These riddles, idioms, are phrases where the meanings of the individual words

cannot be summed to produce the meaning of the idiomatic expression as a

whole (Crystal, 1991 ). It is commonly acknowledged among language teachers
and linguists that the mastering of idioms is a challenge for language learners
(Cacciari & Tabossi, 1993, p. 22) (Crystal, 2010, p. 109). Teaching idiomatic
language is, equally, a challenge for the educator: Formulaic language has
proven difficult to characterize and challenging to harness for effective teaching
and learning in the L2 context (Wray & Fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 123). Even advanced
learners of second and foreign languages have great difficulty with native-like
collocation and idiomaticity (Ellis, 2008, p. 7). Supporting this, from the viewpoint
of cognitive linguistics, is among others Kvecses (2010, pp. ,231) , who calls
idioms a notoriously difficult area of foreign language learning and teaching.
Lewis (2009) supports this statement, and 11 emphasizes the need for command
of more than one language in todays world where people have more contact
across borders than ever before

If teachers focus more deliberately on idiomatic language while teaching, will the
students competence in using idiomatic expressions increase?

Idiomatic Creativity and Variation

A creative native speaker (or someone of near-native speaker proficiency) can
play with some idiomatic expressions and vary very familiar idioms in order to
make a point, as stated earlier in the quote by Johnson-Laird (1993). There
seems, however, to be a limit to how much an idiom can be altered, for example
by substituting a word in the idiom for another, without the idiomatic expression
losing its meaning and function. Glucksberg (1993) uses the example of break
the ice (a more or less discrete event that results in a relaxation of a stiff,
awkward, chilly social situation (Glucksberg, 1993, p. 7)). He states that while
substituting 34 crack for break is relatively acceptable and will not alter the
meaning of the idiom or the phrase being recognized as idiomatic, substituting
words such as crush, grind or shave is not acceptable. Glucksberg remarks that
while all of these actions are perfectly appropriate to do to the object ice, they
are unacceptable for creative use in this idiom. Agreeing with Glucksberg in this
seems straightforward: crack the ice is close enough to the original idiom to be
recognized, but to crush the ice, or grind the ice or shave the ice seem like
different actions altogether, and is more likely to be taken literally than as
examples of idiomatic creativity.
Even if these substitutions were to be recognized by listeners as variations on a
familiar idiom, they seemingly lend a different quality to the social action; to
crush the ice in an uncomfortable social situation seems to lack a certain grace
the action sounds more violent than is alluded to in the original idiom
Glucksberg presents a list of productive operations used when varying idioms to
perform an intentional communicative function

1. Adjectival modification When drugs are involved, its time to speak your
parental mind.
2. 2. Adverbial modification Did he finally speak his mind?
3. 3. Quantification As a diverse but purposeful group, you should speak your
minds.
4. 4. Tense marking He spoke his mind.
5. 5. All of the above The tenants association finally spoke their collective
minds.
(https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/34846/Eekx-xMasterx-xILOS.pdf?
sequence=1&isAllowed=y)