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Idiom. An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the literal meanings of each word inside it. [1]
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
Break a leg. " Break a leg " is an English language idiom used in the theatre or other performing arts to wish a performer "good luck". An ironic or non-literal saying of uncertain origin (a dead metaphor), [1] "break a leg" is commonly said to actors and musicians before they go on stage to perform or before an audition.
The phrase " when pigs fly " (alternatively, " pigs might fly ") is an adynaton —a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility. The implication of such a phrase is that the circumstances in question (the adynaton, and the circumstances to which the adynaton is being applied) will never occur.
The whole nine yards. " The whole nine yards " or " the full nine yards " is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way". [1] Its first usage was the punch line of an 1855 Indiana comedic short story titled "The Judge's Big Shirt".
It occurs in the jazz classic Old Man Mose, recorded by Louis Armstrong in the United States in 1935, and in the West Indies it figured in the title of the reggae hit “Long Shot kick de bucket”, recorded by The Pioneers in 1969. In the case of the latter, the song refers to the death of a horse. In North America, a variation of the idiom is ...
The idiom " the straw that broke the camel's back " describes a minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction due to the cumulative effect of previous small actions. It alludes to the proverb "it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back". This gives rise to the phrase " the last straw ", or " the final ...
The pot calling the kettle black. " The pot calling the kettle black " is a proverbial idiom that may be of Spanish origin, of which English versions began to appear in the first half of the 17th century. It means a situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares, and therefore is an example of psychological ...