A Comparative Study Of English And Chinese Idioms

Idioms are a particular part of a language; they are usually highly concentrated on meaning and closely related to distinctive cultural features and cultural attitudes. It is believed that idioms are the most culturally loaded element in the vocabulary of any language. With relation to forms, they give an expression to the special features of the language. There exists vast differences between English and Chinese cultures and this difference can be so formidable that the lexicographers may even think that it is impossible to give equivalents to certain culture-bound idioms.Idiomatic expressions in particular are usually very difficult to translate. This is primarily because we know that they are inspired by metaphorical thinking (as the literal meaning of these expressions mostly does not make sense) but we are usually unable to translate the underlying metaphors. We simply assume that they are some kind of an oddity in language, which is nonetheless colorful. Therefore, we tend to use idiomatic expressions sometimes when we may feel that ordinary language (i.e. literal) is not sufficient to express our thoughts forcibly enough.The Chinese idiom, usually in four-character form with varying constituent constructions and diverse origins, is a set phrase, an old...