000			01462nam a22002295i 4500
999			_c19711 _d19711
001			21474001
005			20210429120158.0
008			200319s2020 nyu 000 0 eng
020			_a9780198845621 (pbk)
040			_cDLC
082			_a423.13 _bAy93
100	1		_aAyto, John,
245	1	0	_aOxford dictionary of idioms / _cJohn Ayto.
250			_a4 ed.
260			_aOxford : _bUnited Kingdom Oxford University Press, _c2020
300			_a429 p.
650			_aEnglish language _xIdioms
650			_aTerms and phrases
650			_aIdioms
942			_cBK
520			_a"To begin at the beginning: what is an idiom? Perhaps the shortest meaningful answer to that question would be 'a phrase that behaves like a word'. We are used to thinking of words as the lowest common denominators of meaning. But then consider, for example, the phrase a pig in a poke. What can we make of that if we try to interpret it word by word? Even if we know what a poke is (or was), which most people probably do not, it would make very little sense. Or take the phrase haul someone over the coals. Its literal meaning would, in virtually any context, be totally inappropriate. Understanding each individual word does not get us very close to the meaning of the phrase; we have to interpret the phrase as a whole, almost as if it was a single word in its own right. It is phrases like these that are known as 'idioms' and they form the subject matter of this dictionary"--