Rules For Idioms And Phrases

January 11, 2021

Idioms and Phrases Rules:

Idioms generally demonstrate behavior of human, reaction to certain thing, habits and traditions. An, idiom is a set of certain words which when used together, brings out a meaning which is entirely different from the meaning of each word when it is used individually.

To explain Phrases we can say that they are a counterpart of the Idioms. This means that both Idioms and phrases can be used inter-changeably and with each other.

Rules For Idioms And Phrases:-

Idioms and Phrases are literal terms that induce a meaning that may be otherwise hidden behind the actual words.

They have a cultural value attached to themselves.
They are metaphorical in the sense that if you extract the literal meaning of all the words stated then it would be too unusual to believe or even farcical.
Idioms and phrases have the capacity to add a flavor to a boring prose or book and are used by authors to add something interesting or remove monotones from their writing.

While reading and answering Idioms and Phrases we can say that there is a slight difference in the two.

Difference between Idioms & Phrases

The difference is that in an idiom, the meaning arises from common usage. While a phrase is a small group of words that have a meaning when taken together.

Let’s now see some examples of both the sections below:

Idioms

For example:

Being comfortable in one’s skin –
If you take the literal meaning it would be absurd to even explain. However the actual meaning here that we can extract is ‘the feeling of being comfortable with yourself’. One’s skin means own skin or to simplify ‘yourself’
Beat around the bush –
With this idiom it doesn’t mean to actually take a bat and beat the bush but to talk about everything around the topic and try to ignore / avoid the main topic, the person, or a particular thing.

Phrases

For Example:

Deep down – deeper feelings
Group of men and women – group of men and group of women
Challenge of imagination – challenging to be imaginative
Latin and Greek – some strange meaning

Some Idioms and Phrases

S.No	Idioms & Phrases	Meaning
1	To cut a sorry figure	To make a poor show
2	With a high hand	Oppressively
3	Burn one’s fingers	Get into trouble by interfering in other’s affairs
4	Chip on your shoulder	When someone is upset about something that happened a while ago
5	Piece of cake	Something that is easy to understand or do
6	Golden handshake	A big sum of money given to a person when he/she leaves a company or retires
7	Spill the beans	To disclose a secret
8	Blessing in disguise	Something good and useful that did not initially seem that way
9	To be in the doldrums	To be in low spirits
10	Break the ice	To initiate a social conversation or interaction
11	Hear it on grapevine	To hear rumors about something or someone
12	Be on cloud nine	Be very happy
13	At the drop of a hat	Willingness to do something instantly
14	Afraid of one’s own shadow	To become easily frightened
15	A house of cards	A poor plan
16	To pour oil on troubled waters	To make peace
17	Don’t put all your eggs in one basket	Do not put all your resources in one basket (in one place or thing)
18	Blow up	To explode
19	Back Up	To support and sustain
20	Back Upon	To be relevant
21	Break off	To end or discontinue
22	Call forth	To provoke
23	Call out	To shout
24	Call upon	To order
25	Carry on	To continue
26	Cast away	To throw aside
27	Catch up with	To overtake
28	Come off	To take place
29	Cry Down	To make little of
30	Catch up with	To overtake
31	Cut out	Designed for
32	Drop in	To Visit Casually
33	Drop out	To fall
34	Fall down	From a higher position to a lower one
35	Fall under	To come under
36	Get along	To Prosper; To Progress; To Proceed
37	Get on with	To Live Pleasantly Together; To Progress
38	Knock out	To win by hitting another one
39	Keep something at bay	Keep something away
40	Out on a limb	Do something risky