Culture and Translation of English Idioms

Culture and Translation of English Idioms

Idioms are the core and essence of a language and they are particular and indispensable part of a language. Based on cultural elements， they best reflect the characteristics of a country. Like Chinese idioms， English idioms are brief and to the point， vivid， humorous， and so on. As we all know， non-native speakers of English can reach a point in their knowledge of the language， however， they are liable to find themselves in hot water when confronted with idiomatic expressions. So it is helpful for us to understand English better if we have a good master of English idioms.

The word “idiom” originally comes from the Greek word “idio”， which means private and specific. Interpreted in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English， an idiom is “a group of words with a meaning of its own that is different from the meaning of each separate word put together.” In a broad sense， English idioms are composed of set phrases， proverbs， colloquialism， allusions， and slang. Because of the differences in geographical features， history，convention， religious beliefs， idioms bear the weight of different national cultures and information， and it is not easy to understand them for a foreigner. Translating English idioms into Chinese cannot be the word to word translation， so it is quite necessary to know some basic information of English idioms and explore the methods of the translation.

1 Brief Introduction to English Idioms

1.1 Definitions of English Idioms

Here are some definitions of English idioms：

A peculiarity of phraseology approved by the usage of the language and often having a signification other than its grammatical or logical one.

-- Oxford English Dictionary

An expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically （as no， it wasn’t me） or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements.

-- Webster Dictionary

According to these definitions， we can get a general idea of what idioms are. The Chinese equivalent for “idiom” is习语. It means a kind of set phrase or sentence， which is often quoted by the common people. So we can define the idiom as “formed by common practice but has an implied meaning”.

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