Contrasting english idioms containing comparative elements and vietnamese equivalence

According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s dictionary, idiom is “a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words.” Idioms are treated as figures of spee

HCMC University of Pedagogy Department of English

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS

Contrasting English idioms containing comparative elements

and Vietnamese equivalence

Lecturer: Huỳnh Công Minh Hùng Student: Lê Phước Thịnh Student ID No K38.701.125 HCMC, 22/05/2015

Abstract

English has long been a compulsory subject in Vietnamese education But taking advantage of many aspects of this language and apply it in learning and teaching is not as easy as it may seem This work is to explore idioms containing comparative elements so that teachers and students may have a nearer approach to this aspect of linguistics and make good use of idioms in future language learning and language teaching

I ’d like to say thank you very much to Mr Huynh Cong Minh Hung for having helped me a lot to complete this work I ’ve learnt a

whole lot from you Best wishes to you and your family

Table of Contents

Abstract 2

Table of Contents 4

Chapter 1 Idioms 6

1.1 Definition 6

1.2 Idiom meanings 8

1.3 What is missing in research on idioms? 10

1.4 Idiom translation 11

Chapter 2 Methodology 14

Chapter 3 Idioms Contrastive Analysis 15

Chapter 4 Conclusions & Discussion 57

Reference 58

Appendix 61

List of Tables

Table 3.1 As black as coal 15

Table 3.2 As bright as a new penny 19

Table 3.3 As clean as a new pin 22

Table 3.4 As clear as crystal 26

Table 3.5 As cold as ice 28

Table 3.6 As cheerful as the birds 31

Table 3.7 As easy as ABC 33

Table 3.8 As dry as dust 35

Table 3.9 As dumb as a statue 37

Table 3.10 As plentiful as ants 39

Table 3.11 As fast as a deer 42

Table 3.12 As light as air 48

Table 3.13 As hard as iron 50

Table 3.14 Hungry as a bear 52

Table 3.15 As pretty as a picture 54

Chapter 1 Idioms

1.1 Definition

To define what is idiom is not easy And we need to define it as clearly and comprehensively as possible Various definitions are given in various materials, ranging from grammar books and dictionaries to dictionaries of idioms Several examples of all these were studied intensively and if one definition should be chosen for all, then it is convenient to state that “two central features identify an idiom The meaning of the idiomatic expression cannot be deduced by examining the meanings of the constituent lexemes And the expression is fixed, both grammatically […] and lexically” (Crystal, 1995, p 163) Although at least one of

the features or, at best, both of them will be mentioned in any material discussing idioms, and these features should not be looked down on According to Oxford

Advanced Learner‟s dictionary, idiom is “a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words.” Idioms are treated as figures

of speech, which are defined in the Collins English Dictionary (2006) as: “an expression such as a simile, in which words do not have their literal meaning,” but are categorized as multi-word expressions that act in the text as units Longman Idioms Dictionary (1998) defines an idiom as: “a sequence of words which has a different meaning as a group from the meaning it would have if you understand each word separately.” The Free Dictionary website also gives the meaning of

idiom as “A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on ” Irujo (1986) defines an idiom as a conventionalized

expression whose meaning cannot be determined from the meaning of its parts One clear, specific, and systematic definition is Fernando‟s (1996, p 38) definition that

“conventionalized multi-word expressions are often, but not always non-literal.”

Lennon (1998) asserts that idioms are the colorful side of language used while we are communicating our thoughts and feelings They are used to make language much livelier and richer Accordingly, idioms should not be broken up into smaller parts because they are sometimes referred to as a fixed expression Meanwhile, Baker (1992) considers idioms and fixed expression as two different categories under the multi-word units; she refers to them as “frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form, and in the case of idioms, often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components.” Also she adds some constraints on idiom usage, which include the inability to change word order or structure and the inability to delete, substitute or add words On the other hand, Carter (1998) classifies idioms as a type of fixed expression that include proverbs, stock phrases, catch phrases, allusions, idiomatic similes and discoursal expressions

Webster‟s New World Dictionary of the American English (1988) defines idiom as: 1) the language proper or peculiar to a people or to a district, community or class; the syntactical, grammatical or structural form peculiar to a language; 2) an expression established in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in grammatical construction or in having a meaning that cannot be derived as a whole from the conjoined meanings of its elements; 3) style or form of artistic expression (as in painting, writing, composing) that is characteristic especially of an individual,

a period or movement, or a medium or instrument

We may conclude from the definitions that an idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional, and does not follow from the meaning of the

individual words which make up of it It is “an accepted phrase, construction, or expression contrary to the usual patterns of the language or having a meaning different from the language or having a meaning different from the literal.” (Webster‟s New World Dictionary of the American language, 2nd college edition, 1972)

In my own way of understanding, idiom is a group of words, each word has a different meaning, but when being together they produce a new meaning which is maybe the same as or maybe totally different from the words themselves And it can

produce a literal meaning or figurative meaning For example, the idiom bite off more than you can chew can be understood literally or figuratively depends on the

context Literally, it means that don‟t eat much more than you can so that you won‟t have to vomit or feel uncomfortable Figuratively, it means do not take on such a responsibility or a load of work that is out of your ability to complete Another

example is He'd run a mile if she asked him to marry her Most people, especially

those who are not native speakers will understand this sentence literally that the man will run away to hide or to escape from the woman if she asked him to marry

her But run a mile here also means he‟s very frightened of marrying her or he‟ll avoid her or he‟ll avoid answering her question, figuratively If one day you come

to a mobile shop with your friend, you notice that beautiful smartphone, you tell your friend that you want that smartphone then he or she says “It will cost you an arm and a leg”, if you haven‟t heard of this expression before, you won‟t understand

it until your friend explain that he or she means that the smartphone will cost you a

fortune or a lot of money So the meaning of an arm and a leg is totally different

from its own meaning of each word and this is a figurative idiom

According to Fromkin and Rodman, idioms are “fixed phrases, consisting of more than one word, with meanings that cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words” (1988, p 236) Weinreich (1969, p 42) defines an idiom as a phraseological unit with „at least two polysemous constituents‟, and refers to the

„common understanding‟ that the „meaning cannot be derived from the meanings of its elements‟ An idiom is “a phrase which has a distinct meaning […] which cannot

be explained from the separate meanings of the different words in the phrase” (Platt

et al, 1984, p 107) As a whole, an idiom “is a group of words whose meaning cannot be explained in terms of the habitual meanings of the words that make up the piece of language (Todd, 1987, p 87) Todd goes further to put idioms into categories as follows: alternative comparisons (e.g.: dead as a dodo, good as gold), noun phrases (e.g.: a blind alley: route that leads nowhere, a red letter day: a day that will never be forgotten), prepositional phrases (e.g.: by hook or by crook: by whatever methods prove necessary), verb + noun (e.g.: kick the bucket: die), verb +

prepositional phrase (e.g.: be in the doghouse: be in disgrace) and verb + adverb

(e.g.: put down: kill) (Todd, 1987, pp 86-87) For the purposes of the study of this subject, „idiom‟ is used to refer to a figurative expression of at least three words, whose meaning is literal or non-literal and therefore may be strange to those who hear it for the first time, although some idioms may be easy to be understood to certain native speakers Some idioms originates from culture, some from things or events that happen in daily lives, others are from tales or stories Levorato (1993, p 126) adds that the reason why idioms are so intriguing is that they engage imagination, can transform abstract meanings into more concrete ones and enrich the meaning of simple concepts Idiomatic expressions are not a restricted part of the language of popular culture but they exist in every area of human communication All idioms naturally indicate idiomaticity but all word combinations that show idiomaticity are not idioms

In some senses, idioms are the reflection of the environment, life, historical culture, etc of the native speakers and are closely associated with their innermost spirit and feelings They are commonly used in all types of language, informal and formal, spoken and written

chew the fat, break a leg) These idioms are referred to as „non-decomposable‟ The relation may also be more or less transparent with the constituent words contributing to idiom meaning rather literally (e.g „miss‟ in miss the boat), metaphorically (e.g „blow‟ in blow one‟s stack), hyperbolically (e.g eat one‟s heart out) or not contributing at all to deriving idiom meaning (e.g kick the bucket, chew the fat, shoot the breeze) Idioms whose constituent parts contribute (normally or abnormally, literally or figuratively) to the overall idiomatic interpretation have been characterised as decomposable/compositional or analysable Idioms whose constituent parts do not contribute to the overall idiomatic interpretation have been typically characterised as non-decomposable/non-compositional or un-analysable Different typologies have been proposed in an attempt to classify idiomatic expressions (Cacciari & Glucksberg, 1991; Nunberg et al, 1994) I take the following notions to be important in our understanding of idioms although my definitions of them vary (slightly) from those found in the literature

Conventionality: The relation between a certain string of words and a certain semantic representation There is always an element of arbitrariness as to why a certain linguistic label is used to express a certain conceptual representation There

is some arbitrariness for instance as to why something costs “an arm and a leg” in English and not “an eye of your face” or “an eye of your head” as it does in Spanish

and Italian (respectively)

Analysability: The degree to which the constituent concepts encoded by the idiom string can be used to access assumptions in memory which will contribute to the derivation of the intended interpretation

Transparency: The relative ease with which these assumptions are accessed and implications derived

The idea that idioms vary in their degree of compositionality (analysability) has led to a wave of experimental research, with the following sort of results People seem to have strong intuitions enabling them to judge an idiom as being decomposable or non-decomposable (Gibbs & Nayak, 1989) Also, since for decomposable idioms (e.g pull strings, spill the beans, pop the question, miss the boat), but not for non-decomposable idioms (e.g kick the bucket, chew the fat, shoot the breeze), people can easily identify how each part of the idiom combines in the derivation of the figurative interpretation, decomposable idioms are more flexible (syntactically, semantically and lexically) than non-decomposable ones (Gibbs & Nayak, 1989; Gibbs et al, 1989a,b) Analysable idioms are also easier for children to acquire (Cacciari & Levorato, 1989, 1999; Gibbs, 1991) and faster for adults to process (Gibbs et al, 1989a) These findings are similar to the idea that the

relation between an idiom‟s form and meaning is not completely arbitrary, and different with the standard belief that idioms are long words with the internal semantics of their constituents playing no role during processing

1.3 What is missing in research on idioms?

Compositionality

Early work in generative linguistics generally assumed that idioms were non compositional (Chomsky, 1965; Fraser, 1970) In this view, which relied heavily on syntactic arguments, meaning was assigned to the entire idiom (e.g., spill the beans) but not to its individual words (e.g., spill) In recent years, this view has been challenged by studies that have shown that idioms are in fact decompositional, that

is, that the individual words of idioms contribute to the overall meaning (Cacciari & Glucksberg, 1991; Gibbs, 1992; Gibbs & Nayak, 1991; Gibbs, Nayak, & Cutting, 1989; Wasow, Sag, & Nunberg, 1983) The semantic content of an idiom includes its overall meaning as well as the meanings contributed by each word When an idiom is processed, both its figurative meaning (of the entire idiom) and its literal meaning (of each individual word) are activated Thus, when a person hears an idiom such as spill the beans, not only is the figurative meaning of the entire idiom accessed, but the literal meanings of its subparts, such as spill and beans, are activated

Gibbs (1989) argues for compositionality He points out that some idioms, such as kick the bucket, do not semantically decompose as well as others, such as spill the beans Gibbs also challenges the view that figurative and literal meaning are distinct or that the former is derived from the latter Moreover, he does not agree with the idea that the literal and figurative meanings of each word in an idiom must

be activated every time an idiom is encountered Gibbs allows for the possibility that people may access only figurative meanings of words or of particular word combinations that make up an idiom In addition, Gibbs cites evidence to support the idea that metaphorical thought motivates the understanding of idioms In this view, metaphors such as anger is heat are believed to underlie how people experience and think about anger A number of idiomatic expressions reflect this metaphor, such as to blow one's stack or to explode with rage The fact that idioms have evolved with these particular words (blow, explode, burn) and that they are used to express anger is not seen by Gibbs or most cognitive linguists to be arbitrary; it is believed to be motivated by conceptual experience (Lakoff, 1987) Although his discussion is compelling and consonant with cognitive linguistic theory, Gibbs could have been more explicit about how metaphorical mapping works and about how it might be empirically tested

Flexibility

In research on idioms, syntactic flexibility goes hand in hand with compositionality It is generally believed that the more semantically easy to understand the idiom, the more likely it is to vary syntactically Certain idioms,

such as spill the beans, are more semantically easy to understand than others, such

as kick the bucket For instance, the literal meaning of spill shares many semantic properties with the figurative meaning of spill in spill the beans, whereas the literal meaning of kick is quite different from kick in kick the bucket Therefore, spill the beans can be changed into passive form (the beans were spilled), whereas kick the bucket cannot (the bucket was kicked) This line of thinking was introduced in the

paper which is important and having a strong influence on later developments by Wasow, Sag, and Nunberg (1983), who argued against the traditional generative linguistic assumption that idiom constituents do not behave any differently from nonidiomatic constituents with respect to syntactic rules They found that in many cases subparts of idioms allow syntactic manipulation such as movement or modification In recent years, syntactic flexibility and the extent to which idioms differ from nonidiomatic expressions have become important areas of investigation Many idioms in French are noncompositional, most of the syntactic alternations demonstrated by French idioms can be explained by a noncompositional analysis, namely, one that relies on lexicalized tree adjoining grammar, a type of unification-based grammar

The lexicon

Early linguistic and psycholinguistic research generally assumed that humans have a mental lexicon, which contains words and information about words This view is still assumed by most linguistic and psycholinguistic models Idioms, which are sometimes considered words and in other times considered phrases, have always presented problems for approaches that assume a mental lexicon Most early research on idioms considered idioms as long words, based on the observation that many idioms were not affected by certain syntactic transformations, such as the process of putting a verb into the passive form

1.4 Idiom translation

As idioms are important part of languages, understanding of a language requires understanding of its idioms and the tactics for idiom translation Translating work is not easy, especially the translating of idioms because idioms are the most difficult part to present or express in the right way In general, there are three possible ways of translating idioms, to name only a few: (1) to translate the

idiom literally; (2) to present the sense of the idiom; or (3) to use an equivalent idiom in the target language

Literal translation is usually used in the complete representation of the original when the original has almost the same meaning with the target language in the form of vocabulary, grammatical structure and rhetorical device, which means literal translation is a way by which the rhetoric, national and regional characteristics are kept in the target language The aim of literal translation is to preserve the national flavor of the source language idioms, while not disobeying the linguistic principles of the target language Translators should make every effort to keep the figurative image, rhetorical devices and the national characteristics of the original idioms In this way, the meaning and form of the source language are unchanged Sometimes, equivalent translation can be found, but mostly only similar ones

Language universal and cultural similarities are two factors in the objective world which enable cross-cultural communications People of different languages may share the same feelings, emotions and ways of thinking, because people of different nations experience the same things since they live in a similarly unique environment Misunderstanding may not be aroused in translating some source language text literally into the target language, when the translated text have the same literal meaning or figurative meaning and implicated meaning with the source language text Therefore, literal translation method can be used

In terms of idiom translation, some idioms could be translated literally Literal translation can keep the original form and images of English idioms without causing confusion in meaning Many English idioms can be translated in a literal way, for instance: “As pretty as a picture.” is translated literally into “đẹp như tranh [vẽ]”; “As clear as daylight” is literally translated into “rõ như ban ngày”, “new one

in, old one out” is literally translated into “Có mới nới cũ”, “easy come easy go” means “dễ được dễ mất”, “don‟t judge a man by his clothes” is literally translated into “Đừng đánh giá con người qua vẻ bề ngoài”, “out of sight, out of mind” literally means “xa mặt cách lòng”, or “slow but sure” which literally means “chậm

mà chắc” What‟s more, literal translation transfers the original cultural information effectively and conveys the implicated meaning without misunderstandings aroused and narrows the gaps between two languages, and at the same time, interests in reading can be greatly enhanced For instance, “A rolling stone gathers no moss” is translated literally into “an cư lạc nghiệp”, it implies that a person who is constantly moving and changing from one place or occupation to another will never gain a steady, established position, “when in Rome, do as the Romans” is literally

translated into “nhập gia tùy tục”, or “when the cat is away, the mice will play” which means “Vắng chủ nhà gà mọc đuôi tôm”

Overall, the study of idioms is very broad, from its definition to its aspects

In this work, I only present very basic knowledge of idioms and some of its features

Chapter 2 Methodology

In English as well as Vietnamese, we have lots of idioms which are used to compare and contrast things, events and phenomenon In this research into idioms, I will give you detail analysis of some pairs of comparative idioms in English and its equivalent in Vietnamese To do this, I have to follow some steps:

Data collecting: Having a rich and reliable source of information is very important To do this, I have to search for idioms, as well as its linguistic and cultural origins Gather, categorise, do some reading and choose some typical or most used idioms that contain comparative elements I also found lots of material for reference

Idioms selecting: Among lots of idioms in English and its equivalence in Vietnamese that I have gather, I choose only about 15 pairs to further discuss in detail

Processing: In this work, I present pairs of idioms in English and Vietnamese equivalence, then I compare them according to their meaning, syntactical feature, semantic feature and culture origins

Chapter 3 Idioms Contrastive Analysis

In this chapter, we will discuss in details some pairs of idioms in English and its equivalence in Vietnamese

Table 3.1 As black as coal

A/ Description:

1 Idiom As black as coal

As black as a crow

As black as a starless night

As black as ink

Đen như mực Other versions:

Đen như than Đen như cột nhà cháy Đen như cuốc

Đen như quạ

2 Syntactic

feature

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + as + N Adj: black

As…as: simile

A/ an : article N: coal/ crow/ starless night/

ink

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: đen

như: simile

N: mực/ than/ cột nhà cháy/ cuốc/ quạ

3 Meanings Based

on vocabulary

- coal: a hard black mineral that is found below the ground and burnt to produce heat

- crow: a large bird, completely or mostly black, with a rough unpleasant cry

- starless night: the night that has no star

- ink (mực) : coloured liquid for writing, drawing and printing

- coal (than): a hard black mineral that is found below the ground and burnt to produce heat

- burned house column (cột nhà cháy): a house column that was burned by fire and it got a black color

on the sky

- ink: coloured liquid for writing, drawing and printing

- coot (chim cuốc): a black bird with a white forehead and beak that lives on or near water

- crow (con quạ) Based

on meaning

of whole idiom

As black as coal/ a crow/ a starless night/ ink: very black

Đen như mực/ than/ cột nhà cháy/ cuốc: rất đen (As black

as ink/ coal/ burned house column/ coot/ crow: very black)

Coal = a crow = starless night

As…as: simile

A/ an : article N: coal/ crow/ starless night/

ink

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: đen

như: simile

N: mực/ than/ cột nhà cháy/ cuốc/ quạ

3 Figurative Simile:

- IMAGE=> coal/ a crow/

starless night/ ink

Same

- IMAGE=> mực/ than/ cột nhà cháy/ cuốc (ink/ coal/

- POINT OF SIMILARITY=>

black

burned house column/ coot)

- POINT OF SIMILARITY=> black (đen)

4 Structure As + Adjective + as + (a/the)

+ Noun

Adj + như + Noun

5 Culture Coal has been a stock

comparison for blackness for

at least four hundred years - Shakespeare uses "coal-black"

a number of times, and it certainly wasn't a new or original comparison then

Crow is a kind of bird that is mostly black Black color of the feather of crow is historically symbolic of mystery, occult, death but also symbolic of the unknown, that place beyond the veil Black is a symbol of the strangeness that creeps along behind the sun-shiny realm of what is "known" It's

a slippery place to dwell

Only the bravest of heart can

go into the darkest black night

of the soul It requires cunning, and a willingness to expect the unexpected Crows reflect that kind of sentiment

Starless night is the night that has no stars, having no stars visible Therefore, the sky is extremely dark So the image

of it is used to compare with the black color

Ink is widely used in everyday

Burned house column: In the old days of Vietnam, people usually use wood to make house columns, especially the rich Houses of the rich have lots of columns made of wood And when the wood columns are burnt, they turned into a totally black color, which is why people use this image to compare with the black color

Trong dân gian có một câu đố loài vật như sau:

Đen như quạ, vàng như hoa

Trắng như ngà, mồm như sư

tử Không biết một chữ, miệng nói ba hoa

Buồn nằm nhà, vui la cà hàng xóm

Trả lời là “con chó”

Khẳng định đầu con quạ nào cũng đen Đen ở đây là ý xấu

xa Thành ngữ ví von cùng một giuộc, cùng bản chất xấu

xa như nhau cả Còn có câu: Giống quạ đen đầu Đen như quạ

Chuyện kể:

life In the old days, it is used

to write Now, black ink is

mostly used in printers and

photocopiers And using ink

to compare with black color is

very common

Xưa, quạ và công là đôi bạn thân Màu lông của chúng đều xám xịt như rúc ở bùn lên Một hôm, quạ bảo công:

vì màu xanh đã cạn nên chỉ vẽ được vành tròn rồi rắc nhũ lên

Đến lượt công vẽ cho quạ thì bỗng có tiếng lợn kêu eng éc

ở đằng xa Quạ chắc mẩm sẽ được bộ lòng lợn Càng nghĩ càng thèm, nó không tự chủ được nữa bèn giục công rối rít

- Thôi chị vẽ cho tôi nhanh lên, kẻo lỡ hết bữa cỗ ngon Công vẫn đủng đỉnh:

- Cô cứ từ từ, phải có bộ cánh đẹp thì đi dự tiệc mới ra dáng chứ

Tiếng lợn kêu càng dồn dập, quạ càng sốt ruột, nó giục:

- Chị công ơi, chị đổ cả màu đen lên mình tôi cho mau đi! Công chưa kịp nghe ra thì quạ liền nhảy vào chậu thuốc vẽ rồi cứ thế chúi đầu xuống chậu thuốc mực tàu Công bực quá, cầm chậu thuốc đổ cả lên đầu đó

Thành thử bây giờ chả con quạ nào không đen đầu (1)

Tham lam, háu ăn và hấp tấp

đến như quạ thì chẳng còn coi nghệ thuật là gì Những người cùng hội cùng thuyền thì giống nhau, vì thế, phải chọn bạn mà chơi, kẻo người đời cho rằng “ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã”, bởi:

“Quạ nào mà đầu chẳng đen Quạ đâu lại dám mon men với cò” (2)

(1) Phỏng theo truyện “Con công và con quạ”, Truyện cổ nước Nam, Nguyễn Văn Ngọc, NXB Văn học, 2003

(2)

Ca dao Câu chuyện này được trích

trong quyển Đi tìm điển tích thành ngữ của tác giả Tiêu Hà

Minh

Table 3.2 As bright as a new penny

A/ Description:

1 Idiom as bright as a new penny

as bright as daylight

as bright as the light

as bright as silver

Sáng như gương Other versions:

As…as: simile

A/ the : article N: new penny/ daylight/ light/

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: sáng

như: simile

N: gương/ trăng rằm

silver

3 Meanings Based

on vocabulary

- new penny: a new coin that have just been brought into use

- daylight: the light that comes from the sun during the day

- light: the energy from the sun, a lamp, etc that makes it possible to see things

- silver: a chemical element Silver is a greyish-white

precious metal used for making coins, jewellery, decorative objects, etc

- gương: mirror: a piece of special flat glass that reflects images, so that you can see yourself when you look in it

- trăng rằm: full moon: the moon when it appears as a full circle; a time when this happens

Based

on meaning

of whole idiom

As bright as a new penny/ daylight/

light/ silver: very bright, shiny

Sáng như gương/ trăng rằm:

rất sáng (As bright as mirror/

Same as English

As…as: simile

A/ the: article N: a new penny/ daylight/

light/ silver

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: sáng

như: simile

N: gương/ trăng rằm

3 Figurative Simile:

- IMAGE=> a new penny/

daylight/ light/ silver

4 Structure As + Adjective + as + (a/the)

+ Noun

Adj + như + Noun

5 Culture New penny is a new coin

which has just been brought into use so it‟s still bright and shining

Daylight or day is the time everything is lit so it is easy to see everything

Mirror is a piece of special flat glass that reflects images,

so that you can see yourself when you look in it Mirror hides nothing because it shows the true you are In Vietnamese, what is not hidden but shown clearly and truly is called “bright” (sáng),

so that‟s why people use this image to compare

One example of this is:

Trung thu trăng sáng như gương,

Bác Hồ ngắm cảnh nhớ thương nhi đồng

(The moon is as bright as a mirror during Mid-Autumn

festival, Uncle Ho seeing and miss children)

sight-Full moon is the moon when

it appears as a full circle; a time when this happens In Vietnam, on some certain days, you can see that full moon is very bright and shining In the old days of Vietnam, we used to be very poor, and didn‟t have electricity city People use oil lamp But on full moon days, the moon is a wonderful source of light Eventually, people use this image in comparison and it is still used today

Table 3.3 As clean as a new pin

A/ Description:

1 Idiom As clean as a new pin

As…as: simile

a: article N: new pin/ whistle

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + V Adj: sạch

như: simile

V: chùi

3 Meanings Based

on vocabulary

- pin: a short thin piece of stiff wire with a sharp point at one end and a round

- chùi: the act or process of cleaning something

head at the other, used especially for fastening together pieces of cloth when sewing

- whistle: a small metal or plastic tube that you blow to make a loud high sound, used to attract attention or as

a signal Based

on meaning

of whole idiom

As clean as a new pin/ a whistle: very clean

new pin = whistle

The meaning of the whole phrase can be perceived through the meaning of its components

2 Syntactic

feature

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + as + N Adj: clean

As…as: simile

A/ the: article N: new pin/ whistle

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + V Adj: sạch

như: simile

V: chùi

4 Structure As + Adjective + as + (a/the)

+ Noun

Adj + như + Noun

5 Culture As clean as a whistle

One possibility is that the old simile describes the whistling sound of a sword as it swishes through the air to decapitate someone, and an early 19th century quotation does suggest this connection: 'A first rate shot.(his) head taken off as clean as a whistle.' The expression is proverbial, at least since the 18th century, when Robert Burns used a variation on it More likely the basic idea suggests the clear, pure sound a whistle makes, or the slippery smooth surface of a willow stick debarked to make a whistle

But there is also a chance that the phrase may have originally been 'as clean as a whittle,' referring to a piece of smooth wood after it is whittled.'" (From the

"Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997.)

Another source states:

"Robert Burns, in his poem, 'Earnest Cry,' used 'toom' ('empty') rather than 'clean' - 'Paint Scotland greetan owre her thrissle; Her mutchkin stoup as toom's a whissle' - and other writers have had the whistle clear, dry, pure or other adjective The basic intent, however, is to indicate that, for a sweet, pure sound from a whistle or reed, the tube must be clean and dry." (From "Heavens to Betsy & Other Curious Sayings" by Charles Earle Funk, Harper & Row, New York, 1955.)

And a third: "As every timer can tell you, a good whistle made from a reed or a piece of wood emits a clear tone - but it is easily damaged Even small particles of debris,

old-or a few drops of moisture will change the sound of a handmade instrument In order to emit the pure notes intended by its maker, a whistle has to be absolutely clean Anything or anyone as clean as a brand-new whistle

or as clear as its sound is bound to be good All of which means that an organization or person called

as 'clean as a whistle' has been

judged to be guiltless or flawless." (From "Why You Say It" by Webb Garrison, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, Tenn., 1992.)

Table 3.4 As clear as crystal

A/ Description:

1 Idiom As clear as crystal

As…as: simile

N: crystal/ daylight/ day

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: rõ

như: simile

N: ban ngày

3 Meanings Based

on vocabulary

- crystal: a clear mineral, such as quartz, used in making jewellery and decorative objects

- daylight: the light that comes from the sun during the day

- day: the time between when it becomes light in the morning and before

- ban ngày: khoảng thời gian

có ánh sáng mặt trời chiếu (trái nghĩa với “ban đêm”); the time between when it becomes light in the morning and before it becomes dark in the evening (opposite of night)

it becomes dark in

(opposite of night) Based

on meaning

of whole idiom

As clear as crystal/

daylight/ day: very clear, cannot be hidden

Rõ như ban ngày: rất rõ, không có gì che dấu được; everything is clear, nothing is hidden in broad daylight

Crystal = daylight = day

The meaning of the whole phrase can be perceived through the meaning of its components

2 Syntactic

feature

Types of Idiom: Adj +Structure: Adj + as + N Adj: clear

As…as: simile

N: crystal/ daylight/ day

Types of Idiom: Adj +Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: rõ

- POINT OF SIMILARITY=>

it is clear and you can see everything clearly during the day

4 Structure As + Adjective + as + (a/the)

+ Noun

Adj + như + Noun

5 Culture Things are shown clearly in

broad daylight, that‟s why people use this image to show clearness or obviousness, especially things or events that can be recognized because it‟s obvious

Ở đời, đôi khi những việc rõ như ban ngày, nhưng vẫn có những người không thấy, không muốn thấy, hoặc giả vờ không thấy Như chiến tranh

và hoà bình ở Việt Nam là việc rõ như ban ngày: Giặc

Mỹ là kẻ xâm lược; Việt Nam

là bị xâm lược, phải chiến đấu đến cùng để tự vệ; Mỹ phải chấm dứt chiến tranh xâm lược thì hoà bình sẽ trở lại ngay ở Việt Nam

(Rõ như ban ngày, 18-2-1996)

Table 3.5 As cold as ice

A/ Description:

1 Idiom As cold as ice

As…as: simile

N: ice/ charity

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: lạnh

như: simile

N: đồng/ tiền

3 Meanings Based

on vocabulary

- ice: water that has frozen and become solid

- charity: giving money, food, help, etc to people who are in need; kindness

towards other

- đồng: copper, a chemical element Copper is a soft reddish-brown metal used for making electric wires, pipes and coins

- tiền: money; what you earn

by working or selling things, and use to buy things

people, especially when you are judging them

Based

on meaning

of whole idiom

As cold as ice/

charity: very cold;

Cold as charity an ironical phrase

coldness of much so-called charity,

naturally be warm

Cold as charity a proverbial phrase expressing ironically great coldness or indifference

Lạnh như đồng, lạnh như tiền: very cold; showing no sympathy(As cold as copper/ money)

The meaning of the whole phrase can be perceived through the meaning of its components

But it can be replaced by a word or phrase that makes the same sense of comparison

2 Syntactic

feature

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + as + N Adj: cold

As…as: simile

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N Adj: lạnh

như: simile

N: ice/ charity N: đồng/ tiền

- POINT OF SIMILARITY=>

so cold (rất lạnh)

4 Structure As + Adjective + as + (a/the)

+ Noun

Adj + như + Noun

5 Culture Cold as charity: charity is

referred to as cold since it tends to be given to the poor and disadvantaged by organisations rather than by individual people and so lack human feeling or warmth

As cold as charity is widely used in literature, for example:

Now the fowl would be dried

to a cinder, the potatoes moist and sodden, the apples cold

as charity!

"Two Little Travellers"

by Frances Browne Arthur

It was Christmas Day, and cold as charity

"Memoirs of an American Prima Donna" by Clara

Louise Kellogg

It was dusk when we reached London, and as cold as charity

Nguyễn Bính used to have a saying:

Mười năm lòng lạnh như tiền, Tim đi hết máu, cái duyên không về

Or in Vietnamese we have a riddle:

Ao tròn vành vạnh Nước lạnh như tiền Con gái như tiên Trần mình xuống lội (Bánh trôi)

As cold as money is widely used in Vietnamese to show how cold something is; especially when one wants to prefer to the state of having

no emotion (His face was as cold ad money when he heard that he had won the second

prize)

"Johnny Ludlow First Series"

by Mrs Henry Wood

Table 3.6 As cheerful as the birds

A/ Description:

1 Idiom as cheerful as the birds Vui như tết

Vui như trẩy hội

2 Syntactic

feature

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + as + N Adj: cheerful

As…as: simile

N: the birds

Types of Idiom: Adj Structure: Adj + như + N/V Adj: vui

như: simile

N: tết V: trẩy hội

3 Meanings Based

on vocabulary

- bird: a creature that

is covered with feathers and has two wings and two legs

- Tết (New Year celebration): the time at the beginning of a new year when everyone doesn‟t have to go to work, stay home and celebrate parties with family, come to visit their old friends and relatives, participating in many festivals

- trẩy hội: participating in festivals

Based

on meaning

of whole idiom

As cheerful as the birds: very happy, very cheerful

Vui như tết/ trẩy hội: rất vui,

rất mừng (As cheerful as New Year celebration/ as cheerful

as when you are participating

in a festival)