World of Idioms
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By
Timi Oni
-
Welcome back to the world of idioms.
It is a world where words no more mean what they mean in the ordinary sense.
Here, the addition of the meanings of words that make a phrase or clause rarely
matters, as the fixed expression is accorded a new one that one just has to
master accordingly. The Cambridge Dictionary defines an idiom as a group of
words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from
the meanings of each word on its own.
This is why, in English language, the
man beating about the bush is not the one wandering inside a forest, just
as the one who has something up his sleeve is not the one hanging a tie around
his neck. I believe you know that, in the first instance, to beat about the
bush means to perambulate, not going straight to the point, not hitting the
nail upon its head. On the other hand, having something up one’s sleeve means
to have a secret plan or an idea that one is going to use later.
Apart from the fact that you have to
learn as many idioms as possible by heart, you have to pay attention to some
that are often misused. This can be in terms of attributing wrong meanings to
them or using them out of contexts, or mixing up the words that make them up.
What, for instance, is wrong with each of the following sentences?
The rain wrecked havocs in the
community on Friday.
Sidi is a green snake under the green
grass. Beware of her.
“More grease to your elbow,” the
manager told the security man who arrested the burglar.
Chief Ifeanyi did not win the
election on a platter of gold.
If you are a regular member of this class,
you shouldn’t have any problem resolving the riddle in each of the sentences.
We will hopefully come back to them, anyway.
At this junction, at this juncture
The phrase, ‘at this junction’,
exists in English. After all – after all (two words), not afterall – one can
say, I met the lady at this junction, to answer the question: where did you
meet her? Unfortunately, this scenario makes many people injure a common idiom
that means at this particular time or at this point in time or at this
moment. The correct idiom is at this juncture, not at this junction. So,
in the course of a programme or speech, when you need to introduce a particular
issue, the right thing to say is at this juncture. Masters of ceremonies (not
ceremony) particularly need to be careful here because many of them are prone
to committing the error:
At this junction, I like to introduce
some other dignitaries that have joined us. (Wrong)
At this juncture, I like to introduce
some other dignitaries that have joined us. (Correct)
A clog in what?
Many people are likely to answer, A
clog in the wheel of progress! This is when they want to describe someone or
something that constitutes an obstacle in the line of progress. While the sense
is right, the idiom required has been bastardised. The correct expression is a
spanner in the works. Note that a spanner in the wheel of progress is also not
correct. The simple and correct phrase is throw a spanner in the works.
Based on how he mishandled the letter
from the governor’s office, it is safe to say that he constitutes a clog in the
wheel of progress of this organisation. (Wrong)
Based on how he mishandled the letter
from the governor’s office, it is safe to say that he threw a spanner in the
works in this organisation. (Correct)
Crack your head?
No. Please stop cracking your head.
Remember that our heads are extremely important to our bodies. So, don’t just
crack them. The Yoruba seem to appreciate the need for one not to protect this
vital organ; so they have a proverb that says, Eni ti a f’ori re fo agbon, kii
duro je nibe. This means that the person on whose head a coconut is cracked
does not live to have a taste of it. So, I ask again: why must you crack your
head because of another man’s language called English.
Well, lest I overstretch that joke,
the point I am explaining is that when you mean that you have to think very
hard perhaps to remember something, the right idiom is not crack my head. It is
not also crack my brain. Rather, it is rack my brains:
I had to crack my head before I could
tell my friend the oba’s name. (Wrong)
I had to rack my brains before I
could tell my friend the oba’s name. (Correct)
The pupil was still cracking her head
when the time-keeper rang the bell during the debate. (Wrong)
The girl was still racking her brains
when the time-keeper rang the bell during the debate. (Correct)
Back to green snake
Because we have treated each of the
idioms involved in the four sentences above at one time or the other in this
class, all I will do is provide the correct version of each of them:
The rain wreaked havoc in the
community on Friday.
Sidi is a snake in the grass. Beware
of her.
“More power to your elbow,” the
manager told the security man who arrested the burglar.
Chief Ifeanyi did not win the
election on a silver platter.
AKEEM LASISI
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