idiom
Non-literal expression
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning can't be predicted from its individual words: kick the bucket means to die, break a leg means good luck.
Every language has idioms, and learning them marks fluency.
More broadly, idiom refers to the characteristic style or expression of a language, period, or group: the idiom of jazz, legal idiom.
Words forming partial meaning
- sayingShort, wise expression
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
- adageTraditional pithy truth
- maximBrief moral principle
aphorism · colloquialism · cliché · platitude · truism · dictum · epigram · quip
Rules for arranging words
- grammarLanguage's structural rules
- phrasingManner of expressing something
- usageAct of employing something
- dictionChoice of words
parlance · register · vernacular · dialect · patois · argot · jargon · lingo
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
connotation · allusion · hyperbole · understatement · irony · euphemism · personification · metonymy
phrase
Words forming partial meaning
maxim · aphorism · colloquialism · cliché · platitude · truism · dictum · epigram · quip · witticism
syntax
Rules for arranging words
- grammarLanguage's structural rules
- phrasingManner of expressing something
- usageAct of employing something
diction · parlance · register · vernacular · dialect · patois · argot · jargon · lingo · lexicon
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- imageryVivid descriptive language
symbolism · connotation · allusion · hyperbole · understatement · irony · euphemism · personification · metonymy · synecdoche
folklore
Inherited cultural narratives
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- customHabitual group practice
proverb · wisdom · storytelling · mythology · fable · parable · ancestral · generational · regional · ethnic
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- Cultural Referencesmeme, catchphrase, movie quote, song lyric, famous line
- Stylisticsdiction, word choice, register, formality, informal style
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
- languagelanguage, word, words, grammar, spelling
- FranceParis, Notre-Dame, Lyon, croissant, Toulouse
idiomliteral meaning
Exact, non-figurative interpretation
plain speech · denotation · direct speech · explicit language · surface meaning
idiomsolecism
Grammatical or social blunder
barbarism · grammatical error · malapropism · broken English · foreign accent
- village idiotSettlement's designated simpleton
- idiot boxDismissive term for television
- like an idiot
- fucking idiot
- useful idiotUnwitting propaganda spreader
- idiot boxesSlang for televisions
idiot, idiomatic, idiosyncrasy, idioms, idiosyncratic, idiolect, idiomatically