Idioms With Comparisons in English: Conventional Comparative Images From Animals, Objects and Materials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1609.12Keywords:
idioms with comparisons, conventional comparative images, animals, objects, materialsAbstract
Idioms with comparisons are regarded as a prevalent category of idioms in English. They comprise three component parts, namely comparative contents, conventional comparative images, and comparative connectors, wherein the conventional comparative images elucidate the comparative contents (Thúy et al., 2025). The aim of the research is to interpret the conventional comparative images of idioms with comparisons, which helps to make the idiomatic meanings explicit. This study utilizes a predominantly qualitative mixed-method approach (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017). There are 397 idioms with comparisons concerning the conventional comparative images from animals, objects and materials collected by a manual search of English idiom dictionaries. It is revealed in the study that the proportion of conventional comparative images from animals (31.55%) is higher than those from objects and materials (27.53%). Conventional comparative images can come from the shapes, appearances, typical characteristics, personalities, activities, reactions, relationships, body parts, etc., of animals; originate from objects, encompassing their shapes, prominent external features, and properties; or be materials presented through their properties, colors, and nuances.
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