idioms
Non-literal set phrases
Idioms are expressions whose meanings can't be predicted from their individual words.
To kick the bucket is to die, not to strike a pail.
To spill the beans is to reveal a secret.
Idioms exist in every language and often resist translation—the French equivalent of "that's not my cup of tea" involves onions.
Learning a language's idioms marks the difference between textbook fluency and true command.
Short, wise expression
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
- adageTraditional pithy truth
- maximBrief moral principle
- aphorismTerse general truth
cliché · catchphrase · colloquialism · epigram · motto · dictum · byword · platitude
Words forming partial meaning
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- lexiconVocabulary of a language
- vocabularyOne's word collection
- phraseologyManner of verbal expression
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- euphemismMild substitute for bluntness
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
personification · metonymy · synecdoche · imagery · wordplay · pun · analogy · allusion
saying
Short, wise expression
aphorism · cliché · catchphrase · colloquialism · epigram · motto · dictum · byword · platitude · truism
phrase
Words forming partial meaning
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- lexiconVocabulary of a language
- vocabularyOne's word collection
phraseology · semantics · pragmatics · usage · register · ESL · bilingual
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- euphemismMild substitute for bluntness
irony · personification · metonymy · synecdoche · imagery · wordplay · pun · analogy · allusion · exaggeration
proverbs
Traditional wisdom capsules
- common sayingsproverbs, cliches, maxims, adages, aphorisms
- Informal Languageslang, colloquialisms, contractions, expressions, street talk
- Chinese dictionariesdictionaries, Chinese-English, English-Chinese, entries, definitions
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
- common knowledgegeneral knowledge, trivia, common sense, proverbs, sayings
- languagelanguage, word, words, grammar, spelling
idiomstechnical terminology
Specialized words within disciplines
scientific language · universal language · cognates · loanwords
- English idiomsFixed figurative expressions
- idiomatic expressionSet phrase, figurative meaning
- idiomatic phrasesConventional multiword constructions
- local idiomPlace-bound turn of phrase