The Cultural Features shown in English Idioms 英语论文.doc
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1、The Cultural Features shown in English IdiomsEnglish idiom is one of the most important components of the English language culture. It is widely used by native speakers. By using the idiom, the speaker can easily express his or her emotion, making the conversation or the discourse more vivid. While
2、to foreign language learners, sometimes English idioms are hardly to be understood. The reason for the misunderstanding and puzzle of the English idioms is that many cultural features are included in the idioms. If someone is not familiar with the cultural background, he or she will have difficultie
3、s in using and understanding the idioms. To say more specifically, the features involved in English idioms demonstrate the geographical, religional, classical, and historical characteristics.First of all, some geographical features are in the English idioms. British isles locate in the Atlantic Ocea
4、n, separated by English Channel, the Straight of Dover, and the North Sea from the European continent. As an island nation, British peoples lives are closely connected to the ocean. Firstly, people have to struggle against the multivariant climate on the sea, some idioms reflect the hardness of the
5、conquering of the ocean, for example using a drop in the ocean to indicate a tiny thing or a scrub. Secondly, as Britain is one of the most important harbor country in Europe, many idioms indicate the busy maritime carrying trade, such as all hands to the pumps, meaning everyone come to help for the
6、 harsh situation, and with flying colors which means having great success. Thirdly, due to the abundant ocean resources, people use phrases related to fish as idioms, for instance, big fish means a wealthy and high-status man, while like a fish out of water shows the uneasiness in new environment. F
7、ourthly, the climate of Britain is greatly influenced by ocean, so it often rains, many idioms show this characteristic, like as right as rain, which means make someone feel satisfied. Besides all these, because of the different geographic situations, English and Chinese idioms express the same mean
8、ing in different ways, for example, Chinese people say 挥金如土 ( spend money like they are infinite soil) to criticize a man spending too much money without restraint, while English people say spend money like water, for China is a country depending on agriculture and Britain is a country depending hea
9、vily on ocean works. And for different location of Britain and China, west wind means good things in Britain for it blows from the sea that brings warm air while east wind means bad luck for it blows from Siberia or the Arctic circle that brings cold air. To Chinese the people, the situation is tota
10、lly opposite. If Chinese learners use their stereotype to say something like east wind brings springs, there will be misunderstanding.Second, some religion background can be found in English idioms. The typical one is the Bible, which influences every aspect of English speaking people deeply. People
11、 are quite familiar with the characters and stories in Bible, so it is merited to use the literary quotation in their talk. There are several examples. Some idioms are from the story of the Bible, like An eye for an eye is from Old Testament, Deuteronomy, whose original saying is The punishment is t
12、o be a life for a life,an eye for an eye,a tooth for a tooth,a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. meaning that one should fight back if he or she is attacked by others, and By the skin of ones teeth from Old Testament, Book of Job, means the critical point. Some idioms are from the character of
13、 the Bible, such as as wise as Solomon is from Old Testament, Kings, to describe a intelligent man, as old as Adam to describe some ancient and old things, a Juda to say a person who betray his friend. And some idioms use the sayings in the Bible directly, such as Turn from evil,and do good;seek pea
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