AKADEMIA

HUMANISTYCZNO - EKONOMICZNA

W ŁODZI

WYDZIAŁ HUMANISTYCZNY

KIERUNEK FILOLOGIA

Anna Goszczyńska

Numer albumu 92446

Metaphorical use of idioms with a body part component

Przyjmuję pracę jako magisterską (II stopnia)

(w wersji papierowej i elektronicznej)

podpis promotora..............................................................

data ....................................................................................................

Praca napisana pod kierunkiem

dr Wiktora Goneta

Łódź 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................3

CHAPTER I: General view on idioms .........................................................5

1.1 Idiomatic phrases .......................................................................5

1.2 What is an idiom? ......................................................................7

1.3 Idioms and culture .....................................................................9

1.4 Different aspects of an idiom ..................................................10

1.5 Idioms pragmatics and context ................................................12

1.6 When we use idioms? ..............................................................13

1.7 Structure of idioms ..................................................................15

1.8 British and American idioms ...................................................19

CHAPTER II: Elements of cognitive grammar .........................................21

2.1 Metaphor ..................................................................................21

2.2 Metonymy.................................................................................25

2.3 Categorization and prototype ..................................................28

CHAPTER III: Idiomatic phrases with the meaning ..................................30

3.1 Idioms with a body part component ........................................30

3.1.1 Body idioms connected with senses...................................30

3.1.2 Body idioms connected with limbs and limbs' elements...37

3.1.3 Internal idioms....................................................................43

3.1.4 Other body parts idioms.....................................................47

3.2 Understanding of idioms with a body part component

by foreigner learners of English ............................................49

3.3 Concluding remarks ................................................................62

CONCLUSION...........................................................................................63

REFERENCES............................................................................................65

INTERNET SOURCES..............................................................................67

Introduction

In people's mental lexicon, native language vocabulary items are gathered, together with their collocates and idiomatic expressions in which they partake. The same happens in the process of foreign language acquisition. The current thesis presents body idioms, which is one group gathered in the mental dictionary.

A large number of phrases and sentences in the English language are related to body parts. Some of them are descriptive while others, elusive. Their origins are dated from Biblical times to the recent days. Each generation adds new idiomatic expressions which are connected with their culture.

The meaning of idiomatic expressions is indefinable. They show that metaphors are very important in our lives and that we do not look at things in the way they are in reality, but rather we perceive them through our understanding and our experience of the world.

The present thesis is an attempt at an analysis of English idioms with a body component. Its goal is to study and present the nature of idioms, their connection with culture and context. It also presents examples of metaphorical use of idioms connected with the human body, and provides an outline of understanding of idioms by foreign learners of English.

Chapter I is a theoretical part in which phraseology is presented. Phraseology is a new branch of linguistics which deals with a way of linking words together and they are characterized by an unambiguous meaning. Present branch of phraseology handle phraseological units. One group of phraseological units are idioms, which are the most colourful part of vocabulary.

In this thesis definition and various features of an idiom are presented. Idioms are odd. They are different from normal language, from normal phrases. Idioms are a rich vein in language and in culture. If language had been created by a logical person, idioms would never exist. Literal meaning of idioms does not often make any sense. They are hard to interpret. Sometimes idioms are the best way to express our thoughts.

In this chapter, the connection between idiom and culture, and the way idioms should be used is discussed. This chapter presents major data regarding idioms.

Chapter II contains elements of cognitive grammar. It is a broad study of the metaphorical concept. Metaphor is not a direct comparison of two apparently unrelated things. To understand metaphors, we must know culture and the `key idea', which is the connection between literal and metaphorical meaning. Metaphors are very important in life because we learn their meaning in the course of broadening our experience. Our comprehension of metaphors is related to our knowledge of the world. We can find metaphors not just in language, but also in every day life. In this chapter there is also a view on metonymy, categorization and prototype.

Chapter III presents a list of various body idioms with their meaning in English and corresponding Polish idioms. Idioms in Polish and in English contain name of different body parts like: eye, ear, nose, skin, arm, shoulder, hand, finger, leg, foot, toe, heart, bone, tongue, head and back. This chapter also shows similarities between Polish and English body idioms, which helps learners in the comprehension of the metaphorical meaning of those idioms. It is better to learn idioms which are familiar with one's mother tongue, which improves the understanding of foreign idioms. The same chapter discusses an experimental study concerning the understanding of body idioms by foreigner learners of English, conducted among students of IV High School in Chełm. The research shows that students are more familiarized with idioms which are comparable in both languages.

Idioms containing names of body elements concentrate on people, their behaviour, emotions, thoughts and their views on the world around them. It is interesting to observe to what extent these two different languages are similar and how that knowledge helps foreigner learners to master not only the language, but also the culture more easily.

Chapter I

General view on idioms

1. Idiomatic Phrases

For the first time the term `phraseology' appeared in 16<sup>th</sup> century and it meant `style' or `vocabulary'. In 18<sup>th</sup> century it got terminological meaning such as `a group of word units'. At the same time in most of European languages `phraseology' meant `empty words'.

New linguistic branch `phraseology' developed in 20^th century, mostly in East Europe. The forerunner of phraseology was Charles. Bally, Swiss linguist. He used the term phraseology when he wrote about different types of word-groups which differ in degree of stability from free word-groups to phraseological units. The study on phraseology was developed by Russian linguists A.A. Shakhmotov and A.D. Polivanov. M. Tarasevitch (1991:448) claims that “[...] linguists became aware of the existence in the language of special larger-than-words units: word-groups consisting of two or more words whose combination is integrated as a unit with a specialized meaning of the whole [...]. Russian linguists made an attempt to study various word-groups on a scientific basis. They pointed out the need to establish a new branch of linguistics that would study unusual feature of word-groups.

In linguistics, `phraseology' is a term used for describing the context in which a word is used. The term also describes various structural and semantic types of phrases characterized by different degrees of idiomacity in given language. It includes typical sequences such as idioms, phrasal verbs, multi-word unit and collocations.

“ Phraseology - the words and phrases used in particular profession or activity or a particular way of putting words together to express something” (Macmillan English Dictionary 2007:1119)

Phraseology studies compound meaning of two or more words e.g. like a knife through butter. The meaning of the phrase is different from the words used alone. Phraseology studies why such meanings come in everyday use, and what possibly are the laws governing these word combinations.

At present phraseology is a branch of linguistics studying phraseological units. According to M. Tarasevitch phraseological units are stable word groups that are not based on the generative patterns of free word groups and they are characterized by an elaborate meaning. Tarasevitch claims that phraseological unit should have:

• Stability of use;

• Structural separateness;

• Complexity of meaning and

• Word-groups are not built on the generative pattern of free word-groups.

Stability of use means that phraseological units are language units which are members of a language community. Phraseology is connected with culture and speech community.

Structural separateness helps to distinguish praseological units from compound words. Complexity of meaning signifies the non-compositionality of phraseological units, which mean that the meaning of the whole phrase is different from the sum of literal meanings of the words. Each unit is constituted according to its own unique rule, which cannot be predicted. One of three groups of phraseological units is idioms. Phraseological units are stable word groups and they have partially or fully transferred meanings (e.g. kick the bucket). They are lexicalized word group in common use.

1. What is an idiom?

“A group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words”

(Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 2000:672)

“An expression established in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in grammatical construction or in having a meaning that cannot be derived as a whole from the conjoined meanings of its elements”

(Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1993:1123)

“[...] an idiom is a lexicalized, reproducible word group in common use, which has the syntactic stability, and may carry connotations, but whose meaning cannot be derived from the meanings of its constituents”

(Cowie 2001:125)

The word `idiom' comes from the Greek root idio, meaning a unique signature.

An idiom is an expression, a phrase or a combination of words that has a meaning that is different from a meaning of the individual words. Each language contains expressions which make no sense when they are translated literally into another language. Sometimes idiom can have literal meaning in some situation and different idiomatic meaning in another situation. It is an expression or a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar.

If somebody (especially a foreigner or a person outside a given culture) does not know that some words convey a meaning that is unrelated to the individual meaning of those words, he may does not understand what someone is saying. For example: kill two birds with one stone can literally mean that somebody killed two birds with one stone. But the idiom has totally different meaning: one resolves two difficulties or matters with a one single action.

Many idioms are similar to expressions in other languages, can be easy to understand and its meaning is usually obvious. For instance, black ship of the family in Poland can be easily understood because there is an identical idiom and it can be easily translated.

Other idioms come from older phrases which have changed their meaning over time, for example, kick the bucket originally referred to suicide victims standing on inverted buckets, they kick them away and in this way hang themselves, but now it means simply to die.

Shelley (1995) suggests that some idioms are slang. “Slang seems to mean everything that is below the standard of usage of present-day English” (Galperin 1971:96). Galperin cited a definition of slang of “Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language”:

“1. Originally, the specialized vocabulary and idioms of criminals tramps, etc. The purpose of which was to disguise from outsiders the meaning of what was said; now usually called cant. 2. The specialized vocabulary and idioms of those in the same work, way of life, etc.; now usually called shoptalk, argot, jargon. “ (Galperin 1971:96).

According to Thomas (1995) idioms are known as clichés. Clichés are expressions that have been used over and over again. They are overused and common expressions.

Idioms are perceived as a very interesting part of the language because they are different from simple words and phrases. They make language life and rich because they take existing words and combine them with a new sense and create totally new expressions.

“[...] language is a living thing [...]. Living things grow and change, so does language.” (Seidl and McMordie 1988:11) English language being flexible enriches its vocabulary with the words invented by language speakers, which makes English more colourful with new idiomatic expressions. Since idioms have unpredictable meaning, structure and collocations, they are linguistic curiosities.

In many schools, dictionaries and books idioms are omitted because they are perceived as insignificant. They are rarely used in classrooms. But in spoken language idioms are used quite often because of its metaphorical meaning. According to Seidl and McMordie (1988) the attitude to language is still changing. It is observed in some parts of grammar (case, number and tense), and in style. Some words which were deemed as slang in the past now are considered informal or colloquial. Idioms are not any longer colloquial expressions. They appear in formal style, in poetry and in the language of the Bible.

2. Idioms and culture

“By culture we understand the ability of members of speech community to orientate themselves with respect to social, moral, political and so on values in their empirical and mental experience. Cultural categories [...] are conceptualized in the subconscious knowledge of standards, stereotypes, mythologies, rituals, general habits and other cultural patterns”.

(Cowie 2001:57)

The term idiom refers to a group of words which are usually confusing to people who are not familiar with the language. Nevertheless, many phrases or expressions from natural language are in fact idioms or have idiomatic origin and they have been assimilated into the language.

Idioms are often colloquial metaphors. They often combine in their semantics more than one type of cultural information. It means that they require some foundational knowledge, information and experience which are used only within a culture where groups must have common reference. As cultures are localized around some area, idioms are not useful for communication outside of that local context. But there are some idioms that can be more universally used than others, they can be easily translated and their metaphorical meaning can be more easily deduced. Those common idioms have deep roots in many languages, they can be translated in other languages and tend to become international.

Idioms are an essential part of English style language study. One cannot say that he know English history, culture and society without understanding the meaning and the roots of English idioms. Each generation has added its new non-literal expressions which are defined by the values, beliefs, traditions, customs and events of the times.

If you master idioms you will be on your path to better understanding English culture, customs, society and lifestyle of English people. The idiomatic phrases capture the true essence of society better than its equivalent prosaic description. When one uses idioms among English friends and even business associates, he can create emotional bands that bring him closer to their culture. Mastery of idioms can lead to better understanding of people. Often background information on the origin or popular usage of idioms provides important insight into culture.

1.4 Different aspects of an idiom

Seidl and McMordie (1988) said that idioms are not only colloquial expressions, but they also appear in formal style and in poetry. Idioms often occur in journalism, radio and magazines to make information, stories and articles more interesting. However, idioms are often connected with informal language.

The construction of an idiom is strict and for one it can be odd (e.g. not by a long chalk). Sometimes the construction seems to be illogical (e.g. for two pins). This is why learning idioms is not only very difficult task but also very exciting and intriguing. People who do not know certain idioms cannot easily understand the others. Such a phrase would not make sense and one cannot deduce what is actual meaning of the expression. These features causes that idioms have to be learnt as a whole expressions without any changes. Sometimes idioms have alternative forms without any change in their meaning (e.g. to drop a brick and put one's foot in it mean to say something tactlessly or blue-eyed boy and golden boy - a favoured person). In some cases several verbs can be used in one idiom and the meaning is the same, but sometimes there are slight changes in meaning connected with the verb which it substitutes (e.g. keep/bear someone in mind, come/get to/reach the point).

An idiom is natural to native speakers of the language and only people who are possess English very good can use idiomatic expressions in their speech.

Idioms have different structures and combinations. They can be short or long, they contain various parts of speech and they are unpredictable, but sometimes one may guess meaning from the context, when the idiom is used in a particular situation. Foreigners know the meaning of the idiom when it is related to the mother tongue of the speaker (e.g. be in seven heaven in Polish its mean być w siódmym niebie). Some idioms are so difficult that one cannot guess the meaning from the context correctly. It is difficult to learn them. Idioms can change their meaning during period of time or simple phrase can transform into idiom and get deeper meaning as it was with kick the bucket.

Learners of foreign language have to learn idioms as a single item with their meaning. It is essential to master the rules of their use in sentences. They are strict in their structure and they do not allow the word order to change. A learner must know how to use an idiom in the correct way. Idioms are not separate part of language, but they are very important part of lexicon. Languages contain a large number of idioms and sometimes native speakers use them in the unconscious way.

There are many problems with idioms. The main problem is that it is not usually possible to translate them literally. There are exceptions, for instance, take the bull by the horns can be translated literally into Polish as wziąć byka za rogi, which has the same meaning. Mostly, the use of normal rules in order to translate idioms will result in illogical phrases. Idioms have to be treated as single units in translation.

There are idioms which are `frozen'. It means that an idiom appears in the same form and in the same order (e.g. for good - `forever'). But, there is problem with idioms which change the form of the verb, which varies according to tense, person and number. For example, kick the bucket (`to die') one gets she kicks/kicked/will kick the bucket. Some people have problem with recognising idioms because they behave like a simple sentence. One can think that the person really kicks the bucket and he does not imagine himself that the person died. The interpretation of idioms for one can be surprising. It is better to recognise idioms which have `frozen forms'.

1.5 Idioms pragmatics and context

“Pragmatics - the study of the way in which language is used to express what somebody really means in particular situations, especially when the actual words used may appear to mean something different.” (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English 2000:1031). Pragmatics is involved with the comprehension process. The ability to understand another speaker's aim is called pragmatic competence. It is a linguistic study of the way in which people use language to achieve different goals. Suppose a person wanted to ask someone else to reveal a secret. These could be achieved in the different ways. The person could simply say `do not tell a secret, please' which is direct and with clear meaning. Alternatively the person could say `do not spill the beans', which implies a similar meaning but is indirect and therefore requires pragmatic competence. Idioms play very important role in those studies. Because idioms have general meaning they are rather used to express attitude then give specific information. They are used to express approval or disapproval and admiration or criticism.

According to Collins Coubild Dictionary of Idioms (1995) idioms sometimes have connotations and pragmatic meaning which are not always obvious to people who do not know the meaning and then the meaning of the expression can be missed. It may happen that somebody can use an idiom and do not realize that it can be interpreted as critical or disapproving. It can cause wrong reaction of the person they are talking to.

Pragmatics is one of the most challenging aspects for language learners to comprehend, and can be learned by experience. The interpretation of what the speaker wanted to say using particular words is often influenced by factors such as listener's assumption or the context. In pragmatics two contexts can be distinguished: linguistic context (is the set of words that surround the lexical item) and physical context (is the location of given words, the situation in which the word is used, as well as timing, all of them lead to proper understanding of the words).

1.6 When we use idioms?

According to Seild and McMordie (1988) one should know in which situations it is correct to use idiom and weather an idiom can be used in a formal or an informal situation. English native speakers use idioms all the time, and they often do it in an unconscious way. This means that the communication with them can be very difficult. They use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly.

Of course choice of words depends on the person who is speaking, on the situation and the place. If people are friends and they are talking in private there is no reason to avoid using idioms, slang or jargon. But, if in the same situation one of speakers is foreigner they should not use idioms until this person will master the language completely. Learning idioms cause a lot of troubles to English learners because they do not know the culture and history behind the idioms. That is way they often use idioms inappropriately. Learners use idiomatic expressions carefully because they are afraid of using them incorrectly.

In formal situations, it means when one is talking with a stranger or speaks publicly than one should shun idioms. Using idioms one should know whether an idiom is appropriate in certain situation. When idioms are used judiciously, they can even improve the atmosphere of one's formal writing and provide more interesting descriptions. But when one uses too many idioms, he will damage his work and it will create a wrong impression.

Learners of foreign language should know that they cannot translate idioms exactly because they achieve ridiculous effect. The results of foreigner's translation may be bewildering to the English native speaker. Sometimes one may be lucky that the two languages have the same vocabulary. It is connected with close relation between language and culture.

Idioms can be learnt only by listening to native speakers or reading texts which contains idioms. “Mastery of idioms comes only slowly, through careful study and observation, through practice and experience.” (Seidl and McMordie 1978:8)

1.7 Structure of idioms

Idioms seem to act like normal language, but they are different in many aspects. “Idioms take many different forms or structures. An idiom can have a regular structure, an irregular or even a grammatically incorrect structure” (Seidl and McMordie 1988:13)

Firstly, the meaning of idioms is non-compositional. It means that you cannot understand literally the meaning of the whole phrase. If you look at the expression literally, it may not have sense logically.

Secondly, it has been known that the individual words in an idiom cannot be replaced by synonyms and still be an idiomatic phrase. This qualifies idioms as fixed phrases. In most non-idiomatic utterances, a speaker uses synonyms to create a new sentence with the same meaning. The case for idioms is completely different. One cannot substitute a word in an expression with a related word. For instance, in idiom kick the bucket synonym of bucket is pail, but we cannot change those words. Sentence `kick the pail' has nothing to do with the idiom. There are a few exceptions to this kind of behaviour. Some idioms have interchangeable synonyms or closely related word with slight differences in meaning, for instance, hit the sack/hay, pick/punch/poke/shoot holes in an argument. These synonyms are limited to only a few options.

Last but not least, we cannot modify idioms or put them into syntactic transformations. For example, we cannot say: `Mary kicked red bucket', `Mary kicked her bucket' etc., because those sentences are not idioms.

Idioms often are similar in structure to ordinary, simple phrases except that they are unchangeable in form, do not enter into other combinations and do not allow the word order to change. Idioms grammatically have special characters, have grammatical restrictions. For example, idiom to sit on the fence cannot become to sit on a fence or to sit on fences.

Most of idioms have significant internal structure, which is responsible for their behaviour. This structure is composed of a relationship between the syntax of the idiomatic phrase and the idiom's accurate meaning. Idioms are fixed phrasal expressions and they are not completely `frozen forms'. Many idioms cannot be transformed as similar non-idiomatic sentences.

However, certain parts of an idiom can be changed. Verb can be used in different forms, but rarely it is used in passive form (e.g.: catch sb's eye can be changed: `He caught her eye', `catching the Mary's eye'). Occasionally, the verb in an idiom in active voice can be used in passive (. When one looks at sentence `Mary kicked the bucket' as non idiomatic than the passivization of the sentence `the bucked was kicked by Mary' would lead to a new sentence with the same sense (the two sentences mean the same). But the situation is different with the idiomatic sense - the second sentence does not mean that Mary died. There are many idioms which are able to undergo passivization. For example,

1 a) I spill the beans

b) The beans were spilled (by me)

2 a) He buried the hatchet

b) The hatchet seems to have been buried

In these examples the passive sentences retain their idiomatic status of the first sentence and both sentences have the same meaning. It can be odd that only a few idioms can be passivized. Certain idioms seem to closely resemble their non-idiomatic constructions.

It is possible to change subject pronoun (e.g.: to swallow one's pride: `she swallowed her pride', `they swallowed their pride'). The word someone can be replaced (e.g. jog someone's memory: `she jogs my memory').

Sometimes adjectives or adverbs can be added to an idiomatic phrase, for instance,
The politician has been sitting squarely on the fence since the election.
For this reason it is sometimes difficult to isolate the actual idiomatic expression and then find it in a dictionary.
Seidl and McMordie (1988) present the analysis of the structure of idioms and they group them into three categories:

1. Idioms which have an irregular form or even a grammatically incorrect structure, but the meaning is usually clear. The example of irregular form is: do someone proud.

The idiom to be broke is grammatically incorrect and the idiomatic meaning is: to have no money (I am broke and I cannot pay for it), but the structure to be broken literally means that something is broken (The lamp is broken)

2. Idioms which have a regular form, but the meaning is unclear. For instance, cut no ice, bring the house down. The meaning of those idioms cannot be guessed.

3. A form of the idiom is irregular and the meaning is not obvious, as in be at large, go great guns

The most idioms belong to the second group, where the form is regular, but the meaning is not obvious. In this group some idioms are clearer than others, as in light at the end of the tunnel or to give someone the green light. One can guess that the first idiom means `promise of better things after a long time of difficulty', the second means' give someone permission to start'. Other idioms are too difficult to guess the meaning because there is no association with the original meaning of the individual words (e.g. bring the house down).

Every foreign language learner should be aware that variants of idiom changes are restricted to a certain number and they are fixed by language custom.

McCarthy and O'Dell (2002), present seven types of idioms:

1. verb + object/complement + (and / or adverbial)

have a word with someone meaning- speak or discuss privately with someone

2. prepositional phrase

at a loss for words meaning- not knowing what to say, often due to surprise, shock

3. compound

a piece of ass meaning- someone who you are only interested in because they are sexually attractive

4. simile (as + adjective + as, or like + noun)

as bold as brass meaning- showing a lot of confidence, especially in a way that people think is rude or shocking

5. binomial (word + and +word)

body and soul meaning- physical and mental energy

6. trinomial (word + word + and + word)

hook, line and sinker meaning- in every way or detail

7. whole clause or sentence

to give someone a bad time meaning- treat somebody badly or unfairly

Seidl and McMordie (1988) enumerate idioms which consist of different types of combination:

1. noun phrases

child's play meaning - a very easy task

2. adjective + noun

a blind alley meaning - a short, narrow street closed at one end

3. pairs of

1. adjectives

alive and kicking meaning - well and active

2. nouns

a hue and cry meaning - loud and unspoken protest

3. adverbs

as and when meaning - whenever

4. verbs

give and take meaning - make compromises

4. phrasal verbs

add up meaning - make sense

5. verbal idioms

be born yesterday meaning - be easily deceived

1. British and American idioms

There are differences between idioms used in American English and those used in British English. However, the majority of idioms are used in both languages. There are some idioms which are not used in American English and rarely are used in British English. The idiom usage can be changed when idioms which were originally American became fashionable in British English by influence of American culture (films, music) and vice versa.

Many idioms used in different English speaking countries show differences between them. Moon (1988) presents several examples of British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) idioms where differences are shown. There are some lexical variations which can depend on cultural (e.g. like turkeys voting for Christmas (BrE) - like turkeys voting for Thanksgiving (AmE), meaning - if people are like turkeys voting for Christmas, they choose to accept a situation which will have very bad results for them) or historical background. Moon states that the most common differences are those of nouns and verbs, for instance:

British English	American English	Meaning
Have green fingers	Have a green thumb	To be good on growing plants
Keep one's hair on	Keep one's shirt on	Used for telling someone not to get angry or upset
Fall through the net	Fall through the cracks	Not to be dealt with by a system that is design to help you or to stop you doing something
Cut a long story short	Make a long story short	Used for saying that you will tell the end or the main point of the story without giving any details
Let off steam	Blow off steam	To express your feeling of anger or excitement without harming anyone
Touch wood	Knock on wood	Used when you have said that you have had good luck in order to prevent bad luck from happening to you. People sometimes touch something made of wood when they say this

There are sometimes some prepositional variations (e.g. on the cards (BrE) - in the cards (AmE) meaning - very likely to happen). These lexical variations are very important although the idioms have similar meanings. Moon also states that there are some idioms that have spelling differences which reflect etymological development (e.g. rack and ruin (BrE) - wrack and ruin (AmE), meaning - to become less successful).

British English idioms are more and more influenced by the American culture and consequently the American idioms becomes customary in British English.

Chapter II

Elements of Cognitive Grammar

2.1 Metaphor

Metaphor (from the Greek metapherin `rethorical trope', `carry over') is an indirect comparison between two or more outwardly unrelated subjects. It typically uses “is” to join the first subjects. A metaphor casts the first subject as equal to the second subject in some way. Every metaphorical word or phrase has a “key idea”. The key idea is the connection between the literal and metaphorical meaning. For instance, when one talks about discussions he often use words connected literally with movement or journey (e.g.: `let's go back to what you were saying earlier', `we eventually arrived at a conclusion'). Here the key idea is that conversation is like travelling from one place to another. If one knows the key idea, it is easier to understand what somebody says to you.

All of us not just poets speak in metaphors, but not always we realize it. We perceive reality through our experience of the world. How we understand a given sentence depends on our comprehension of the world and it is based on our metaphorical implications.

“Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish-a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is typically viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action. For this reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without metaphor. We have found on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action.”

(Lakoff and Johnson 1980:3)

According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980) metaphor is a part of one's conceptual system (how we think and act and how we relate to other people). The way we think, what we experience and what we do every day is a matter of metaphor. But people are not always aware of their conceptual system and their every-day actions are rather automatic. Our conceptual system is metaphorical in nature. It plays a central role in defying our everyday realities: how we perceive the world and other people, how we think and what we do.

Metaphor is very important part of our life; it occurs when we think and when we act. It exists in all languages. Most part of our language communication consists of metaphors. Since our communication is based on the same conceptual system we must look at language because it is an important source of evidence what that system is like. Metaphors are not only a stylistics decoration, but they also are central elements of our usual language communication. This is why our understanding is connected with a metaphor.

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) drew our attention to military language which we are using in talking of intellectual argument. When we are taking part in an argument we set up positions, we attack and defend and we win or lose arguments. The person we are arguing with is our opponent. Those metaphorical expressions are called a conceptual metaphor (association that is systematic in both language and thought). Such a conceptual metaphor is argument is war. The concept of intellectual argument is understood as war. Lakoff and Johnson (1980:4) provide a variety of expressions related to this metaphor:

1. Your claims are indefensible.

2. He attacked every weak point in my argument.

3. His criticism was right on target.

4. I demolished his argument.

5. I've never won an argument with him.

6. You disagree? Okay, shoot!

7. If you see that strategy, he will wipe you out.

8. He shot down all my arguments.

Many things people's do in arguing and they are partially connected with the concept of war. There is no physical battle, but there is verbal battle and the structure of an argument (attack, defence, etc.) reflects this. Argument is war is one that we live by in our culture. It is an example of what it means for a metaphorical concept to structure what we do, how we behave and how we understand what we are doing during an argument. Argument and war are different kinds of actions but argument is partially understood, performed and talk about in terms of war. The metaphor is our concept of an argument. We talk about an argument in terms of war because we notice it in that way and we act in that way. “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of things in terms of another”

(Lakoff and Johnson 1980:5).

Elements from the domain of war (attack, defence, retreat, etc.) refer to the abstract domain of intellectual argument.

Since metaphorical expressions in English language are connected with metaphorical concepts we can use metaphorical linguistic expressions to gain the understanding of the metaphorical nature of our activities. In understanding this matter may help us another example of metaphorical concept time is money (Lakoff and Johnson 1980:7-8):

1. You're wasting my time.

2. How do you spend your time these days?

3. That flat tire cost me an hour.

4. I've invested a lot of time in her.

5. You need to budget your time.

Time, in our culture, is a limited resource and it is a valuable commodity. It has been developed that time in one culture is associated with work and with the time it takes. That is why we understand time as the kind of thing that we can spend, save, waste or budget.

Metaphorical process increases a number of entailments (one sentence following from another) which form a system of metaphors. Time is money, time is a limited resource and time is valuable commodity are metaphorical concepts. We are using our everyday experience with money (valuable), limited resources (valuable commodities) and valuable commodities (precious goods) to conceptualize time. Time is conceptualized in our Western culture, but there are cultures where time is not valuable thing.

Metaphor is not just an aspect of language but it is a significant part of human cognition. “Many concepts, especially abstract ones, are partly structured via the metaphorical mapping of information from a familiar source domain onto a less familiar target domain” (Journal of Memory and Language 37:141). For example, people often metaphorically connect love (which is called the target domain) with the concept of journey (which is called the source domain). The expression love is a journey is also a metaphor. It emphasis the progress and purpose of the love, relationship and the difficulties connected with it. The following examples help us to understand the aspect of love in terms of the concept of a journey:

1. Our relationship is foundering.

2. Their relationship is at cross-roads.

3. Their relationship is a dead- end street.

4. Her marriage is on the rocks.

5. After 7 years of marriage we are spinning our wheels.

6. We are back on track again.

7. We will just have to go our separate ways.

8. It's been a long, bumpy road.

There are various types of journeys that we can make, for example, car trip (cross-roads; long, bumpy road, dead-end street), train trip (off the tracks), sea voyage (foundering, on the rocks). Through the metaphor love is a journey we can express various stages of relationship.

2.2 Metonymy

Metonymy (from Greek meta means `change' and onoma `name') is defined as “a figure of speech that consists in using the name of one thing for that something else with which it is associated” (Kovecses and Radden 1999:17) or “a universal device in which the name of one thing is changed for that of another, to which is related by association of ideas, as having close relationship to one another” (Tylor 1989:122). Metonymy operates on names of things. Basic meaning of a word can be used to replace a part or the part can be replaced for the whole. For instance, the school may stand for `learning institution for a group of people' and may replace a part e.g.: the lessons, the headmaster, the building, etc. The school can metonymically replace each of its components.

According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), metonymy is based on experience and it is part of our everyday life. Nevertheless, metaphor and metonymy are different kinds of processes. Metaphor is a way of conceiving one thing in terms of another and its fundamental function understands. On the other hand, metonymy's basic function consists in using one entity to stand for another. It also has a function of providing understanding and focuses on certain aspects of what is being referred to. Consider the following examples of metonymy (Lakoff and Johnson 1980:35-36):

1. The ham sandwich is waiting for his check - the ham sandwich refers to the person who ordered the ham sandwich

2. He likes to read the Marquis de Sade - the writings of the marquis

3. He is in dance - the dancing profession

4. The Times hasn't arrived at the press conference yet - the reporter from the Times

5. Mrs Grundy frowns on blue jeans - the wearing of blue jeans

Where the part replaces the whole, as in the following examples, we have a special case of metonymy called synecdoche:

1. The automobile is clogging our highways - the collection of automobiles

2. We need a couple of strong bodies for our team - strong people

3. There are a lot of good heads in the university - intelligent people

4. We need some new blood in the organization - new people

5. I've got a new set of wheels - car, motorcycle, etc.

Here are some examples of metonymy taken from Tylor (1989:123):

1. The Government has stated ... - it stand for an influential person or a group of influential people

2. Negotiations between Washington and Moscow - important persons associated with institutions located in those places

3. The port chop left without paying - customer

Metonymy is one of the fundamental processes of meaning extension. It is grounded on experience, it require common knowledge and it involve casual association.

“Thus, like metaphors, metonymic concepts structure not just our language but our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. And, like metaphoric concepts, metonymic concepts are grounded in our experience. In fact, the grounding of metonymic concepts is in general more obvious than is the case with metaphoric concepts, since it usually involves direct physical or causal associations”

(Lakoff and Johnson 1980:39)

Metonymy functions in our culture, for instance, the tradition of portraits in painting and photography. The face stands for the person. If you ask one to show you a picture of somebody and he shows you a picture of his or her face, you will be satisfied. But if you see a picture of somebody without his face, you won't be satisfied.

We rather look at person's face than on his posture or movements to get fundamental information about what that person is like. Metonymy face for the person is not just a matter of language, but also our culture. “We function in terms of metonymy when we perceive the person in terms of his face and act on those perceptions” (Lakoff and Johnson 1980:37). For example:

1. She's just a pretty face.

2. There are an awful lot of faces out there in the audience.

3. We need some new faces around here.

2.3 Categorization and Prototype

People are surrounded by a lot of units like fish or table which are categories of things or beings in their physical world. There are also categories of activities of abstraction, for example, talking or singing. When one uses word “cow” he refers to one animal. Categorization is the process in which ideas or objects are recognizable and they are understood. It suggests that objects are grouped, usually for some specific purpose.

People often categorize world by using a language. They categorize different entities as animals, colours, furniture, etc. To categorize things they have to possess knowledge of meanings. Categorization is basic in language, decision making and in all kinds of interaction with the environment. Grouping objects is based on their similar properties. When categories are encoded in a language they do not fit into categories of another language because they are defined in terms of common properties of their members. Categorization is done unconsciously.

Aristotle analyzed the differences between classes and objects. He made classification of living beings. He used technique of simple questions such as: Is it animal or vegetable? Does it have fur or feathers? Can it fly? How many feet does it have, etc. It is the basis of natural taxonomy. For example, man is a two-footed animal and the race of that man is accidental. Aristotle enumerates two features of man: two-footed and animal. If entity does not possess any of these features is not a member of certain category.

The features are binary. One entity can or cannot belong to the particular category, it can have a certain feature or not. Categories have clear boundaries. If the feature is present or absent, it can possess one of two values: [+] or [-].

The Aristotelian view claims that categories are discrete entities characterized by a set of properties which are shared by their members. These properties establish the conditions which are necessary to capture meaning.

Categorization can also be viewed as the process of grouping things which are based on prototypes (set of features). Eleanor Rosch (1973) was first who defined a prototype as a stimulus which takes a silent position in the formation of category.

A prototype can often not be described as a set of semantic features, but the category [fish] can be described by using semantic features such as [+ scales], [+ gills] and [+ ability to swim].

The most important characteristic of the prototype is that the most central member, e.g. the carp from the category of [fish], shares only few features with less central members like the shark whereas it may share all features with a member that is closer to its physical form. It means that a certain member can be identified by its features and by its functional representation.

Chapter III

Idiomatic Phrases with the meaning

3.1 Idioms with a body part component

Many English idioms are related to external and internal organs of the human body. Body parts idioms contain following aspects:

● body parts which are connected with senses

● internal organs

● limbs and limbs' elements

● other body parts

The body idioms will be listed with their English metaphorical meaning and Polish equivalent. All idiomatic examples are given by Seidl and McMordie (1978), Macmillan dictionary and internet sources.

3.1.1 Body idioms connected with senses

Ear Idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Be out on one's ear	Be thrown out or dismissed at short notice from a job	Wylecieć na pysk
Play by ear	Play an instrument without music, from memory	Grać ze słuchu
Pay it by ear	Act according to the situation	Improwizować
Turn a deaf ear to something	Deliberately ignore something unwelcome	Nie słuchać
Be all ears	Listen attentively and with keen interest to news that may be to one' advantage	Zamienić się w słuch
Be up to one's ears	Be extremely busy in work	Zakopać się po uszy w pracy
Fall on deaf ears	Be ignored	Zignorować
Keep one's ear close to the ground	Listen for and gather information about what is happening and what is likely to happen	Starać się wyczuć co w trawie piszczy
Wet behind the ears	Naive and inexperienced, usually because of one's lack of knowledge	Mieć mleko pod nosem
Close your ears	To not listen to what someone is saying	Nie chcieć kogoś słuchać
Smile from ear to ear	To smile a lot because you are very happy	Uśmiechać się od ucha do ucha
Have something coming out of your ears	To have a lot of something, even more than you need	Miec czegoś powyżej uszu
Keep your ears open	To pay attention to what is happening in order to find out something	Mieć oczy otwarte
Lend an ear	To listen to someone talking about their problems	Wysłuchać kogoś
Pin someone's ears back	Defeat, overcome, punish	Dać komuś popalić
Something goes in one ear and out the other	Used for saying that someone does not remember what you say	Coś wpada jednym uchem, a wypada drugim
To prick up one's ears	To become attentive	nadstawiać uszu
Up to one's ears in	Deeply involved in	Tkwić po uszy w czymś
Talk someone's ear off	To bore someone with too much talk	Za dużo mówić
Walls have ears	Something that you say in order to warn someone to be careful what they say because someone may be listening	Ściany mają uszy

Ear - is an organ of hearing. It is a part of human auditory system and it is used to listen to the sounds.

Ear idioms have both positive and negative meaning. Half of them are positively loaded; the other part is negatively loaded. Over 50% of Polish equivalents of ear idioms also contain the word `ear' or they are connected with sense of hearing, what presents the graph.

Eye idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Cast/run an/one's eye over something	Look quickly over something	Rzucić okiem
Catch someone's eye	Attract someone's attention	Zwrócić czyjąś uwagę
Keep one's eyes peeled	Watch carefully	Mieć oczy szeroko otwarte
Have an eye for something	Be a good judge of it	Nie tracić z oka
Have one's eye on something	Wish to buy/posses	Mieć na coś oko
Have an eye to/on/for the main chance	Look out for an opportunity to further one's own interests	Pilnować swojego interesu
Keep an eye on something	Observe continually and carefully	Mieć na coś oko
See eye to eye (with someone) (on something)	Have the same opinion	Podzielać punkt widzenia kogoś
A smack in the eye	A sudden and unexpected loss, defeat	Cios
There is more to something/someone than meets the eye	A situation/person is more complex than it/he appears on surface	Kryje się za tym coś więcej
Turn a blind eye to something	Ignore the existence of something	Przymykać oczy na coś
Pull the wool over someone's eyes	Deceive someone by lying about one's true intentions	Mydlić komuś oczy
Be/become/seem all eyes	Look and keenly usually at something pleasant	Wlepiać oczy
Be up to/one's eyes	Be extremely busy	Być zawalony czymś
Before/ under someone's eyes	In someone's presence	Przed samym nosem
Cannot/can hardly take one's eyes off someone/something	Be physically attracted to someone	Nie móc oderwać wzroku
Cry one's eyes out	Cry very much	Wypłakiwać sobie oczy
Do something with one's eyes closed	Do something very easily	Zrobić coś z zamkniętymi oczami
Make eyes at someone	Show interest	Robić słodkie oczy
Have eyes in the back of one's head	Be very alert	Mieć oczy z tyłu głowy

Eye - is an organ of vision. According to Macmillan dictionary (2007) eye is one of two body parts used for seeing. Most of the idioms are positively loaded. Some of them can be easily translated into Polish because words used in English idioms have a similar meaning to Polish. Polish corresponding idioms contain the word `eye' or they are connected with the sense of seeing. There is also an idiom which contains different body part, which presents the graph.

Nose idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Have a good nose for something	Be good at detecting or discovering things	Mieć nosa do czegoś
Keep one's nose clean	Stay out of trouble	Trzymać się z daleka od kłopotów
Keep one's nose to the grindstone	Work hard without taking any rest	Tyrać jak wół
Lead someone by the nose	Influence someone to do as one wants	Wodzić kogoś za nos
Look down one's nose at something someone	Show disrespect to someone	Patrzeć na kogoś z góry
Pay through the nose	Pay more money for something than it is worth	Zapłacić kupę pieniędzy za coś
Turn one's nose up at something	Reject something because one thinks it is not good enough	Kręcić na coś nosem
Under one's nose	Very close, easily noticed	Mieć coś pod nosem
Follow one's nose	To do what you feel in a particular situation	Podążać za nosem
As plain as the nose on your face	Very obvious	Jasne jak słońce
Keep one's nose out of something	Used for telling someone that you do not want them to know about things that are private	Nie wtykać nosa w nie swoje sprawy
Poke/stick one's nose into something	To show too much interest in someone's private things	Wtykać nos
See no further than the end of one's nose	To think about yourself so much that you do not notice what is happening around you	Nie widzieć dalej niż czubek własnego nosa
With one's nose in the air	With an attitude that shows that you think you are better than other people	Z ważną miną
Get right up your nose	To annoy you a lot	Grać komuś na nosie
Put someone's nose out of joint	To do something that will annoy someone	Utrzeć komuś nosa
Rub someone's nose in something	To keep remind someone about unpleasant that they do not want to think about	Wypominać coś
Thumb your nose at	To show no respect for a rule, law or person in authority	Zagrać palcami na nosie
Win by a nose	If somebody wins by a nose, they only just beat the others	Wygrać o włos
Count noses	Count people	Policzyć głowy

Nose - it is a part of people's face that is used for smelling and breathing.

Half of nose idioms have a positive meaning the other half have a negative meaning. 55% of Polish equivalents of nose idioms contain the word `nose', what presents the graph.

Skin idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Be no skin off someone's nose	Not trouble or concern someone	Nie mój problem
By the skin of one's teeth	Only just	O włos uniknąć czegoś
Get under someone's skin	Irritate someone	Zaleźć komuś za skórę
Jump out of one's skin	Make a sudden uncontrolled movement out of fear or shock	Omal nie wyskoczyć ze skóry
Soaked/drenched to the skin	Thoroughly wet from heavy rain	Przemoknąć do suchej nitki
Have a thick skin	Not to be sensitive	Być gruboskórnym
Have a thin skin	Be very sensitive to criticism	Mieć cienką skórę
Save someone's skin	To help somebody to avoid an unpleasant situation	Ocalić czyjąś skórę
Make your skin crawls	You suddenly feel uncomfortable because you are frightened	Przyprawić kogoś o dreszcze
Skin somebody alive	To punish somebody	Obedrzeć kogoś ze skóry

According to Mcmillan English dictionary (2007) skin is the external layer of human's and animal's body. Skin also enables feeling. Most of skin idioms are perceived rather negatively. 60% of Polish skin idioms are connected with the word `skin', what is presented below.

3.1.2. Body idioms connected with limbs and limbs' elements

Arm idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Cost someone an arm and a leg	Cost someone a great deal of money	Kosztować krocie
Give one's right arm	Be prepared to make a great sacrifice in order to do something	Oddać wszystko za coś
Keep/hold someone at arm's length	Keep someone at a distance	Trzymać kogoś na odległość ręki
A shot in the arm	Something that has the short-term effect of stimulating and reviving a situation	Zastrzyk nowej energii
Twist someone's arm	Gently persuade someone to do something	Przyprzeć kogoś do muru
With open arms	With enthusiasm	Z otwartymi ramionami
A list as long as your arm	The list is very long	Długi na kilometr
The long arm of the law	The police; the law	Karząca ręka sprawiedliwości
Within arm's reach	Very close	W zasięgu ręki
Arm in arm	People are next to each other	Ramie w ramie

Arm - is an upper limb of human body with your hands at the end.

Six arm idioms have a positive meaning, one is rather neutral and the others have a negative meaning. 50% of Polish equivalents of arm idioms contain the word `arm', the other half of them is not related to any body parts. Idioms arm in arm, within arm's reach and with open arms have the same form with the same meaning in Polish language.

Shoulder idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Give somebody the cold shoulder	Ignore someone	Ignorować kogoś
Put one's shoulder to the wheel	Work hard and seriously	Zabrać się do roboty
Rub shoulders with someone	Come into social contact	Otrzeć się o kogoś
A shoulder to cry on	Someone who listens to one's problems with sympathy and understanding	Wypłakiwać się komuś na ramieniu
Straight from the shoulder	Directly and honestly	Prosto z mostu
Fall/rest on someone's shoulders	To be someone's responsibility	Spoczywać na czyichś ramionach
Look/watch over someone's shoulder	To watch carefully what someone is doing	Zaglądać komuś przez ramię
Look over your shoulder	To behave in a way that shows you feel nervous about something that might happen	Oglądać się przez ramię
Stand shoulder to shoulder	To show that you support someone's actions or beliefs, often by doing something together	Stanąć z kimś ramie w ramie
Shrug one's shoulders	To move your shoulders up and let them drop to show that you do not know something or do not care	Wzruszyć ramionami

Shoulder - it is one of two parts of the body between one's neck and the top of one's arms.

Seven shoulder idioms have a positive meaning, the rest of them have a negative context. 60% of Polish equivalents contain the word `shoulder' and 40% of the idioms are not connected with body parts.

Idioms rest on someone's shoulders, look over someone's shoulder, look over your shoulder, stand shoulder to shoulder and shrug one's shoulders are closely related to Polish idioms. They have the same form and meaning.

Hand idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
At first hand	Directly	Z pierwszej ręki
Be hand in glove with something	Be in close co-operation with someone	Mieć z kimś konszachty
A dab hand	Skilled at some job	Złota rączka
Eat/feed out of someone's hand	Be under someone's influence	Jeść komuś z ręki
Force someone's hand	Force someone to act more quickly than he may be willing to	Wywierać na kogoś presję
Give/lend someone's hand	Help somebody physically	Dać komuś pomocną dłoń
Give someone/have a free hand	Give someone permission to do as he wishes	Dać komuś wolną rękę
Someone's right hand	Someone's closest assistant	Czyjaś prawa ręka
Show/reveal one's hand	Let others know one's intentions, plans	Odkryć karty
Take something/ someone in hand	Take control of something/ someone	Wziąść coś w swoje ręce

In dictionaries there are many different uses of word `hand'. As a body part `hand' is at the end of each arm that people use for picking up and holding things, but it is also used for moving and touching things.

Seven hand idioms are positively loaded and three of them are rather negative.

70% of Polish hand idioms are associated with the word `hand' and 30% are not related to any other body part. Idioms like: give someone a hand, at first hand and someone's right hand have exactly the same form, meaning and the body part in English and in Polish language.

Finger idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Get/pull one's finger out	Stop being lazy and start making an effort	Kiwnąć palcem
Have a finger in every pie	Be involved in many activities	Zajmować się wszystkim po trochę
Have/keep one's finger on the pulse	Keep well informed	Trzymać rękę na pulsie
Lay a finger on someone	Get hold of someone, usually with intent to hurt physically	Tknąć kogoś
Lay/put one's finger on something	Discover something what is wrong	Zakapować kogoś
Point the finger at someone	Accuse, betray or inform on someone	Wskazać kogoś palcem
Twist someone round one's little finger	Manipulate someone	Owinąć sobie kogoś wokół małego palca
All fingers and thumbs	Clumsy with one's hands	Mieć dwie lewe ręce
Get one's fingers burnt	Suffer harm	Sparzyć się
Keep one's fingers crossed	Wish for luck with a difficulty	Trzymać kciuki

Fingers are the long, thin parts at the end of human's hands.

Half of the finger idioms have a positive meaning and the other part is negative. 30% of finger idioms in Polish language contain the word `finger'. 40% of the idioms exclude body elements, but the rest of them (30%) are related to different body parts e.g. in the idiom all fingers and thumbs instead of `finger' is `hand'.

Idiom twist someone round one's little finger is the same in Polish and in English. They agree upon meaning and form.

Leg idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Break a leg	Good luck	Połamania nóg
Get leg over	To have a sex	Zaliczyć panienkę
Shake a leg	To move faster	Ruszyć się
Be all legs	To have long legs	Mieć nogi po samą szyję
Give someone a leg up	Help someone towards success	Wesprzeć kogoś
Not have a leg to stand on	Unable to persuade someone else	Nie mieć argumentów
Pull someone's leg	Make fun of someone by leading him to believe something that is untrue	Nabierać kogoś
Be on one's last legs	Be in bad state or condition	Mieć swoje lata
Stretch one's legs	Take a walk in order to get some physical exercise	Rozprostować nogi
With one's tail between one's legs	In humble, depressed or sad manner	Z podwiniętym ogonem

Leg - is a lower limb of human body with your foot at the end.

Bigger parts of leg idioms have negative meaning (5), one is neutral and the rest are positive. In Polish language 30% of leg idioms contain the word `leg', the rest (70%) are not connected with any body part. Two idioms in Polish and in English have the same form and meaning: stretch one's legs and break a leg.

Foot idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Have a foot in both camps	Be involved with two activities with opposing aims at the same time	Grać na dwie strony
Have one's foot in the door	Have secured an introduction	Zrobić dobry początek
Put/set a foot wrong	Make a mistake	Popełnić błąd
Put one's foot down	Insist on something	Postawić się
Put one's foot in it	Say/do something tactless	Popełnić gafę
Fall/land on one's feet	Go out of a difficult situation by being lucky	Spaść na cztery łapy
Feel/find one's feet	Become self-confident	Zaadaptować się
Get cold feet	Stop something because one becomes afraid of the consequences	Stchórzyć
Have both feet on the ground	Be realistic	Mocno stać na ziemi
Pull the carpet/rug from under someone's feet	Stop giving one's help suddenly	Wytrącić komuś broń z ręki

Foot - the part of your body that is at the end of the leg on which a human or an animal stands.

Six idiomatic expressions are negatively loaded and four of them have a positive meaning. None of the idioms contain the word `foot' in Polish equivalents. There are no similar idioms in form and meaning in both languages. Only one idiom fall/land on one's feet in Polish is related to body part, which is animal's (łapy). In English the presence of foot idioms is frequent, while in Polish they are less popular.

Toe idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Be/keep on one's toes	Be alert or be prepared to face a difficult situation	Być w pogotowiu / trzymać kogoś w ryzach
Toe the line	Do as someone tells you to do	Podporządkować się
Toe the party line	Conform to the general policies and thinking of one's political party	Trzymać się ściśle rady partii
Tread/step on someone's toes	Interfere with someone wishes, often unintentionally	Wchodzić komuś w paradę
From top to toes	Over the whole of your body	Od stóp do głów

Toe is the one of the individual parts at the end of human's foot.

Only one idiom (be/keep on one's toes) have a positive meaning, one is neutral (from top to toes) and the rest are negatively loaded. In Polish toe idioms are not very popular because none of the idioms have associations with the word `toe'. The idiom from top to toes is the only one which is related to body parts in Polish. It is head and foot.

3.1.3 Internal idioms

Heart idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
At heart	As one really is by nature	Z głębi serca
Break someone's heart	Make someone very sad	Złamać komuś serce
Have a heart of gold	Be very kind and generous	Mieć serce ze złota
Have one's heart in the right place	Be a kind person of good intentions	Mieć serce na swoim miejscu
One's heart is in one's mouth	One suddenly feels very frightened in case something does not happen as one expects	Serce podeszło komuś do gardła
To one's heart content	As much or as long as one wishes	Do syta
Take heart	Become confident again	Nabrać otuchy
Take something to heart	Be greatly affected, upset, influenced by something	Wziąść coś sobie do serca
Steal somebody's heart	To cause someone to fall In love with oneself	Skraść komuś serce
One's heart goes out to	One feels great sympathy for someone	Współczuć komuś z całego serca

Heart is the organ in human's chest that makes blood flow around the body. The term refers to our feelings and emotions in reference to people's character. Heart is considered as the most important and influential part of human body. It is the place where people's deepest emotions come from. It is believed that heart controls emotions and it is used to talk about love and happiness. This is why, the most of idioms are positively loaded.

80% of heart idioms contain the word `heart' in Polish and 20% of idioms are not related to heart or feelings.

Many idioms have the same form and meaning in Polish and in English (e.g. break someone's heart, have a heart of gold, have one's heart in the right place, and steal somebody's heart). In some of idioms metaphorical meaning can be guessed, for instance, have one's heart in the right place.

Bone idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
A bone of contention	A subject of constant argument	Kość niezgody
Bone idle	Extremely lazy by nature	Śmierdzący leń
Have a bone to pick with someone	Have something to complain about, a reason for displeasure	Mieć z kimś na pieńku
Make no bones about (doing) something	Do or say something frankly, without hesitation, although it may be not pleasant	Nie ukrywać czegoś
Near the bone	Likely to hurt someone's feelings because it is vulgar, indecent, too personal or painful	Graniczyć z nieprzyzwoitością
The bare bones	A bare outline	Naga prawda
Cut something to the bone	Reduced as much as possible	Zredukować coś do minimum
Feel something in one's bones	Have an intuition about something	Czuć coś w kościach
Frozen to the bones	Feeling very cold in every part of your body	Przemarznięty do szpiku kości
As dry as a bone	Very dry	Suchy jak pieprz

Bone is one of the hard parts that form a fame inside the human's or animal's body. Bone function is to move and protect the internal organs of the body. Bones create the skeleton. This is why they used to represent death. Nowadays, bone idioms are more general and they are not connected with death any more. Most of them (six) have a negative meaning, three are positively loaded and one is neutral.

Only 30% of bone idioms in Polish contain the word `bone'. The rest are not related to any body part. Three idioms: bone of contention, feel something in one's bones, and frozen to the bones have the same form and meaning in Polish and in English.

Tongue idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Have something on the tip of one's tongue	Be on the point of recalling something but not able to do so	Mieć coś na końcu języka
Bite one's tongue off	Regret immediately what one have just said	Ugryźć się w język
Hold one's tongue	Say nothing	Przymknąć się
A slip of the tongue	A mistake made when speaking	Przejęzyczenie
Set tongues wagging	Encourage people to gossip	Mleć językiem
Has the cat got your tongue?	Used when someone does not speak when you expect them to	Mowę komuś odjęło
Loosen somebody's tongue	To make someone more willing to talk about something	Rozwiązywać komuś język
Watch your tongue	Used for saying that someone is being rude and should say any more	Uważaj na to, co mówisz
Not to get your tongue round something	Not to pronounce a difficult word	Nie potrafić wymówić czegoś
Lost your tongue	Used for asking somebody why they are not saying anything	Zgubić język

Tongue is the organ in your mouth. It is a long piece of flesh fixed to the bottom of human's or animal's mouth. People use it for tasting and speaking. Tongue, mostly is use to talk but it also stands for a style of expression, a particular way of speaking and writing.

Almost all tongue idioms have a negative meaning, which is surprising. It is the first body part which is so negatively loaded. None of idioms have a clear positive meaning. Only one is neutral: have something on the tip of one's tongue.

Polish tongue idioms either contain the word `tongue' or they are connected with act of speaking. Two idiomatic expressions have identical form and meaning, and contain the same body element: bite one's tongue off and lost your tongue.

3.1.4 Other body parts idioms

Head idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Be/go off one's head	Think unrealistically	Stracić rozum
Go to one's head	Make someone self-important, arrogant, over-confident	Uderzyć do głowy
Have a good head on one's shoulders	Have a lot common sense and practical ability	Mieć głowę na karku
Have one's head in the clouds	Be a dreamer	Mieć głowę w chmurach
Head and shoulders above someone	Much bigger physically; superior in skill	Przewyższać o głowę
Keep one's head/ cool head	Remain calm; not panic	Nie tracić głowy
Keep one's head above water	Keep out of debt, out of difficulty	Utrzymywać się na powierzchni
Put/lay one's head on the block	Risk failure, defeat, blame, criticism	Kłaść głowę pod topór
Talk one's head off	Talk all the time	Gadać bez końca
Two heads are better than one	Work together to solve a problem, work out ideas	Co dwie głowy to nie jedna

Head is the top part of human's or animal's body that has brain, eyes, mouth and nose. Head can also stand for mind and thought. It is often connected with reason, thoughts or memories. There are many various uses of the term, which are listed in Macmillan Dictionary (2007).

Six head idioms have a positive meaning and four of them are negatively loaded.

In Polish head idioms are also important because 70% of presented idioms contain the word `head', 10% are connected with mind and only 20% are not related to head or mind and to any body part.

There are similarities between English and Polish head idioms. Two of them: have one's head in the clouds and two heads are better than one have identical form, meaning and they contain the word `head'.

The idioms are related to staying calm, having something under control and sometimes to emotions. Head sometimes is associated with a `box' for the brain and for that reason it also represents people's life (e.g. keep one's head above water), temper (e.g. talk one's head off), and intelligence (e.g. head and shoulders above someone).

Back idioms

English idioms	Metaphorical meaning	Polish equivalents
Behind someone's back	When someone is not present or not informed	Za czyimiś plecami
Break the back of something	Complete the hardest part	Uporać się z czymś
Get off someone's back	Leave someone in peace	Odczepić się
Have somebody at one's back	Count on somebody's help	Liczyć na czyjąś pomoc
Have one's back to/against the wall	Be in difficult position where one is forced to defend oneself	Siedzieć plecami do ściany
Pat oneself on the back	Congratulate oneself	Być zadowolonym z siebie
Put one's back into something	Work very hard on something	Włożyć w coś serce i duszę
See the back of something	Get rid of someone	Pozbyć się kogoś
Stab someone in the back	Be disloyal to the friend when he does not expect it	Wbić nóż w plecy
Turn one's back on someone	Refuse help when it is needed	Odwrócić się do kogoś plecami

Back is the body part that is opposite side to people's chest, it is between the neck and the top of legs.

Half of back idioms are positive and the other half has a negative meaning.

Only 40% of Polish back idioms have the word `back' and 60% of them are not related to body parts, but to people's behaviour. One idiom behind someone's back is similar in Polish and in English. It has the same form, meaning and contains the word `head'.

3.2 The understanding of idioms with a food component

by foreigner learners of English

The most important aspect of the mastery of English language is learning of idioms, especially for the foreigner learners. Idioms correspond to a valuable vein in English language, so they need for explanation. Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of its components. Learners of English must be aware that the meaning cannot be taken as a combination of words which the idiom consist of. Also behaviour of idioms in sentences is different. One cannot understand literally the meaning of an idiom. Sometimes it seems that it have no sense or it is illogical. Idioms cannot be changed, especially one cannot use related words when the idiom is concerned. Many of them cannot be use in passive form. The structure of idioms is extraordinary. That is why learners of English must know that the most important thing is not learning idioms by rote, but learning how to use them. If speaker of English knows a lot of idioms and he can use them in a right context, he will be able to communicate more easily.

The main aim of the present chapter is to check the scope of group's knowledge of idioms connected with body parts, whether they are able to use them and define their meanings.

The experiment was carried out in high school among 2 groups - 40 students of second class of the IV Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Chełm. Both groups contain the same amount of students. There are ten girls and ten boys in the first group and the same situation is in the second group. Both groups use the same book during their classes and it is “ForMat” by Diana Pye, Hanna Kryszewska and Marta Rosińska. The groups have five lessons of English during a week. The lessons are always in the morning to eleven o'clock. The groups are on the same pre-intermediate level of the mastery of English.

The test measures the student's proficiency with regard to idioms connected with body parts and it included the following tasks:

Exercise I Fill the gaps with the name of body part

1. Give me a minute to finish my work and then I will be all .................. to hear about your project.

2. Amy has her ........................... in the clouds if she thinks she is going to pass her exams without studying

3. I will keep an ................. on dinner while you are on the phone

4. Believe me! I have the information at first ...........

5. He has his .............. in his mouth when he heard the national anthem.

Exercise II Put each of the following phrases in its correct place in the sentences.

be up to one's ears in; give somebody the cold shoulder; have a heart of gold; turn one's back on someone; give someone a hand

1. The woman .............................................her daughter when she lost her job and needed some money.

2. He ................................................, when I say `hello' to him at the restaurant.

3. I was .............................................work last night that I forgot about our date.

4. My car is broken. Can you ..................................?

5. Mark is such a lovely person. He .....................................................

Exercise III Match the idioms with their definitions

1. Have something on the tip a) be realistic

of one's tongue b) be on the point of recalling something,

2. Stab someone in the back but not able to do so

3. A bone of contention c) good luck

4. Have both feet on the ground d) a subject of constant argument

5. Break a leg e) be disloyal to a friend when he does not

expect it

1.............; 2.................; 3.............; 4..............; 5................

Exercise IV Find one body part that is appropriate for all three gaps in each

of the following sets of idioms

• • keep one's ......................... on the pulse

• twist someone round one's little ................

• have a ............................. in every pie

• • a .....................................to cry on

• straight from the ......................................

• watch over someone ...............................

• • within .......................'s reach

• a shot in the ...............

• cost someone an ........................ and leg

• • jump out of one's ....................

• have a thin .......................

• ................................. somebody alive

• • follow one's ......................

• keep one's ...................out of something

• see no further than the end of one's .....................

Task I

Group 1

• in question 1 - 9 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 45%

• in question 2 - 15 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 75%

• in question 3 - 11 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 55%

• in question 4 - 17 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 85%

• in question 5 - 7 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 35%

Group 2

• in question 1 - 11 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 55%

• in question 2 - 16 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 80%

• in question 3 - 10 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 50%

• in question 4 - 18 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 90%

• in question 5 - 6 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 30%

The analysis of the first task indicated that for the both groups question number 5 was the most difficult. The students in the first group got only 35 % and in the second group 30% of the correct answers. The best results had been achieved when we are looking at question 4; the percentage of correct answers is in the first group 85% and in the second group 90%.

In this task students were to fill the gaps with an appropriate name of body part. This exercise showed that some idioms connected with the parts of the body are not exactly known. Students better remember those expressions they are more familiar with. Question 4 was the easiest because the idiom at first hand is similar to Polish idiom. The structure and form is the same in both languages and that is why students know the appropriate part of the body.

Task		Group	I	II	Global results	Percentage of correct answers	Incorrect answers	Percentage of incorrect answers
				Number of students	20				20	40
				Correct answers
I	1		9	11	20	50%	20	50%
		2		15	16	31	77,5%	9	22,5%
		3		11	10	22	55%	18	45%
		4		17	18	35	87,5%	5	12,5%
		5		7	6	13	32,5%	27	67,5%
Total results			59	61	121	60,5%	79	39,5%

Task II

Group 1

• in question 1 - 15 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 75%

• in question 2 - 9 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 45%

• in question 3 - 7 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 35%

• in question 4 - 13 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 65%

• in question 5 - 19 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 95%

Group 2

• in question 1 - 17 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 85%

• in question 2 - 8 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 40%

• in question 3 - 9 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 45%

• in question 4 - 14 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 70%

• in question 5 - 19 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 95%

The results of the exercise 2 show that the worst scores have been achieved in question 2 and 3, and the best results have been reached in question 5 in both groups. Two idioms be up to one's ears in and give somebody the cold shoulder are not exactly known to students.

In this task students were to put given phrases in the correct place in the sentence. Although, the task was relatively easy, and most of idioms were also connected with Polish language, the results are quite good.

Task		Group	I	II	Global results	Percentage of correct answers	Incorrect answers	Percentage of incorrect answers
				Number of students	20				20	40
				Correct answers
II	1		15	17	32	80%	8	20%
		2		9	8	17	42,5%	23	57,5%
		3		7	9	16	40%	24	60%
		4		13	14	27	67,5%	13	32,5%
		5		19	19	38	95%	2	5%
Total results			63	67	130	65%	70	35%

Task III

Group 1

• in question 1 - 17 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 85%

• in question 2 - 10 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 50%

• in question 3 - 12 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 60%

• in question 4 - 18 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 90%

• in question 5 - 18 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 90%

Group 2

• in question 1 - 16 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 80%

• in question 2 - 11 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 55%

• in question 3 - 10 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 50%

• in question 4 - 19 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 95%

• in question 5 - 18 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 90%

This task is a matching exercise which tests the overall knowledge of body part idioms and the ability of students to match expressions with appropriate definitions. Two questions 4 and 5 have resulted in the highest score about 90%, and at the same time questions 2 and 3 proved to have caused certain problems. Idioms in questions 4 and 5 are similar in form and structure to the Polish idioms.

Looking at the results, it seems that the students were not familiar with the idioms: stab someone in the back and a bone of contention. It can be seen that idioms and their definitions were used interchangeably.

Task		Group	I	II	Global results	Percentage of correct answers	Incorrect answers	Percentage of incorrect answers
				Number of students	20				20	40
				Correct answers
III	1		17	16	33	82,5%	7	17,5%
		2		10	11	21	52,5%	19	47,5%
		3		12	10	22	55%	18	45%
		4		18	19	37	92,5%	3	7,5%
		5		18	18	36	90%	4	10%
Total results			75	74	149	74,5%	51	25,5%

Task IV

Group 1

• in question 1 - 14 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 70%

• in question 2 - 11 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 55%

• in question 3 - 7 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 35%

• in question 4 - 9 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 45%

• in question 5 - 17 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 85%

Group 2

• in question 1 - 13 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 65%

• in question 2 - 12 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 60%

• in question 3 - 5 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 25%

• in question 4 - 11 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 55%

• in question 5 - 18 out of 20 have been correct that constitutes a value of 90%

The aim of the task is checking whether the students were able to find one word that can be suitable for all three gaps in sets of idioms provided. The best results have been achieved in question 5, where the nose answer has been expected. The most difficult was question 3.

Task		Group	I	II	Global results	Percentage of correct answers	Incorrect answers	Percentage of incorrect answers
				Number of students	20				20	40
				Correct answers
IV	1		14	13	27	67,5%	13	32,5%
		2		11	12	23	57,5%	17	42,5%
		3		7	5	12	30%	28	70%
		4		9	11	20	50%	20	50%
		5		17	18	35	87,5%	5	12,5%
Total results			58	59	117	58,5%	83	41,5%

Total answers

Percentage of
TASK	Correct	Incorrect	Correct	Incorrect
I	121	79	60,5%	39,5%
II	130	70	65%	35%
III	149	51	74,5%	25,5%
IV	117	83	58,5%	41,5%
Global answers	517	283	64,63%	35,37%

The results of the test are similar in both groups. There are tiny differences in scores in each task, but the results are comparable. Both groups are at the same level of mastery of English and they are taught from the same book. That is why differences in results are insignificant.

The most difficult task for both groups was the last exercise where students were find one suitable body part for three idioms. Idioms in this exercise were not really known by students and most of them are not related to Polish body idioms. There is only 58,5 per cent of correct answers.

The easiest exercise was the task three where students suppose to match idioms with their definitions. In this task is 74,5 per cent of correct answers.

Students were able to deal with this test because many of body idioms are closely related to Polish language like break a leg or have a heart of gold. Some idioms in English have the same form and the same body part component as in Polish. Some body idioms in Polish and in English are different, but they can be easily understood and their metaphorical meaning is clear to learners of English.

3.3 Concluding remarks

Knowing a wide range of English idioms and using them in everyday speech is a great advantage of user of the language. The knowledge of idioms makes students possible to experience the language and the culture. Every `good' speaker of English should know certain language traps:

• idiomatic phrases when used in an inappropriate context may sound funny or weird.

• we can use idioms when we talk in private and the person we talk to know the language very well.

• we should avoid idioms when we talk with a stranger or we talk publicly.

• in writing, idioms are mostly connected with colloquial speech.

• students are often learning from out-of-date sources

• idiomatic expressions should be explained as early as possible, students should be aware of danger of treating idioms too literally or using them in wrong situations

• idioms should be thought in context and should be based on their usefulness

• using idioms in written compositions on early levels is useless

• learners should not make incorrect changes

• most of idioms which are thought should be up-to-date.

Conclusion

The aim of this thesis was to outline the issue of English idioms with a body part component from the point of cognitive grammar and checking the student's knowledge regarding those items. Having analysed various aspects of idioms, one can conclude that idiomatic expressions are phrases which use language in a non-literal way. This is why interpretation of idioms is very hard. Idioms are group of words, phrases that meaning cannot be concluded from the individual words. Every idiom has a deeper, metaphorical meaning. Idioms are very important in life because it is impossible to speak, read, write and listen to English without knowing idiomatic expressions. Native speakers of English feel more comfortable using idiomatic phrases, however, non-native speakers can be frustrated because the true meaning of an idiom is not always clear. One should remember that idioms can be used when every speaker master a language completely. Nowadays, idioms are essential elements that enrich the language. However, one should remember that speech which is overloaded with idioms loses its originality. On the other hand, lack of idioms make that oral or written speech loses much in its expressiveness.

This thesis shows that there are some similarities between Polish body idioms and English. Idioms have the same body component, the same meaning and they contain similar words. That correspondence between the languages facilitate students assimilation and learning idioms.

Certain body idioms have equivalent in Polish language, but they are not contain body element. Such idioms are harder to recognise and to understand by the foreign learner.

Almost every body idiom is related to human being, to its behaviour, qualities and every day life. Understanding of the metaphorical meaning of idiomatic phrases is related to everyday experience and the world around us. It causes that metaphors are very important in people's lives. This is why one should know idioms especially when he is learning language. Metaphors are part of the language. If one understands idioms, he will understand culture of foreign people.

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1. http://www.essex.ac.uk/linguistics/clmt/MTbook/HTML/node55.html

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3. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki

4. www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com

5. www.omniglot.com/language/articles/idioms.htm

6. www.bartleby.com

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