Idioms
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will focus on the following objective:
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary:
- Understanding idioms.
Idioms
Vocabulary Terms
Idioms are phrases that have special meanings, different from
their ordinary, literal meanings.
Connection to Literature
“A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness.”
—George Graham Vest, “Eulogy on the Dog”
“Stands by him” is a figure of speech called an idiom,
which is a phrase that has a different meaning from its literal one. In
this statement, the author is not saying that
dogs place themselves near their owners every minute of every day, but that
dogs will not desert their masters during bad times.
You can often figure out what an unfamiliar idiom means. One way
is to think about the actual meanings of the words and use context clues
to figure out the meaning of the idiom.
Here are some idioms connected with “Eulogy on the Dog.”
| Idiom | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dogs are not fair-weather friends. Dogs stand by you in both good and bad times. | A fair-weather friend is someone who is a friend in good times but abandons you in bad times. |
| People who honor us for our successes may be the first to throw stones when we fail. | To throw stones is to criticize or say bad things about a person. |
| When riches take wing, a dog still loves its master. | To take wing is to leave quickly, to seem to fly away. |
Idioms Quiz
Select the best definition or phrase that could be substituted for each
underlined idiom.