Essential Idioms in English REVISED EDITION With Exercises for Practice and Tests by Robert J. Dixson © REGENTS PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.Copyright © 1951, 1971 by Regents Publishing Company, Inc Al rights reserved. No part of this book may be re- produced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Cant Number: 59-9148, Printed in the United States of Anerica Preface ‘Although lists of English idioms’ have been compiled in the past, this is apparently the first attempt that has been made to teach idioms by means of extensive practice exercises, Idiomatic expressions are accepted as part of simple, every- day speech, Experienced teachers of English have long recog- nized their importance as a means of adding grace and exactness to speech and writing, But the foreign student by no means finds it easy to use idiomatic expressions fluently. When he attempts to translate such expressions directly from his native tongue, the meaning somehow eludes him, and he finds himself resorting to involved cireumlocutions. ‘The student may lear grammar and, with time, acquire an adequate vocabulary, but without a working knowledge of such idioms as to put out, to get along, to call for, to took up, to look over, ete, his specch will remain awkward and stilted. ‘To be sure, complete control of the idiom of any language requires years of study and practice. Yet this is no reason why the study of idioms should be neglected. Such a study should tbo made part of, and integrated with, the regular teaching of grammar and vocabulary. Of course, the idioms chosen for study should be well within the student's grasp and of practical value, Such expressions as to carry coals to Newcastle or to wash one's dirty linen in public, while very coloeful, do not help the student achieve his goal of gaining facility in his everyday uso of the language. For this reason, only those idioms have been included in this book that are more or less basic, In addition, I have avoided theorizing in the text about the nature ot idioms; in fact, I have not even gone too deeply into defining what an idiom actually is, For the purpose of this book T have simply assumed that an idiom is an expression which has a meaning different from that of the individual meaning of each of its component parts. This explains why the idiom cannot be trans-lated literally from one language into another without some ‘change in its meaning or connotation. ‘Most important of all, in choosing the idioms for this book ‘Thave been guided by my many years of teaching in this field. T believe that the judgment of other experienced teachers will endorse the selection I have made, especially of the idioms in- ‘eluded in the first (elementary) section and in the second (intermediate) section. In the third or advanced section, though I may have included some idioms that another teacher would have omitted, or omit- ted a few that another teacher might have included, it will be appreciated that any selection on the advanced level must be arbitrary because the range is so great. Finally, it should be borne in mind that this is a drill book designed to teach students how to use idioms. It is not a book of reference, ‘Mention should be made of a unique feature that adds to the usefulness of this book: Appendix II is a listing of all the idioms in the book with their equivalents in Spanish, French, and German. Having these equivalents available should give ‘the student a surer grasp of the meaning of the English idioms ‘and greater confidence in using them. RID. REVISED EDITION ‘nits revised and enlarged form, Essential Idioms adds eight ‘new lessons that feature current and up-to-date idioms. In addition, each idiomatic expression that is separable is marked with the symbol (S) throughout the book and sentences illus- trating both separated and non-separated examples of the idiom ‘are usually given. Other minor modifications which have been made include the occasional sharpening of a definition or an exercise, and the elimination of out-of-date terms or anachron- istic references, For further information on idioms, the reader jg referred to Whitford and Dixson: Handbook of American Idioms, Revised Edition, 1971, published by Simon & Schuster, Inc., Educational Division. OW. SECTION | (Elementary) ‘Lessons 1 to 11 SECTION I (intermediate) ‘Lessons 12 to 28 SECTION II! (Advanced) Lessons 24 to 42 AppendixI Appendix II. . Contents 98-191 on