The republic of uzbekistan nukus state pedagogical institute foreign language faculty

1.2 British Idioms with Very Similar American Equivalents
This section will show examples of idioms that are very similar in both British and American English. Most of these idioms only differ in their grammatical form or in the selection of words used in similes and phrases. Most of them are different in no more than one word.In British English when we would like to express that someone is “powerless, helpless,nervous and stressed, or someone who is incapacitated by alcohol” the idiomatic phrase cot-case is used. (Ref.7) The American equivalent of this idiom is a basket case.This phrase originally referred to “a quadriplegic as a result of catastrophic wounds suffered in World War I the military vehemently denied there were any such in its hospitals, from basket + case. Probably literal, i.e., stuck in a basket, but basket had colloquial connotations of poverty (begging) and helplessness long before this. Figurative sense of "person emotionally unable to cope" is from 1967.”From this example we can see that some idioms have a very interesting etymological origin.This example is only one of many on which we could demonstrate the development of its use, and how the original and current meanings are different.She was a complete cot case on the morning of her wedding.Jessica unfortunately failed the important exam. She was a basket case for days.One of many idioms which are frequently used, especially among young people, is to be drunk as a lord. To be drunk as a lord means to be very drunk; intoxicated. The American equivalent of this idiom is very similar and only differs in the noun used in the simile. An American would rather use the phrase drunk as a skunk. It only took three drinks to get John drunk as a lord. After tasting several mixed drinks at the bar, they were all drunk as skunks.To say that someone goes bankrupt, in British English we use the phrase to go bust.The American equivalent of this idiom is to go broke. The only difference we see in the two dialects is in the final word in the phrase. The American Idioms Dictionary defines to go broke as “to completely run out of money and other assets.”Our company is going to go bust if we don’t start making profit.ɒoris can’t go on vacation with usĽ he’s broke.To knock spots off something or somebody is an informal way to say that something is “very much better than someone or something else.” (Ref.9) The American equivalent to this idiom is to knock the socks off. The difference we see between the two idioms is found in the noun functioning as the direct object in this phrase. McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs adds a meaning to this phrase and states that it also means “to surprise someone thoroughly.The new Mexican restaurant in town knocks spots off any other restaurant in our region.The shocking news knocked the socks off everyone present at the meeting.When a British person wants to express the idea of “saving someone from failure or difficulties,” they often use the idiom to save someone’s bacon. (Ref.10) The American equivalent is the phrase to save one’s skin. Once again, we see that the only difference in the two idioms is the noun used as a direct object of the phrase. The Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs defines this phrase as “saving someone from injury, embarrassment, or punishment.”Darren was late for work again and we tried to save his bacon, but the boss fired him anyway.I need you to save my skin and lie to my parents for me.The American Idioms Dictionary defines to go broke as “to completely run out of money and other assets.”Our company is going to go bust if we don’t start making profit.ɒoris can’t go on vacation with usĽ he’s broke.To knock spots off something or somebody is an informal way to say that something is “very much better than someone or something else.” (Ref.9) The American equivalent to this idiom is to knock the socks off. The difference we see between the two idioms is found in the noun functioning as the direct object in this phrase. McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs adds a meaning to this phrase and states that it also means “to surprise someone thoroughly.The new Mexican restaurant in town knocks spots off any other restaurant in our region.The shocking news knocked the socks off everyone present at the meeting.When a British person wants to express the idea of “saving someone from failure or difficulties,” they often use the idiom to save someone’s bacon. (Ref.10) The American equivalent is the phrase to save one’s skin. Once again, we see that the only difference in the two idioms is the noun used as a direct object of the phrase. The Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs defines this phrase as “saving someone from injury, embarrassment, or punishment.The phrase to yell blue murder is sometimes used with the verb scream or cry and it means to “shout or to complain very loudly.” (Ref.11) The American equivalent of this phrase is to scream or cry bloody murder and the meaning found in the Dictionary of ɑmerican Idioms and Phrasal Verbs is: “to scream as if something very serious has happened, especially unnecessarily.” (McGraw-Hill, 2002, p. 135) In this case we observe that the difference in the idioms is found in the adjective used in the phrase.When my son unintentionally bumped into an elderly lady, she started yelling blue murder because she thought he was trying to steal her purse.There is no reason to scream bloody murder, the car can be fixed.This chapter intentionally focuses on selected British and American idioms as they are a topic which is not discussed much in works concerning differences between British and American English vocabulary. Most works deal with differences in vocabulary in different areas of life such as law, transportation and vehicles, academic life and environment, object in homes, and so on. While we see that many times when we want to express a certain idea using an idiomatic expression, we use two completely different idioms or collocations in the two dialects, we can also conclude that there is a large number of idioms which are very similar in British and American English and the difference between them is a minor grammatical difference or a difference in a choice of one word in the phrase.