FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGYthe use of common names inidiomatic expressions
Course Paper
The Student: xxxxxxxx
2009
Contents
Introduction
1. What is an idiom?
1.1 The meaning ofidioms
1.2 The structure ofidioms
1.3 The categoriesof idioms
2. Common names
2.1 Characteristicof Proper nouns
2.2 Place names
2.3 Personal names
3. Practical Chapter.The use of proper names in idioms
3.1 The methodologyof the research
3.2 Idioms with personalnames
3.3 Idioms withplace names
4. Groups ofpersonal names
4.1 Idioms withplace names
Conclusions
References
Introduction
Thetheme of the paper is “The use of common namesin idiomatic expressions”.
Thesubject of the present paper is based on thecollecting common names from idiomatic expressions. The term “common names”refers to proper names. Proper names are names of persons, places or certainspecial things. In the English language proper names are typically capitalizednouns. They have a number of certain features as well – they are not used inthe plural and are not preceded by adjectives, articles, numerals,demonstratives, or other modifiers. There are some kinds of proper nouns:
· Place names.
· Personal names.
· Diacritics.
Theaim of the work is to analyze the commonnames of English idioms, their types, features and structure. This paper willshow the origins of the proper nouns used in idiomatic expressions.
Thefollowing objectives of the research have been set:
1. Toprovide theoretical evidence and discuss on idiomatic English.
2. Tostudy English idiomatic dictionaries.
3. Tocompare, analyze and classify idioms with personal and place names.
Researchmethods:
1. Descriptive-theoreticalliterary analysis provided a possibility to review numerous issues concerningfeatures of proper nouns.
2. Contrastivelinguistic analysis is also used in the work with the aim determining thefrequency or intensity of common names usage in relation with idiomaticexpressions.
Relevanceof the work:
Asnoted by an increasing number of idiomatic scholars, it is clearly problematicto assume that idioms form a homogeneous class of linguistic items. Carefulattention must be paid to the many syntactic, lexical, semantic and pragmaticdifferences that exist among words and phrases that are generally judged asidiomatic. The investigation of a wide range of idioms clearly demonstratesthat many idioms are analyzable and have figurative meanings that are at leastpartly motivated. Many idioms have individual components that independentlycontribute to what these phrases figuratively mean as wholes.
Theviews and approaches such scholars as A. Makkai, M. Everaert, R. Moreno helpedto analyze idiomatic English topic in more detailed way.
Thestructure of the work:
Thepaper consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusions, references andpractical patterns.
Asurvey of theoretical issues necessary for the analysis is presented below.
1.What is an Idiom?
Theultimate roof of the term idiom is the Greek lexeme idioms, meaning“own, private, peculiar” (J. Strassel: 1982:13).
Indifferent dictionaries there could be found quite a lot different explainingwhat an idiom is. There are some of the definitions:
1. Anidiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meaningsof its constituent elements or from the general grammatical rules of a languageand that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics(Random House Dictionary: 2009. dictionary.reference.com/browde/idiom)
2. Idiom– an expression with a meaning that cannot be guessed from the meanings of theindividual words. (English Dictionary for Speaker of Lithuanian, 2000).
3. Anidiom typical of the natural way in which someone speaks or writes when theyare using their own language. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:2003).
4. Idiom– a group of words that has a special meaning that is different from theordinary meaning of each separate word. (Longman Dictionary of ContemporaryEnglish: 2003).
5. Idiom– a form of expression, grammatical construction, phrase, etc., peculiar to aperson or language; a phrase which is understood by speakers of a particularlanguage despite its meaning’s not being predictable from that of the separatewords. (Oxford Talking Dictionary).
6. Anidiomis aphrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from thedictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard forESL students and learners to understand (Dictionary of English idioms andidiomatic expressions: www.usingenglish.com.reference/idioms).
Accordingto Ifill T. (2002:78) idioms are as “those that speaker cannot work out simplyby knowing the grammar and the vocabulary of a language”. According to J. Saeed(2003:60) idioms are “words collocated together happen to become fossilized,becoming fixed over time”. This is the reason why idioms are set out asnon-compositional.
Idiomsare used in a wide variety of contexts and situations. They are often used inspoken language, in situations that range from friendly conversations tobusiness meetings. Idioms are used in written English as well, especially injournalism where writers frequently use them to bring their stories to life.
Knowingthe meaning of idioms let understand the smallest refinements of the language.However, it is quite difficult to understand the exact meaning of the idiom ofthe foreign language because it is related with some kind of problems that arenamed in the further chapter.
1.1The meaning of idioms
Anidiom is a sequence of words which has a different meaning as a group from themeaning it would have if you understood each word separately. Idioms add colorto the language, helping us to emphasize meaning and to make our observations,judgments and explanations lively and interesting. They are also very usefultools for communicating a great deal of meaning in just a few words.
Knowingwhether an expression receives a literal meaning or an idiomatic meaning isimportant for natural language processing applications that require some sortof semantic interpretation.
Idiomsare pervasive in all styles of language use. The problem they present to thetheoretical and computational linguist is not the fact that their meaningcannot be worked out by the usual mechanisms, for if it were not for otherfactors this could be overcome by treating them as ‘big’ lexical items to belooked up in a list in a fairly straightforward way.
Idiomis defined as expression that does not mean what it literally said. You cannot understandthe meaning of whole idiom putting the meanings of each word from whichconsists idiom together. Put as simply as possible, an idiom is a fixedexpression whose meaning cannot be taken as a combination of the meanings ofits component parts. Thus, the common phrase kick the bucket has nothingto do with either kicking or buckets, but means simply, “to die.” Idiom has themeaning only as a unit and has lexical and grammatical stability as well. Ifyou look at the individual words, it may not even make sense grammatically.According to M. Everaert (1995), an idiom is an institutionalized expressionwhich overall meaning does not correspond to the combined meanings of itscomponent parts. Many idioms are intuitively nontransparent: their meaning is hardto guess without a special context or previous exposure. In spite of that, veryfew idioms are fixed in forms. These features we will discussed in ourfollowing chapter.
1.2The structure of Idioms
Asit was said in our previous chapter, idioms are notmixed in form. One part of the phrase can be let out, for example,somebody has been around the block (a few minutes)can be said without the words a few times,although the meaning remains the same. This technique is also used for idiomswhich have become clichйs and are therefore oftenshortened, such as you can lead a horse to water (but youcan’t make him drink). Some idioms can have any word inserted,depending on what the speaker is describing. For example, in the idiom the____ of somebody’s dreams theunderline space indicates that the range of nouns, adjectives, etc which couldbe inserted is unlimited.
Inaddition to that, the main idiom can have several less popular versions. Forexample, sell like hot cakes (go like hot cakes).It shows that idioms are notfrozen units. In internal structure of idioms there also could be found somechanges. Let us begin with themost minimal way in which an idiom can be altered from its base form:morphology:
1.
a.I will take them to task for their indolence.
b.I am taking them to task for their indolence.
c.I took them to task for their indolence.
d.I have taken them to task for their indolence.
2.
a.George and Simon have their ups and downs.
b.George and Simon are having their ups and downs.
c.George and Simon had their ups and downs.
Inthese example sets, we will analyze the idioms take NP to task andhave one’s ups and downs to be the listed forms of the idioms in (1) and(2). These examples clearly show that the verb tense can be changed in theinternal structure of the idiom. We can make a conclusion that those idiomswhich were classified as “completely frozen” exhibit this kind of behavior (tripthe light fantastic vs. tripping the light fantastic vs. trippedthe light fantastic) (M. Everaert: 1995:45).
Ithas been widely noted that the individual words in an idiom cannot be replacedby synonyms and still retain the idiomatic reading of the phrase. This is whatqualifies them as fixed forms. In most non-idiomatic discourse, a speaker canuse synonymy to create a new sentence with the same semantic meaning. Thatmeans that changing a word from the idiom with its synonym we will not get thesynonymic idiom. In spite of that, idioms can be synonymous among themselves.For example:
Johnkicked the bucket.
Johnkicked the pail.
Onething that is readily noticeable about idioms is that many seem to resistundergoing transformations that similar non-idiomatic constructions can readilyundergo while retaining the same sense. For example:
Johnkicked the bucket.
Thebucket was kicked by John.
Inspite of that sentence is transformed its meaning remains the same.
Allthese changes can be found in all categories of idioms.
1.3The categories of Idioms
Idiomshave been classified into several groups. Many idioms are derived from thenames of body parts and bodily functions:
· cover one’s back – dosomething to protect yourself from criticism or future blame;
· blood, sweat, and tears – greatpersonal effort;
· in cold blood- without feeling;
· feel (something) in one’s bones – sensesomething, have an intuition about something.
Other big group is idioms derived from animals names:
· as weak as a kitten – weak,sickly;
· hit the bulls-eye – to reachthe main point of something;
· dog-eat-dog – ready or willing tofight and hurt others to get what one wants;
· monkey see, monkey do – someonecopies something that someone else does.
Thethird big group is idioms derived from food and preparing it:
· full of beans — to feel energetic, to be in highspirits;
· grist for the mill — something that canbe used to bring advantage or profit;
· take the cake — to be the best or worst ofsomething;
· cook (someone’s) goose — to damage or ruinsomeone.
Those are three the most common groups of idioms in Englishlanguage. All these idioms are based on daily life events. They have risen fromdaily routine, from following the animal’s behavior as well as the human’s bodyreaction to different situations. They are often used in every day’s speech andthey are quite intelligible.
Other idioms are quite rare in English language. For example,politics idioms:
· body politics– A group of people organized under asingle government or authority (national or regional);
· fifth columnist– a member of a subversive organizationwho tries to help an enemy invade;
· on the stump– politicians are campaigning for supportand votes.
Onerarer group is idioms based on crimes and police as well:
· behind bars– to be in prison;
· new sheriff in town– a new authority figure takes charge;
· after the fact — after something (a crime etc.) hasoccurred.
These expressions are quite difficult to understand. Forexample, idiom new sheriff in town could be understood as a fact that atown has really got a new sheriff.
The category with common names in idioms is not the smallestone but it is not the most common one. We could say with some exceptions.
For example, idioms are widely known and understandable aswell as common used in English language. This category we will analyze in ourwork.
· Achilles heel– a person’s weakspot;
· Adam’s apple– a bulge in thethroat, mostly seen in men.
2.Common names
Commonname – a noun that is not normally preceded by an article or other limitingmodifier, as any or some, and that is arbitrary used to denote a particularperson, place, thing without regard to any descriptive meaning the word orphrase may have, as Lincoln, Beth Pittsburgh.(http://dictionary.reference.com). Common names are also called proper names.
Accordingto Valeika (2003:44), “a proper noun is the name of a particular member of aclass or of a set of particular members”. Also Valeika (2003) introduces to theidea that the function of a proper noun or name is the same as definitearticle, because both are particularizes: Smith means the manSmith/the Smith man. Thus, the presented idea reveals the differencebetween the definite article and proper noun, because the addition of theproper name cause to become the common name semantically unnecessary and it isdropped in the surface structure.
Anotherdifference added by Valeika (2003) concerns the way the two modes of namingexplain the problem of the uniqueness of reference: proper names are not alwaysproper, because they may refer to more individual. As the consequence, thisshows that proper names may function as common names.
Next,when proper names have no unique reference they behave like common names.
Thecommon meaning of the word or words constituting a proper noun may be unrelatedto the object to which the proper noun refers. For example, someone might benamed «Tiger Smith» despite being neither a tiger nor a smith. Forthis reason, proper nouns are usually not translated between languages,although they may be transliterated.
Forexample, the German surname Knцdel becomes Knodel or Knoedelin English (not the literal Dumpling). However, the transcription ofplace names and the names of monarchs, popes, and non-contemporary authors iscommon and sometimes universal. For example, the Portuguese word Lisboabecomes Lisbon in English; the English London becomes Londresin French; and the Greek ἉсйуфпфелЮт(Aristotelēs) becomes Aristotle in English(http://en.wikipedia.org).
2.1Characteristic of Proper nouns
A proper noun is first of all a kind of noun. Like othernouns, a proper noun may label a person, place, or thing, and may label aconcrete object or an abstraction. Most proper nouns refer to a specific person– Julius Caesar, a specific place – Istanbul, a specificinstitution or organization – the Red Cross, or a specific event – theRenaissance. (http://en.wiktionary.org). In English, there are a fewtypical characteristics which permit proper nouns to be recognized. A propernoun typically:
1. …hasits initial letter capitalized.
2. …isnot used in the plural.
3. …isnot preceded by adjectives, articles, numerals, demonstratives, or othermodifiers.
Aphilosophical consideration of proper nouns finds three properties:
· Uniqueness of referent.According to J. S. Mill (1843), proper nouns identify a specific thing, onethat is unique. The differentiation, therefore, between general names, andindividual or singular names, is primal; and may be considered as the firstgrand division of names. A general name is closely prйcised, a name which isable of bring truly affirmed, in the same sense, of each of an indefinite numberof things. An individual or singular name is a name which is only able of beingtruly affirmed, in the same sense, of one thing.
· Specificityof label. J. Locke (1869) noted that this property originates from theway in which proper nouns are used to separate one particular item from allother similar ones. Likewise persons, countries, cities, rivers, mountains, andother distinctions of place have usually found peculiar names, and that for thesame reason; they being such as men have often an occasion to markparticularly, and, as it were, set before others in their discourses with them.
· Does not impart connotation or attributes.According to J. S. Mill (1843), proper nouns donot carry meaning other than as a label for a specific object and they are nottranslated. Thus, man is capable of being truly affirmed of John, Peter,George, and other persons without assignable limits: and it is affirmed of allof them in the same sense; for the word man expresses certain qualities,and when we predicate it of those persons, we categorically state that they allown those qualities. But John is only capable of being truly affirmed ofone single person, at least in the same sense. For although there are manypersons who bear that name, it is not conferred upon them to indicate anyqualities, or anything which belongs to them in common; and cannot be said tobe affirmed of them in any sense at all, consequently not in the samesense.
Propernames could be divided into several groups:
1. Placenames;
2. Personalnames;
3. Diacritics.
Inour work we will research place and personal names in the idioms.
2.2Place names
Geographicalor place names are the nouns we use to refer to specific places and geographicfeatures. They are also called toponyms.
Toponymscan be both place names, real or imaginary, as well as names derived fromplaces or regions. They can be found in many different arenas of industry,enterprise, culture, and current events. It is not unusual to find toponymsused for places that withdraw other places, as well as wars, treaties andagreements, bands, food, and fabric, among other items(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-toponym.htm). For example, there are manyplaces beginning with the word new that are toponyms named to recall orhonor other places. In North America – New Hampshire named after Hampshire,England; New Jersey named for the Isle of Jersey in the EnglishChannel; New Mexico, recalling the country to south; New York,after York, England; and the Canadian province Nova Scotia, whichmeans “New Scotland.” Toponyms can be found in almost every sphere ofour life.
Somemodern-day bands have toponyms for their name. Chicago (the Americanrock band formed) takes its name from the city of Chicago. TheManhattan Transfer (an American vocal group) has a name that is a toponymonce-removed: it is named after novel Manhattan Transfer by John DosPassos, after Manhattan Transfer train station in Harrison, New Jersey.The rock group Styx, originally called The Tradewinds, drew theirtoponymic second name from the river in Greek mythology. The Shangri-Las,named after the Himalayan utopia in James Hilton’s novel, Lost Horizon,was an all-girl American pop trio.
Anumber of fabrics have toponyms that notice their place of origin. The shirtfabric called Oxford takes its name from Oxford, England. The twothick cotton materials used for pants, denim and jean, are both place names:the first derives from the fact that it came from Nоmes, France – “deNоmes”, Jeans comes from the French pronunciation – Gкnes – of its cityof origin, Genoa.
Thereare toponyms of food as well. Hamburgers, named for Hamburg,Germany, and frankfurters or hotdogs, named for Frankfurt,Germany. Also, two nicknames for coffee, Java and Mocha, referencingcities in Indonesia and Yemen. Tangerines are a popular fruit named for Tangiers,Morocco, but the Barbados cherry, Natal plum, and Java plum mightbe less familiar. Using the name «Champagne,» a name forsparkling wine, is illegal in a number of parts of the world unless the productoriginates in the Champagne region of France.
Inaddition to that, the well-known names are derived from toponyms:
· Event and agreements. For example, JackonState (Mississippi) – the Jackon Statelkilling in 1970; Maastricht(The Netherlands) – the Maastrict treaty of 1992; Potsdam (Germany)– the Potsdam Conference in 1945. (http://en.wikipedia.org/).
· Cheese: Edam after town of Edamin the Netherlands; Parmesan, from Parma Italy; Roquefortafter a village in southern France. (http://en.wikipedia.org/).
· Wine: Bordeaux, Chablis, Madeirawine, a fortified wine and Plum in madeira, a dessert – Madeiraislands of Portugal. (http://en.wikipedia.org/).
· Corporations: Nokia, Vaasa, Raisio– some corporations whose name is simply the same as their original location.(http://en.wikipedia.org/).
· Derivations from literary or mythical places: Eden,any paradisiacal area, named after the religious Garden of Eden; ElDorado, any area of great wealth, after the mythical city of gold; utopia,term for organized society – Utopia, fictional republic from the book ofthe same name. (http://en.wikipedia.org/).
2.3Personal names
Personalnames are the names given to people, but can be used as well for some animals(like race horses) and natural or man-made inanimate objects (like ships andgeological formations). As proper nouns, are almost always first-lettercapitalized. Exceptions are made when the given individual does not want theirname to be capitalized, and the lowercase variant has received regular andestablished use in reliable third party sources.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_article). Personal names are transcribedinto English spelling but generally not Anglicized or translated between languages;it was also mentioned in the case with place names.
Letus look at the examples:
AleksandrSergeyevich Pushkin (АлексбндрСерге́евич Пу́шкин) was a …
Canute(sometimes Cnut; Danish Knud)is the …
Personal names are also called eponyms. An eponym is aword derived from the names of real, fictional, mythical or spurious characteror person (). One who is referred to as eponymous is someone that gives theirname to something, e.g. Julian, the eponymous owner of the famous restaurantJulian’s Castle.
Indifferent cultures, time periods have often been named after the person whoruled during that period:
· One of the first recorded cases ofeponymy occurred in the second millennium BC, when the Assyrians named eachyear after a high official (limmu).
· In Ancient Rome, one of the two formalways of indicating a year was to mention the two annual consuls who served inthat year. For example, the year we know as 59 BCE would have been described as“the consulship of Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus and Gaius Julius Caesar”.Under the empire, the consuls would change as often as every two months, butonly the two consuls at the beginning of the year would lend their names tothat year.
· In the Christian era, many royalhouseholds used eponymous dating by regal years. Although The Roman CatholicChurch finally used the Anno Domini dating scheme based on the birth ofChrist on both the general public and royalty.
· Government administrations or politicaltrends often become eponymous with a government leader. North American examplesinclude the Nixon Era, Trudeaumania, Jeffersonian economics, Jacksoniandemocracy, McCarthyism, Thatcherism, Kennedy’s Camelot or Reaganomics.
· British monarchs have turned eponymousthroughout the English speaking world for time periods, fashions, etc. Forexample, Elizabethan, Edwardian, Georgian and Victorian(www.wikipedia.org).
Placesand towns can also be given an eponymous name through a relationship (real orimagined) to an important figure. Peloponnesus, for example, was said toderive its name from the Greek god Pelops. In historical times, newtowns have often been named after their founders, discoverers, or after notableindividuals. In science and technology, discoveries and innovations are oftennamed after the discoverer (or supposed discoverer) or to honor some otherinfluential workers. Examples are Avogadro’s number, the Diesel engine,meitnerium, Alzheimer’s disease and the Apgar score. Some books,films, video, and TV shows have one or more eponymous principal characters: RobinsonCrusoe, the Harry Potter series, Seinfield and I love Lucy,for example.
Thereare thousands of eponyms in everyday use of English language today and study ofthem yields a fascinating insight into the rich heritage of the world’s mostpopular language and its development(http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/eponyms.htm). The list of themeswhere eponyms can be found is very long and various:
· Albums: David Bowie:DavidBowie; Cher: Cher. (www.wikipedia.org)
· Adages: Murphy’s law – ascribedto Edward A. Murphy who stated “If there’s more than one way to do ajob, and one of those ways will end in disaster, then someone will do it thatway.” (www.wikipedia.org)
· Adjectives: parkinsonian – JamesParkinson (as in parkinsonian syndrome), Stalinist -Joseph Stalin.(www.wikipedia.org)
· Cartoon characters: Baby FaceFinlayson, from The Beano comic – Baby Face Nelson, Nero,Belgian comic character by Marc Sleen is named after the Romanemperor Nero. (www.wikipedia.org)
· Chemical elements: curium (Cm,96) – Pierre and Marrie Curie, promethium (Pm, 61) – Prometheus,a Titan from Greek mythology. (www.wikipedia.org)
· Human anatomical parts: Achillestendom – Achilles, Greek mythological character, Adam’s apple– Adam, Biblical character. (www.wikipedia.org)
· Ideologies: Leninism – after VladimirLenin, Maoism – after Mao Zedong. (www.wikipedia.org)
· Inventions: Braille – LouisBraille, diesel engine – Rudolph Diesel. (www.wikipedia.org)
· Mathematical theorems: Ptolemaiostheorem (geometry), Atkinson’s theorem (operator theory). (www.wikipedia.org)
· Prizes, awards and medals: NobelPrize – Albert Nobel, O. Henry Awards – O. Henry. (www.wikipedia.org)
3.Practical Chapter. The use of proper names in idioms
3.1The methodology of the Research
Theaim of the research work is to analyze the use of proper names in Englishidioms and to identify origins of these names. Idioms were classified into twogroups: with personal names and with place names. The definitions of thecollocated idioms were presented as well and they were illustrated withexamples. The scope of the work is 97 idioms which were selected from thefollowing sources:
· Longman Idioms Dictionary (1999).
· www.dictionary.com.
· www.usingenglish.com.
Thedistribution of all taken examples is shown in figure No. 1.
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Figure No.1 Kinds of idioms
Researchmethods employed in the work are as follow:
· Descriptive-theoretical literaryanalysis provided a possibility to reviewnumerous issues concerning features of proper nouns.
· Statistical method – wassalutary for the processing of the results of the empirical part of theresearch.
TheEnglish language has quite a long list of idioms. Idioms with personal andplace names among all the idioms are not the prevailing ones. To compare bothidioms with personal and place names researched in our work we can draw aconclusion than idioms with personal names are used more frequently in theEnglish language. In our sources we have found only 24 ones with place namesand even 73 idioms with personal names, in percent style, accordingly 25 % and75 %. For example:
· Be robbing Peter to pay Paul – totake money from one part of a system or organization that needs it and use itfor another part of the system or organization, so that you deal with onedifficulty but still have problems. (Longman Idiom Dictionary:1999:261). Idiomwith personal names.
· New York minute – (USA)if something happens in a New York minute, it happens very fast. (www.usingenglish.com).Idiom with place name.
3.2Idioms with personal names
Wehave analyzed 73 idioms with personal names and while analyzing the idiom wehave noticed that they could be divided into groups according to their origins.We distinguished the following groups:
1. Namesderived from mythology.
2. Namesderived from religion.
3. Namesbased on characters of the books, films, cartoons etc.
4. Namesderived from folk mythology.
5. Namesof the real persons.
6. Others.
Resultsof this analysis are shown in figure № 2.
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Figure № 2.Origin of personal namesin idioms
Accordingto the results we made conclusions that religion and mass media influencepeople’s language the most. Idioms with these names are quite popular and veryoften used in spoken language. For example, idioms based on religioncharacters:
1. RaiseCain – to complain a lot about something in anangry or noisy way because you are determined to get what you want(www.usingenglish.com).
2. Putthe fear of God into somebody – to make someone feelfrightened of doing something wrong by making them realize the bad things thatcould happen if they do it (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:139).
3. Adam’sapple – the Adam’s apple is a bulge in thethroat, mostly seen in men (www.usingenglish.com).
Letus see the origin of the name Cain –this personwasthe first murderer according to scriptural accounts in the Bible – Genesis4 and in the Qur’an – 5:27-32. The biblical account, from the KingJames’ Version, tells us how Cain and Abel, the two sons of Adam and Eve, bringofferings to God, but only Abel’s is accepted. Cain kills Abel in anger and iscursed by God ().
Thenext big group is idioms with personal names which are taken from famous books,songs, cartoons. For example:
1. Ripvan Winkle – Rip van Winkle is a character in astory that slept for twenty years, so if someone is a Rip van Winkle, they arebehind the times and out of touch with what is happening now(www.usingenglish.com).
2. MickeyMouse – something that is intellectually trivialor not of a very high standard (www.usingenglish.com).
3. Livea life of Riley – used in order to say thatsomeone has a very comfortable, easy life without having to work hard or worryabout money (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:210).
Letus look at the origin of the name Riley – this phrase originated in apopular song of the 1880s, “Is That Mr. Reilly?” by PatRooney, which described, what its hero would do if he suddenly came into afortune (http://www.answers.com/topic/life-of-riley).
Idioms with personal namesthat are related to real persons are also often used in the English language.We have found 13 idioms of this kind. For example:
1. Bob’syour uncle – said after you tell someone how todo something, in order to emphasize that it will be simple and will definitelyachieve the result they want (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:33).
2. Looka right Charlie – tolook very strange or stupid, so that people laugh at you, or feel that peopleare going to laugh at you (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:58).
3. 50million Elvis fans can’t be wrong – usedto say that something must be true because so many people think so (LongmanIdioms Dictionary: 1999:103).
Twowell-known persons in our examples are Elvis Presley and Charlie Chaplin. Letus look at the example Bob’s your uncle. It is a catchphrase dating backto 1887, when British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury decided to appoint acertain Arthur Balfour to the prestigious and sensitive post of Chief Secretaryfor Ireland. Not lost on the British public was the fact that Lord Salisburyjust happened to be better known to Arthur Balfour as “Uncle Bob”. In theresulting furor over what was seen as an act of blatant nepotism, “Bob’s youruncle” became a popular sarcastic comment applied to any situation where theoutcome was preordained by favoritism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob’s_your_uncle).
Thesmallest group found in our research was idioms with personal names originatedfrom mythology. In spite of that, we could not say that those idioms areunknown or used very rarely. We have selected 10 idioms of this kind. Let uslook at the examples:
1. Achilles’heel – a weakness of someone’s character thatcauses them problems, or the weak part of a place, system, argument where itcan easily be attacked or criticized (www.usingenglish.com).
2. Midastouch – the ability to earn money very easily(www.usingenglish.com).
3. Asword of Damocles – something bad that mayaffect your situation at any time and make it much worse (Longman IdiomsDictionary: 1999:335).
Allthese persons are well-known from Greek mythology. The death of Achilles wasnot mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, but appeared in later Greek and Roman poetryand drama concerning events after the Iliad, later in the Trojan War. Accordingto a myth arising later, his mother, Thetis, had dipped the infant Achilles inthe river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable wherethe waters touched him — that is, everywhere but the areas covered by herthumb and forefinger – implying that only a heel wound could have beenhis downfall.
3.3Idioms with place names
Analyzingthe idioms with proper names we have found 23 idioms with place names. That is25 % of all researched idioms. We have discovered that all the place namesmentioned in idioms were real. In spite of that some of them were mentioned inthe Bible, for example, Road to Damascus – ifsomeone has a great and sudden change in their ideas or beliefs, then this is aroad to Damascus change, after the conversion of Saint Paul to Christianitywhile heading to Damascus to persecute Christians, place Damascus is real. Themost common place name used in idioms is Rome. For example:
· All roads lead to Rome– This means that there can be many different ways of doing something(www.usingenglish.com).
· Fiddle while Rome burns– used when you disapprove because someone is spending too much time orattention on unimportant matters instead of trying to solve bigger and moreimportant problems (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:288).
· Rome was not built in a day – thisidiom means that many things cannot be done instantly, and require time andpatience (www.usingenglish.com).
Idiomswith personal names are more frequently used than idioms with place names.
4.Groups of the personal names
Inour research we have distinguished 6 main groups of the origin of the personalnames used in idioms. The distinguished groups are the following ones:
Namesderived from mythology:
1. Asword of Damocles – something bad thatmay affect your situation at any time and make it much worse (Longman IdiomsDictionary: 1999:335).
2. APyrrich victory – used about a situation in whichyou are successful, but you suffer so much that it was not worthwinning(Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:368).
3. Achilles’heel – a weakness of someone’s character thatcauses them problems, or the weak part of a place, system, argument where itcan easily be attacked or criticized (www.usingengllish.com).
4. Beforeyou can say Jack Robinson – used in order to saythat something happens very quickly (www.usingenglish.com).
5. BetweenScylla and Charybdis – in a situation inwhich there two possible choices or actions both of which are equally bad(Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:297).
6. Cutthe Gordian cut – to solve a very complex problemin a simple way (www.dictionary.com).
7. DaveyJones’ locker – Davey Jones’ locker is the bottomof the sea or resting place of drowned sailors (www.usingenglish.com).
8. Midastouch –the ability to earn money very easily(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Pandora’sbox – Ifyou open a Pandora’s Box, something you do causes all sorts of trouble that youhadn’t anticipated (www.dictionary.com).
10.PeepingTom – A peeping Tom is someone who tries tolook through other people’s windows without being seen in order to spy onpeople in their homes (www.usingenglish.com).
Namesderived from religion:
1. Notknow somebody from Adam – used in order to saythat you do not know someone at all, or have never seen them before (LongmanIdioms Dictionary: 1999:2).
2. Adam’sapple – the Adam’s apple is a bulge in thethroat, mostly seen in men (www.usingenglish.com).
3. Behand of God – very good luck, or a bit of cheatingthat helps someone to succeed, especially in a game of football(www.dictionary.com).
4. ForPete’s sake– this is used as anexclamation to show exasperation or irritation (www.usingenglish.com).
5. Godwilling and the creek don’t rise – a humorousexpression used in order to say that you hope you will not have problems doingsomething (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:139).
6. God’sgift to – if someone thinks they are God’s giftto a group of people or an activity, they behave in an annoying way that showsthey think they are more important to that group or activity than they reallyare (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:139).
7. IsSaul also among the prophets? – It’s a biblicalidiom used when somebody known for something bad appears all of a sudden to bedoing something very good (www.usingenglish.com).
8. JumpingJudas! – An expression of surprise or shock(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Mohammedmust go to the mountain – used in order to saythat if someone you want to see, especially someone important, will not or cannot come to you, you have to make effort to see them, even if it is difficult(Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:236).
10.PaintedJezebel – a scheming woman (www.usingenglish.com).
11.Patienceof Job – If something requires the patience ofJob, it requires great patience (www.dictionary.com).
12.Putthe fear of God into somebody – to make someone feelfrightened of doing something wrong by making them realize the bad things thatcould happen if they do (www.dictionary.com).
13.RaiseCain – to complain a lot about something in anangry or noisy way because are determined to get what you want(www.usingenglish.com).
14.Sohelp me God – used in order to emphasize thatyou really mean what you are saying or promising (Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:139).
15.Workall the hours God sends – used in order to saythat someone spends all their time working very hard (Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:139).
Namesderived from real persons:
1. 50million Elvis fans can’t be wrong – used to saythat something must be true because so many people think so (Longman IdiomsDictionary: 1999:103).
2. Bob’syour uncle – said after you tell someone how todo something, in order to emphasize that it will be simple and will definitelyachieve the result they want (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:33).
3. FreudianSlip – if someone makes a Freudian slip, theyaccidentally use the wrong word, but in doing so reveal what they are reallythinking rather than what they think the other person wants to hear(www.usingenglish.com).
4. Happyas Larry – very happy (www.dictionary.com).
5. HeathRobinson – used to say about a system, machineetc that does something ordinary in a way that is very complicated and not atall practical (www.dictioanry.com).
6. Hobson’schoice – a situation in which there is only onething you can possibly do, unless you do nothing (www.usingenglish.com).
7. Inlike Flynn – refers to Errol Flynn’s popularitywith women in the 40’s. His ability to attract women was well known throughoutthe world (www.usingenglish.com).
8. Looka right Charlie – to look very strange or stupid,so that people laugh at you, or feel that people are going to laugh at you(www.dictionary.com).
9. Murphy’slaw – used to say that the worst possiblething always seems to happen at a time when it is most annoying, preventing youfrom doing what you are trying to do (Longman Idioms Dictioanry:1999:58).
10.RealMcCoy – used in order to say that something isreal, and not a copy. (www.usingenglish.com).
11.Richas Croesus – very rich (www.usingenglish.com).
12.RubeGoldberg – used about a system, machine etc thatdoes something ordinary in a way that is very complicated and not at allpractical (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:291).
13.SmartAlec – A smart Alec is a conceited person wholikes to show off how clever and knowledgeable they are (www.usingenglish.com).
Namesderived from folk etymology:
1. AnyTom, Dick or Harry – an expression meaningeveryone, used especially when you disapprove because there is no limit on whocan do a particular activity (www.usingenglish.com).
2. Berobbing Peter to pay Paul – to take money from onepart of a system or organization that needs it and use it for another part ofthe system or organization, so that you deal with one difficulty but still haveproblems (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:261).
3. Benjaminof the family – the Benjamin of the family is theyoungest child (www.usingenglish.com). .
4. Forthe love of Pete – usually used inexasperation, as in ‘Oh, for the love of Pete!’ (www.usingenglish.com).
5. GreatScott – an exclamation of surprise(www.usingenglish.com).
6. Home,James – (UK) this is a clichйd way of tellingthe driver of a vehicle to start driving (www.usingenglish.com). .
7. Jack-of-all-trades– -trades is someone that can do manydifferent jobs (www.usingenglish.com).
8. JaneDoe – Jane Doe is a name given to anunidentified female who may be party to legal proceedings, or to anunidentified person in hospital, or dead. John Doe is the male equivalent(www.usingenglish.com).
9. JoeBloggs – a name used to represent all ordinarypeople and their thoughts, feelings and situation (www.dictionary.com)
10.Johnnyon the spot – A person who is always available;ready, willing, and able to do what needs to be done (www.usingenglish.com). .
11.UncleSam – the government of the USA(www.usingenglish.com).
Namesbased on characters of the books, films, cartoons:
1. AnAladdin’s cave of something – a place where a lotof particular type of thing can be found, especially something interesting orunusual (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:56).
2. AuntSally – used about someone or something thatis often blamed or criticized by a particular group of people, even when thereis no reason (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:10).
3. Belike Darby and Joan – used to talk aboutold husband and wife who live very happily together (Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:78).
4. Brahmsand Liszt – drunk (Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:40).
5. Doa Lord Lucan – (UK) if someone disappears withouta trace or runs off (Lord Lucan disappeared after a murder)(www.usingenglish.com).
6. EvenStevens – if everything is equal betweenpeople, they are even Stevens (www.usingenglish.com).
7. I’mall right Jack – used in order to showdisapproval when someone’s attitude shows that they do not care about a problemthat other people are having, because it does not affect them(www.dictionary.com).
8. Jekylland Hyde – used about someone who has twototally different parts to their character, one very good and the other bad(www.usingenglish.com).
9. Keepup with Joneses – to try to have all thethings that your friends and neighbors have, and do all the things that they do(www.dictionary.com).
10.Livea life of Riley – used in order to say thatsomeone has a very comfortable, easy life without having to work hard or worryabout money (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:210).
11.MickeyMouse – something that is intellectually trivialor not of a very high standard (www.usingenglish.com).
12.Ripvan Winkle – Rip van Winkle is a character in astory who slept for twenty years, so if someone is a Rip van Winkle, they arebehind the times and out of touch with what’s happening now(www.usingenglish.com).
13.Smilelike a Cheshire cat – to have a big smileon your face, so that you look silly or too pleased with yourself(www.dictionary.com)
14.Takethe Mickey – to you tease someone(www.usingenglish.com).
15.Vicarof Bray – (UK) A person who changes their beliefsand principles to stay popular with people above them (www.usingenglish.com).
Othernames:
1. Adoubting Thomas – used about someone who does notbelieve that something is true, or says that it has not been proved to them(Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:347).
2. Barkusis willing – this idiom means that someone iswilling to get married (www.usingenglish.com).
3. Bewhistling Dixie – to be saying that something isuntrue (www.dictionary.com)
4. Buggles’turn – when someone gets promotion throughlength of service rather than ability, especially in the British civil service(www.usingenglish.com).
5. CleverDick – used about someone who is annoyingbecause they are always right or always think they are right(www.dictionary.com).
6. GoingJesse – (USA) if something is a going Jesse,it’s a viable, successful project or enterprise (www.usingenglish.com).
7. Jackthe Lad – A confident and not very serious youngman who behaves as he wants to without thinking about other people is a Jackthe Lad (www. usingenglish.com).
8. JohnQ Public – (USA) John Q Public is the typical,average person (www.usingenglish.com).
9. NervousNellie – Someone excessively worried orapprehensive is a nervous Nellie (or Nelly) (www.usingenglish.com).
10.Notknown whether you are Arthur or Martha-tofeel very confused, especially because you have too much to do(www.dictionary.com).
4.1Idioms with place names
1. Allroads lead to Rome – This means thatthere can be many different ways of doing something (www.usingenglish.com).
2. BigEasy – (USA) The Big Easy is New Orleans,Louisiana (www. usingenglish.com).
3. Coalsto Newcastle – (UK) Taking, bringing, or carryingcoals to Newcastle is doing something that is completely unnecessary(www.usingenglish.com).
4. Crossingthe Rubicon – When you are crossing the Rubicon,you are passing a point of no return. After you do this thing, there is no wayof turning around. The only way left is forward (www.usingenglish.com).
5. Dunkirkspirit – (UK) Dunkirk spirit is when people pulltogether to get through a very difficult time (www.dictionary.com).
6. Fiddlewhile Rome burns – used when you disapprove becausesomeone is spending too much time or attention on unimportant matters insteadof trying to solve bigger and more important problems (Longman IdiomsDictionary: 1999:288).
7. FromMissouri – (USA) If someone is from Missouri,then they require clear proof before they will believe something(www.usingenglish.com).
8. Himalayanblunder – a Himalayan blunder is a very seriousmistake or error (www.usingenglish.com).
9. Lieback and think of England – a humorousexpression used when someone has sex without wanting it or enjoying it, andoften used when someone has to do another activity or job that they do not wantto (Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:106).
10.Manon the Clapham omnibus – (UK) The man on theClapham omnibus is the ordinary person in the street (www.usingenglish.com).
11.Morefront than Brighton – (UK) If you have morefront than Brighton, you are very self-confident, possibly excessively so(www.usingenglish.com).
12.NewYork minute – (USA) If something happens in a NewYork minute, it happens very fast (www.usingenglish.com).
13.Notfor all tea in China – used in order toemphasize that you do not want to do something, and no reward would be bigenough to make you to do i (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:340).
14.OnCarey Street – (UK) If someone is on Carey Street,they are heavily in debt or have gone bankrupt (www.usingenglish.com).
15.Roadto Damascus – If someone has a great and suddenchange in their ideas or beliefs, then this is a road to Damascus change, afterthe conversion of Saint Paul to Christianity while heading to Damascus topersecute Christians (www.usingenglish.com).
16.Romewas not built in a day – This idiom means thatmany things cannot be done instantly, and require time and patience (www.usingenglish.com).
17.Saigonmoment – (USA) A Saigon moment is when people realizethat something has gone wrong and that they will lose or fail(www.usingenglish.com).
18.Somebodymet his/her Waterloo – used in order to saythat someone has finally met a person or thing that can defeat them (LongmanIdioms Dictionary: 1999:373).
19.Sendsomeone to Coventry – (UK) If you sendsomeone to Coventry, you refuse to talk to them or co-operate with them(www.usingenglish.com).
20.Setthe Thames on fire – If you do somethingremarkable, you set the Thames on fire, though this expression is used in thenegative; someone who is dull or undistinguished will never set the Thames onfire (www.usingenglish.com).
21.Shipshapeand Bristol fashion – If things are shipshapeand Bristol fashion, they are in perfect working order (www.dictionary.com).
22.Theblack hole of Calcutta – used about a placethat is very dark and very hot and too full of people or things(www.dictionary.com).
23.Whenin Rome, do as the Romans do – This idiom meansthat when you are visiting a different place or culture, you should try tofollow their customs and practices (www.usingenglish.com).
24._____for England – a humorous way of saying thatsomeone does a lot or too much of a particular activity (Longman IdiomsDictionary: 1999:106).
Conclusions
Theanalyses presented in this study are an answer that proper names are quiteoften used in English idioms. We have analyzed 97 idioms: 73 with personalnames and 24 with place names. The origin of personal and place names inEnglish idioms are of different types. In spite of this we identified thefollowing six groups of the origin of personal names:
· Mythical
· Derived from religion
· Based on characters of the films, books,cartoons.
· The real persons.
· Folk etymology.
· Others.
Theanalysis showed that idioms with personal names are used in English languagemore frequently that idioms with place names.
Almostall the place names are authentic, not made-up. Among personal names the mostfrequent were names derived from religion and characters of books, films etc.Number of idioms with personal names that derived from mythology was thesmallest one.
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