Fixed expressions in English: reference books and the teacher

Richard J. Alexander
A brief discussion of the need to focus on fixed expressions in English is followed by a summary analysis of the types to be found. Thirteen dictionaries and reference works are inspected to ascertain their coverage of fixed expressions. An annotated bibliography assesses the utility of selected reference works for both teacher and learner.
Introduction

Teachers and learners of English are being bombarded by an ever larger number of books, dictionaries, and reference works which purport to be of help in the teaching and learning of idioms in English. It has hitherto been one of the major deficits of both linguistics and applied linguistics that vocabulary learning has tended to be viewed as an insignificant part of the process of foreign language learning. But, particularly at the advanced level, most teachers are aware of the kinds of learning problems their students are confronted with; they know that vocabulary plays an imporapproach to tant part in the process. What is needed is a principled vocabulary learning in general and to the analysis in linguistic terms of the lexis of a language. One area where this can be started is that of fixed expressions in English. The first section of this article addresses itself to the general issues involved. In the second section the various types of fixed expressions in English are discussed. The third section adopts a practical approach and illustrates by means of a spot check what kind of coverage of fixed expressions the teacher and the learner can expect to find in reference works of English. The article closes with an annotated bibliography in which dictionaries and other reference works are examined with a view to helping the teacher in his or her teaching of vocabulary in general and fixed expressions in particular. Recently, among applied linguists and language teachers, there has been a quickening of interest in vocabulary learning and teaching (see Alexander 1982c, Rivers 1981, and, especially, Meara 1980 and 1983 for a survey of the area). At the same time, we find attention being directed at a hitherto neglected area of linguistic analysis, namely the subset of lexicology we might term phraseology. A range of topics within this area has been treated: I have discussed fixed expressions in general (1978/79), Fillmore (1978) refers to the phrasicon, Makkai (1972) was a pioneer of the linguistic study of idioms, Fernando and Flavell (1981) have taken a recent look at the concept of idiom, while Luelsdorff (1981) investigates cliches, Mackin (1978) collocations, and Norrick (1981) proverbs. When one attempts to assess the implications of this work for second language (L2) learning, in particular the learning and teaching of English as a foreign language, one is impressed by the close meshing of knowledge of language with knowledge of culture.1 And consequently one also becomes aware of the problems involved in finding a principled approach towards the teaching of this fuzzy area.
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Particularly for advanced learners of English, the development of linguistic competence is largely a question of lexical expansion. I have suggested that this process is not purely lexical: the lexicon proper interacts with the encyclopedia, the stored knowledge, of the L2 learner. Also, the learning process may benefit if emphasis is placed on the three Cs of vocabulary learning: collocation, context, and connotation. The complex connections between words and things, and their many ramifications both on the denotative and on the connotative level need to be demonstrated to the advanced learner (see Alexander 1982a and 1982c). The broad category of fixed expressions appears to offer an opportunity for systematic organization of vocabulary work at university level. The methods which can be used will not be discussed here; they will vary according to local conditions and student and teacher expectations. In one place an informal approach, incorporating word games and puzzles, may be preferred. In another institution, one may be expected to proceed in a more formal manner with vocabulary presentation, vocabulary expansion exercises, and the like. In yet another, a different approach may be more appropriate. Whichever approach is adopted, it is essential that teachers should be aware of sources for their teaching. At the advanced level, it is also essential that students should be informed about what kind of service they can expect from reference works and dictionaries. The rest of this article takes the form of a survey of the information provided in such works. In Alexander (1979) I gave a preliminary survey of reference works, and discussed the kind of information available in them. Here I shall attempt to extend the picture. The increase in published works in the area is itself an indication of the great strides forward which Anglo-American lexicography has been making in recent years. I shall make no attempt to be exhaustive here. Instead, some of the more useful works will be selected and discussed from the point of view of their relevance for the EFL teacher.
Types expressions of fixed surveyed

As a preliminary step, let us distinguish some of the major types of fixed expressions to be found in English. I have distinguished five broad categories of fixed expressions, ranging from lexically oriented idioms and their many subcategories, through discourse-structuring devices, such as gambits and proverbs and proverbial idioms, to the more encyclopedia-oriented expressions such as catchphrases and quotations (cf. Alexander 1979). As should be clear from Table 1, I have simplified the presentation considerably; hence many types of idioms (in 1 and 3) have been omitted. In order to check the range and coverage of the various works, I shall add the categories of phrasal nouns or compound nouns, metaphorical, idioms or allusions, and similes. Examples of phrasal compounds are hot cakes, redneck, greenback, melting pot, etc. Allusions would include Hollywood, Big Brother, shipshape and Bristol-fashion, a lounge lizard, etc. Idioms of comparison or similes include those like as sober as a judge, etc. For a spot check on the various reference works discussed below, eight types of fixed expressions were chosen. The list of tokens was chosen more or less at random as items likely to be of difficulty for the German learner of English. The spot check consisted of looking up the twenty items (tokens) listed in Table 2 in dictionaries or reference works. (The full list of works consulted appears in the Annotated Bibliography.) The sampling procedure adopted was rough and ready and will perhaps appear rather arbitrary. My only defence is to stress that vocabulary work proceeds very
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Table 1: Types of fixed expressions in English

1 Idioms 1.1 Phrasal verbs 1.2 Tournures 1.3 Irreversible binomials

to give away to kick the bucket to put the cat among the pigeons cash and carry uphill and down dale bag and baggage

2 Discourse-structuring devices 2.1 Greetings, formulae 2.2 Connectives, gambits 3.1 Proverbs 8.2 Proverbial 4 Catchphrases

Long time no see! For a kick off... You scratch my back and Ill scratch yours. the proof of the pudding Whats up doc? Are you sitting comfortably? when all is said and done live happily ever after Your country needs you.

(metaphorical)

idioms

Then Ill begin.

4.1 Cliches 4.2 Slogans 5 Quotations, allusions

Youve never had it so good. The ladys not for turning. By the pricking of my thumbs, wicked this way comes. Now what I want is facts.

something

Table 2: Fixed expressions: tokens selectedfor spot check Types of fixed expressions I Catchphrases Greetings II Proverbial Proverbs III Tournure idioms Tokens 1 Im only here for the beer! 2 Long time no see! 3 the Land of Nod 4 It never rains but it pours. 5 buy a pig in a poke 6 smell a rat 7 pull a fast one idioms 8 cloak and dagger 9 assault and battery 10 snakes and ladders 11 dead duck 12 red tape 13 tear off (=rush away) 14 stand down idioms 15 16 17 18 a dogs breakfast like something the cats brought send someone to Coventry Fleet Street

idioms

IV Irreversible (freezes)

binomial

V Phrasal compound

idioms

VI Phrasal verb idioms

VII Metaphorical/allusive

in

VIII Idiomatic

similes

19 as thin as a rake 20 as different as chalk from cheese

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much in a hit or miss fashion, as most teachers will probably agree. Even when one attempts to inject systematic components into it, there is inevitably a marginal area which one has overlooked, or students will want to know more about. Semantic space still remains relatively badly charted - lexically speaking, that is. Working with dictionaries and other works of reference, one similarly proceeds in a rather random fashion. Teachers may demonstrate the many useful aspects of dictionaries to their students, only to find classroom pressures forcing them to think on their feet and to come up with off the cuff or rule of thumb definitions. The point of the survey is to provide orientation. One cannot be dogmatic about reference works. Some learners are dictionary worms; others (perhaps the majority) only use bilingual dictionaries, for example, when forced to do translations. All too few are aware of the learning resources that monolingual reference works and dictionaries offer the language student who is working alone. Questions of learning styles and learner types clearly enter into the equation. But having said all this, even if teachers hate using dictionaries themselves, they should be able to point students in the direction of sources they might profitably use. So the survey looks at the following categories of publication : a. the general b. c. learning dictionary: Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English; a desk dictionary of English: Collins Dictionary of the English Language; general idiom dictionaries and reference works: Dictionary of English Colloquial Idioms, Longman Dictionary of English Idioms, English Idioms and How to Use Them; specialized dictionaries (e.g. on phrasal verbs, etc.): Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs and Their Idioms, English Prepositional Idioms, English Proverbs Explained, A Dictionary of Catch Phrases ; a crossword dictionary: The Modern Crossword Dictionary; a thesaurus for the learner: Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English.

d.

e. f.

Although the boundaries between these categories are not always sharp, they remain useful for orientation. Table 3 gives a summary of those items in the spot check for which there are entries, and indicates in which dictionaries or reference works they were found. The entries, of course, differ, depending on the type of publication. In the dictionaries, all entries, except the cross-references, usually give a gloss or definition of the meaning of the fixed expression in question. The Modern Crossword Dictionary, however, simply lists the items according to the number of letters they possess; this book was included in the spot check as it provides an interesting barometer of the degree of fixedness, and the culture-linguistic relevance of fixed expressions. Clearly a quantitative survey of this kind does not say very much about the reference works. The most one can say in general terms is that, as one might expect, the more specialized the dictionary (e.g. ODCIE), the fewer items it will have, if at all, which fall outside its specialized scope. On this reckoning, then, one might argue that the more general a dictionary, the more useful it appears to be for the student. Certainly the two rival learners dictionaries - OALDCE and LDOCE - compare well, with the former having the edge, at least in terms of the spot check undertaken. For the teacher who may want the fullest possible coverage, with good examples, of the kind of material which he or she can mug up or employ
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Table 3: Results of a spot check of items in

13 reference works

Types of fixed expressions

I Catchphrases

1 2 +
+ ++ ++ +c
+

+ +
+c c+ + +
+

+ +

II Proverbial

idioms

3 4

++ + Cf +
+

++ + +++ ++
+i

+ + + + +

+ ++ ++
++

III Tournures

5 6
7

c+

c+ c+
fC

IV Irreversible

binomials

+c

9 10 V Phrasal compounds 11 12 VI Phrasal verbs 13 14 VII Metaphorical allusive idioms 15

16

+*

+ +

+ ++ +

+ + + c+ + 3 + + +c C+ + + + ? + + + +

++

c+

+ +

+ +

17 18 VIII Similes 19
20

+ +

+ +

+ + + +

+C + .,
+ CC+ +

(+i
+

++

TOTAL Tokens with 1 entry or more TOTAL entries

13 18

12 14

16 21

3 3

10 10

5 7

12 23

9 14

15 15

2 2

0 0

1 1

2 2

KEY + = entry c = cross-reference (e.g. See at ... ); only in OALDCE, LDOCE, DECI, and LDOEI. OALDCE = Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English LDOCE = Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English = Collins Dictionary of the English Language CED English LLCE = Longman Lexicon of Contemporary MCD = The Modern Crossword Dictionary = Dictionary of English Colloquial Idioms DECI LDOEI = Longman Dictionary of English Idioms EPI EI = English Idioms and How to Use Them EPE ODCIE = Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English (Vols. I and 2) DCP DEPV = Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs and Their Idioms Fixed expressions in English: reference books and the teacher

= English Prepositional Idioms = English Proverbs Explained = A Dictionary of Catch Phrases 131

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in self-written materials, the CED would seem to be the best bet. This is, however, definitely a desk dictionary. The learners dictionaries will still retain their utility, as classroom instruments in view of their size and weight. A welcome addition to the range of tools of the trade when it comes to idioms is undoubtedly LDOEI. In the annotated bibliography which follows, comments on each of the books checked, plus some others, are to be found.
Conclusion

The systematic treatment of vocabulary as a component of English language teaching is coming to be recognized as a worthwhile activity. I have suggested that the study of phraseology is an area which may serve as a useful starting point for a principled approach to vocabulary learning and teaching. There are, to be sure, a number of other avenues which will also need to be explored. But it is to be hoped that the brief survey of the resources available will serve both as an aid and as an incentive to English teachers to g-rasp the nettle of lexical complexity.
Received March 1983

Note

I In Alexander (1980 and 1982b) I singled out the area of verbal humour in English as being one in
which the language/culture discussed. mesh can be profitably

References Alexander, R. J. 1978/1979. Fixed expressions in English: a linguistic, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and didactic study. Anglistik und Englischunterricht 6: 171-88; 7:181-202. Alexander, R. J. 1980. English verbal humour and second language learning. LAUT Paper, Series B No. 60 (Trier). Alexander, R. J. 1982a. Whats in a four-letter word? Word meaning in English and second language learning. Die Neueren Sprachen 81:219-24. Alexander, R. J. 1982b. Verbal humour: its implications for the second language teacher and learner. Grazer Linguistische Studien 17/18 :7-16. Alexander, R. J. 1982c. Vocabulary assimilation and the advanced learner of English: a brief survey of the issues. Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik 7:59-75. Fernando, C. and R. Flavell. 1981. On Idiom. Critical Views and Perspectives. Exeter: University of Exeter. Fillmore, C. E. 1978. On the organization of semantic information in the lexicon in D. Farkas, W. M. Jacobsen, K. W. Todrys (eds.). Papers from the Parasession on the Lexicon. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, pp. 148-73. Luelsdorff; P. A. 1981. What is a cliche? LAUT Paper, Series A No. 85 (Trier).

Mackin, R. 1978. On collocations: words shall be known by the company they keep in P. D. Strevens (ed.). In Honour of A. S. Hornby. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Makkai, A. 1972. Idiom Structure in English. Mouton: The Hague. Meara, P. 1980. Vocabulary acquisition: a neglected aspect of language learning. Language Teaching and Linguistics: Abstracts 13:221-46. Meara, P. 1983. Vocabulary in a Second Language. (Specialized Bibliography 3.) London: CILT. Norrick, N. R. 1981. Proverbial linguistics: linguistic perspectives on proverbs. LAUT Paper, Series B No. 69 (Trier). Rivers, W. M. 1981. Apples of gold in pictures of silver: where have all the words gone? Studia Linguistica 35:114-29.

The author After reading Modern Languages at Cambridge and doing the PGCE (EFL) at the Institute of Education, London University, Richard Alexander taught English as a Foreign Language and linguistics for fifteen years to adults and university students in Finland, Italy, and the Federal Republic of Germany. He is currently Lecturer in English Language at the University of Birmingham. His research interests include the sociocultural aspects of second language learning and problems of vocabulary learning. He is the co-author of a textbook for adult learners of English, On The Way, published by Ernst Klett, Stuttgart.

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Appendix Dictionaries and Reference Annotated Bibliography The works are listed under headings:

Works the

Consulted: following

An section

Learners dictionaries of English General dictionary of English General idiom dictionaries and reference Specialized dictionaries Miscellaneous dictionaries Exercise and practice books.

works

Learners dictionaries of English Hornby, A. S. (ed.) 1974. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (OALDCE) As the spot check shows, this perennial standby of the English language teacher comes off third best. There is a wealth of information on fixed expressions and idioms, in addition to straightforward lexical, grammatical, and phonetic information between its covers. Students cannot afford to be without a copy. A must for teachers. Proctor. P. (ed.) 1978. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. London: Longman (LDOCEI) Although this did not fare as well as its older rival in this relative newcomer to the our spot check, Learning Dictionary stable has a wide coverage of fixed expressions and can be of great use to the learner. It is perhaps worth mentioning that the exercise book by Janet Whitcut: Learning with LDOCE (Longman 1979) contains helpful exercises on idioms of comparison and others in Section 6. General dictionary of English Hanks, P.(ed.). 1979. COllins Dictionary of the English Language. London and Glasgow: Collins. ICED) This is included because it is the authors current favourite English monolingual dictionary and because it undoubtedly has the best coverage of phraseology. This is not hard to believe in a book with 162,000 references and 14,000 biographical and geographical articles. Obviously any teacher of English will profit, as our spot check demonstrates; it comes out tops both in breadth and depth. General idiom dictionaries and reference works London, T. H. and D. Summers (eds.). 1979. Longman Dictionary of English Idioms. London: Longman. (LDOEI) Fairly wide coverage of all kinds of idioms, other than phrasal verbs, dealt with in Table 3 (II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII). 4,500 idioms are explained and their grammatical behaviour is also noted. There is a good cross-referencing system. Seidl, J. and W. McMordie. How to Use Them. Oxford: (EI) 1978. English Idioms and Oxford University Press.

This is an extremely useful book. It provides the teacher with a rationale for treating idioms. Categories are made explicit. The otherwise amorphous field of idiomatic phrases becomes a manageable entity, without losing touch with the practical necessities of the teaching situation. For the advanced learner, too, this small tome can provide material for intermittent perusal on the bus or train. The many examples provided, for instance, in the five sections that deal with prepositions in various constructions, certainly allow the book to live up to its subtitle: And How to Use Them. A must for every English teacher. Wood, F. T. and R. Hill. 1979. Dictionary of English Colloquial Idioms. London: Macmillan. (DECI) Despite the fact that this book has been updated and revised, its usefulness is extremely limited. The term colloquial idioms in the title has been stretched too far, not only to include idioms in the real sense but also to allow the authors to incorporate entries which are simply lexical peculiarities of English, such as Guinea pig and the verb to dock = to reduce, esp. money. Hence the range is uncertain, and the student is better advised to use a general learning dictionary. Teachers might find some of the usage notes of help in their teaching, however. 4 Specialized dictionaries Cowie, A. P. and R. Mackin. 1975. Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English. Vol. 1: Verbs with Prepositions and Particles. Oxford : Oxford University Press. (ODCIE1) In my terms a very specialized dictionary of idioms. However, unsurpassed so far as its treatment of phrasal verbs is concerned. The front matter on collocations can be used with advanced learners to great benefit. For look-up value, it offers both teacher and student a wealth of information on possible grammatical transformations of idioms, stylistic and register markings for the idioms listed, and fairly exhaustive lists of collocates for the expressions listed. Cowie, A.. P., R. Mackin and I. R. McCraig. 1983. Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English. Vol. 2: Phrase, Clause and Sentence Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (ODCIE 2) This volume has extremely wide coverage (7,000 entries) of tournures, irreversible binomials, and phrasal compounds. A particularly useful detail is the listing of idiomatic similes of the type as ADJ as NP under as. The use of quotations containing the items, together with usage notes, where pertinent, and clearly written definitions make the dictionary a boon for advanced learners. Teachers will benefit from the concise introduction to idiomaticity and related issues. 133

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McArthur, T. and B. Atkins. 1974. Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs and Their Idioms. Glasgow: Collins. (DEPV) As its title suggests, this is a specialized dictionary. It can be used with intermediate learners and its of 3,000 phrasal verbs, replete with coverage example sentences, makes it a useful classroom tool. Partridge, E. 1977. A Dictionary of Catch Phrases. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (DCP) A very specialized dictionary, but one which every good library of English should possess. Its very Eric Partridge, here compiler, idiosyncratic produced one of the few dictionaries which can be read with pleasure. Ridout, R. and C. Witting. 1967. English Proverbs Explained. London: Pan Books. (EPE) Eight hundred of the most common English proverbs are classified alphabetically and provided with a straightforward gloss. There are also useful cross-references to related proverbs. This is a book which the intermediate university student of English should purchase. Its paperback price makes it worth it. Wood, F. T. 1967. English Prepositional Idioms. London: Macmillan. (EPI) Despite a certain quaintness or datedness, this volume contains two useful complementary parts. In the first one, prepositions are listed alphabetically and examples are given for their different meanings. In the second part nouns, verbs, and adjectives are listed alphabetically; in particular the fact that adjectives are scattered throughout the book is worthy of mention. There are not many places where one can find relatively rapidly the particles which follow adjectives like redolent (of), remarkable (for), and rough (on). The book is useful for the advanced learner to browse in, but will perhaps be of most use to the teacher who is producing materials. 5 Miscellaneous dictionaries McArthur, T. 1981. Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English. London: Longman. (LLCE) This reference work is a tool for general vocabulary learning. While it does give information on collocations, it contains very little on fixed expressions such as those discussed in this article. The teacher can use

this thesaurus in organizing his or her own teaching materials. For instance, the semantic field classifications can be selected to which fixed expressions can be allocated, although the fixed expressions themselves fall outside the scope of the dictionary. N. G. 1979. The Modern Crossword Pulsford, Dictionary. London: Pan Books. (MCD) This is a book which can only really be used by the native speaker. You have to know what you are looking for -usually a set phrase with a known number of letters such as (11) POETS CORNER. For the teacher it is a useful device for jogging the mind. The names and everyday expressions included make up three-fifths of the book. 48,000 classified phrases and 36,000 words are included and classified according to the number of letters they contain-nothing else. 6 Exercise and practice books Broughton, G. 1976. Know Your English. London: Hutchinson (published in 3 volumes). Stage 3 -for the advanced learner -is of especial use for fixed expressions. The book consists of multiple choice questions designed to test knowledge of vocabulary and structure. Of special interest are the exercises dealing with collocations and miscellaneous idioms; the exercises are scattered throughout each unit dealing with metaphorical idioms, similes, and proverbs. Broughton also includes phrases and sayings which are part of the socio-cultural background of English, such as lines from nursery-rhymes. The exercises are very imaginative and can serve as a model for the teacher who wishes to produce his or her own material. Seidl, J. 1982. Idioms in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. This is an extremely helpful book of exercises (114 in all) providing practice and teaching material for the various types of idioms covered in Seidl/ McMordie (see Section 3). The exercises are of four basic types and hence rather repetitive. But it is a book to be used, say, over a longer period of time by a teacher. It is also of use to the intermediate learner for private study, as it contains a key. Its cross-references to Seidl/McMordie are a further advantage. Unlike many exercise books of idioms on the market, this one has been very successful in contextualizing the 800 or so idioms dealt with.

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