surprise or excitement. If you are down in the mouth, you're rather depressed. A stiff upper lip is the traditionally British quality of not showing any emotions in times of trouble.

To have your tongue in your cheek is to say one thing and mean something else. To have a sweet tooth is to have a taste for sweet food, and to do something by the skin of your teeth is to just manage to do it.

To stick your neck out is to do something risky or dangerous, and t o keep someone at arm's length is to avoid getting too friendly with them. To be high-handed is to behave in a superior fashion, but to lend someone a hand is to help them. If you have a finger in every pie, you are involved in a lot of different projects, and if you have green finger, you are very good at gardening. To be all fingers and thumbs is to be very clumsy, and to be under someone's thumb is to be under their influence. If you pull someone's leg, you tease them, and if you haven't a leg to stand on, you have no reason or justification for what you do. To put your foot down is to insist on something and to fall on your feet is to be very fortunate. To find your feet is to become used to a new situation, but to get cold feet is to become frightened or nervous about something. If you put your foot in it, you say or do something to upset or annoy someone else, and if you tread on someone's toes you do the same without meaning to.

b. Give at least fifteen examples of your own to illustrate the phraseological units in your list.

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