Idioms in English and American songs

English words that survived in the United States

A number of words and meanings that originated in Middle English or Early Modern English and that always have been in everyday use in the United States dropped out in most varieties of British English; some of these have cognates in Lowland Scots. Terms such as fall («autumn»), pavement (to mean «road surface», where in Britain, as in Philadelphia, it is the equivalent of «sidewalk»), faucet, diaper, candy, skillet, eyeglasses, crib (for a baby), obligate, and raise a child are often regarded as Americanisms. Fall for example came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like «fall of the leaf» and «fall of the year». During the 17th century, English immigration to the colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took their language with them, and while the term fall gradually became obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America. Gotten (past participle of get) is often considered to be an Americanism, although there are some areas of Britain, such as Lancashire and North-eastern England, that still continue to use it and sometimes also use putten as the past participle for put (which is not done by most speakers of American English). [45]

Other words and meanings, to various extents, were brought back to Britain, especially in the second half of the 20th century; these include hire («to employ»), quit («to stop, « which spawned quitter in the U. S.), I guess (famously criticized by H. W. Fowler), baggage, hit (a place), and the adverbs overly and presently («currently»). Some of these, for example monkey wrench and wastebasket, originated in 19th-century Britain.

The mandative subjunctive (as in «the City Attorney suggested that the case not be closed») is livelier in AmE than it is in British English; it appears in some areas as a spoken usage, and is considered obligatory in contexts that are more formal. The adjectives mad meaning «angry», smart meaning «intelligent», and sick meaning «ill» are also more frequent in American than British English.

Most of the differences in lexis or vocabulary between British and American English are in connection with concepts originating from the 19th century to the mid 20th century, when new words were coined independently. Almost the entire vocabularies of the car/automobile and railway/railroad industries (see Rail terminology) are different between the UK and US, for example. Other sources of difference are slang or vulgar terms, where frequent new coinage occurs, and idiomatic phrases, including phrasal verbs. The differences most likely to create confusion are those where the same word or phrase is used for two different concepts. Regional variations, even within the US or the UK, can create the same problems. [46]

It is not a straightforward matter to classify differences of vocabulary. David Crystal identifies some of the problems of classification on the facing page to his list of American English/British English lexical variation, and states «this should be enough to suggest caution when working through an apparently simple list of equivalents».

Though the influence of cross-culture media has done much to familiarize BrE and AmE speakers with each other's regional words and terms, many words are still recognized as part of a single form of English. Though the use of a British word would be acceptable in AmE (and vice versa), most listeners would recognize the word as coming from the other form of English, and treat it much the same as a word borrowed from any other language. For instance, an American using the word chap or mate to refer to a friend would be heard in much the same way as an American using the Spanish word amigo. [47]

Words and phrases which have their origins BrE

Some speakers of AmE are aware of some BrE terms, although they might not generally use them, or may be confused as to whether someone intends the American or British meaning (such as for biscuit). They will be able to guess approximately what some others, such as “driving licence, ” mean. However, use of many other British words such as naff (unstylish, though commonly used to mean «not very good»), risks rendering a sentence incomprehensible to most Americans. [48]

Words and phrases which have their origins AmE

Speakers of BrE are likely to understand most AmE terms, examples such as 'sidewalk', 'gas (gasoline/petrol) ', 'counterclockwise', or 'elevator (lift) ', without any problem. Certain terms which are heard less frequently, eg. 'copacetic (satisfactory) ', are unlikely to be understood by most BrE speakers.

Words and phrases with different meanings

Words such as bill (AmE «paper money», BrE and AmE «invoice») and biscuit (AmE: BrE's «scone», BrE: AmE's «cookie») are used regularly in both AmE and BrE, but mean different things in each form As chronicled by Winston Churchill, the opposite meanings of the verb to table created a misunderstanding during a meeting of the Allied forces; in BrE to table an item on an agenda means to open it up for discussion, whereas in AmE, it means to remove it from discussion.

The word «football» in BrE refers to Association football, also known as soccer. In AmE, «football» means American football.

Similarly, the word «hockey» in BrE refers to field hockey, while in AmE «hockey» means ice hockey.

Words with completely different meanings are relatively few; most of the time, there are either (1) words with one or more shared meanings and one or more meanings unique to one variety (e. g. bathroom and toilet) or (2) words whose meanings are actually common to both BrE and AmE, but which show differences in frequency, connotation, or denotation (e. g. smart, clever, mad).

Some differences in usage and/or meaning can cause confusion or embarrassment. For example, the word fanny is a slang word for vagina in BrE (often used by small children) but simply means buttocks in AmE - the AmE phrase fanny pack is called a bum bag in BrE. In AmE the word fag (short for faggot) is a highly offensive term for a gay male, but in BrE it is also a normal and well-used term for a cigarette. In AmE the word pissed means being annoyed, where as in BrE it refers to being drunk (in both varieties, pissed off means irritated). [49]

Sometimes the confusion is more subtle. In AmE the word quite used as a qualifier is generally a reinforcement: e. g. «I'm quite hungry» means «I'm very hungry». In BrE quite (which is much more common in conversation) can have this meaning, as in «quite right», «quite mad» or «I enjoyed that quite a lot», but it more commonly means «somewhat», so that in BrE «I'm quite hungry» can mean «I'm somewhat hungry» - and this divergence of use can lead to misunderstanding.

Frequency

* In the UK, the word whilst is historically acceptable as a conjunction (as an alternative to while, especially prevalent in some dialects). In AmE only while is used in both contexts.

* In the UK, generally the term fall meaning «autumn» is obsolete. Although found often from Elizabethan to Victorian literature, continued understanding of the word is usually ascribed to its continued use in America.

* In the UK, the term period for a full stop is now obsolete, while in AmE the term full stop is rarely, if ever, used for the punctuation mark. For example, Tony Blair said, «Terrorism is wrong, full stop», whereas in AmE, «Terrorism is wrong, period. «

2.1.3 Stylistic and idiomatic peculiarities

Equivalent Idioms[50]

A number of English idioms that have essentially the same meaning show lexical differences between the British and the American version; for instance:

British English	American English
not touch something with a bargepole	not touch something with a ten-foot pole
sweep under the carpet	sweep under the rug*
touch wood	knock on wood
see the wood for the trees	see the forest for the trees
put a spanner in the works	throw a (monkey) wrench (into a situation)
put (or stick) your oar in[87] but it won't make a ha'porth of difference[88] to put your two penn'orth (or tuppence worth) in	to put your two cents (or two cents' worth) in[89]
skeleton in the cupboard	skeleton in the closet
a home from home	a home away from home
blow one's own trumpet	blow (or toot) one's horn
a drop in the ocean	a drop in the bucket[90]
flogging a dead horse	beating a dead horse
haven't (got) a clue	don't have a clue or have no clue
a new lease of life	a new lease on life
lie of the land	lay of the land
take it with a pinch of salt	take it with a grain of salt
a storm in a teacup	a tempest in a teapot

2.3 English and American songs

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing. A choral or vocal song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs. The lyrics (words) of songs are typically of a poetic, rhyming nature, though they may be religious verses or free prose.

A song may be for a solo singer, a duet, trio, or larger ensemble involving more voices. Songs with more than one voice to a part are considered choral works. Songs can be broadly divided into many different forms, depending on the criteria used. One division is between «art songs», «pop songs», and «folk songs». Other common methods of classification are by purpose (sacred vs secular), by style (dance, ballad, Lied, etc.), or by time of origin (Renaissance, Contemporary, etc.).

A song is a piece of music for accompanied or unaccompanied voice/voices or, «the act or art of singing, « but the term is generally not used for large vocal forms including opera and oratorio. [51] However, the term is, «often found in various figurative and transferred sense (e. g. for the lyrical second subject of a sonata...). «[52] The noun «song» has the same etymological root as the verb «to sing» and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines the word to mean «that which is sung» or «a musical composition suggestive of song. « The OED also defines the word to mean «a poem» or «the musical phrases uttered by some birds, whales, and insects, typically forming a recognizable and repeated sequence and used chiefly for territorial defence or for attracting mates. «

Song-is a short piece of music with words that you sing. [53 ]

Short and usually simple piece of music for voice, with or without instrumental accompaniment. Folk songs-traditional songs without a known composer transmitted orally rather than in written form-have existed for millennia but have left few traces in ancient sources. Virtually all known preliterate societies have a repertory of songs. Folk songs often accompany religious ceremonies, dancing, labour, or courting; they may tell stories or express emotions; the music follows obvious conventions and is often repetitive. Songs written by a particular composer or poet generally are more sophisticated and are not attached to activities. In the West the continuous tradition of secular art songs began with the troubadours, trouvиres, and minnesingers of the 12th-13th centuries. Polyphonic songs, originating in the motet, began to appear in the 13th century. Composers of the 14th century produced a great body of polyphonic songs in the formes fixes. Later the Italian madrigal became the most distinguished genre. Notated accompaniments to solo songs appeared in the 16th century. The Romantic movement made the 19th century a golden age for the art song, notably the German lied. In the 20th century the popular song displaced the more cultivated art song, and popular music is today synonymous with popular song.

Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of «popular») is a genre ofpopular music which originated in its modern form in the 1950s, deriving from rock and roll. ^[1]

2.3 The scheme of analysis of idiom in songs

songs idiom english languages

This diploma work is dedicated to contrastive analysis songs with the content of the idioms. We are going to analyze of English and American songs, Which contains the idioms of different subjects.

The purpose of this work is a study of the songs from idiomatic expressions on different topics. Taking account different criteria, compare and contrast the results of the research, to discover differences and the similarities between English and American idioms.

Aims and objectives of analysis:

The aim of our research is to analyse the usage of idioms in English and American songs.

ь to classify idioms;

ь To identify theme of idioms;

ь to translate;

ь to compare results;

We to analysed British and American songs:

20 songs = 10 British songs+ 10 American songs

For the analysis of the songs we created our scheme:



English songs:

1. Depeche Mode- “Walking in My Shoes”

«…Now I'm not looking for absolution

Forgiveness for the things I do

But before you come to any conclusions

Try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes…»

walking in my shoes-оказаться на чьем-либо месте

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

2. The Beatles - Drive My Car

«…I told that girl that my prospects were good,

She said, baby, it's understood,

Working for peanuts is all very fine…»

Working for peanuts-работать за гроши

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

3. The Beatles-Nowhere man

«…Nowhere man, don't worry

Take your time, don't hurry

Leave it all till somebody else lends you a hand…»

lends you a hand-протянуть руку помощи

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

4. Mika- relax

«…Relax, take it easy

For there is nothing that we can do

Relax, take it easy

Blame it on me or blame it on you…»

take it easy-расслабиться

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

5. Lady Gaga-Fancy Pants

«…Let's take off our fancy pants tonight

(Fancy, fancy, you're so fancy) …»

fancy pants- нюня

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

6. Lady Gaga-Poker face

«…Can't read my, can't read my

No he can't read my poker face…»

poker face-человек, не выдающий эмоций

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

7. The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo

«Don't ya worry, get dressed, « cried my mother As she plied me with bourbon so sour Pull your socks up, put your suit on

Pull your socks up- сделай усилие

Sources of idioms: from Bible (Matthew 24: 6-8 by King James Versiom)

8. Lady Gaga -Monster

“That boy is bad

And honestly

He's a Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

But I can't stop staring in those evil eyes”

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing-выдавать себя за другого

Sources of idioms: from Bible (Matthew 7: 15-1611 by King James Versiom)

9. Lady Gaga -Russian Roulette

“A little gambling is fun when you're with me, I love it Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun”

Russian Roulette -опасное дело

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

10. The Beatles - All Things Must Pass

It has not always been this grey All things must pass,

all things must pass away All things must pass none of life's strings can last So I must be on my way and face another day

All things must pass-ничто не вечно

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

American songs:

1. Alice Cooper-Yeah Yeah Yeah

« You can be my slave And I'll be a stranger We could be in passion We could be in danger Take you off the streets Put you under my wings Yeah, you could pull my leg Or anything?»

pull my leg- водить за нос

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

2. Jeopardy by Skyclad:

«In jeopardy - welcome to the lion's den, We skate on thin ice - dice with death»

the lion's den- идти навстречу опасности

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

skate on thin ice -ходить по краю пропасти

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

3. Phil Collins-true colors:

«So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful, Like a rainbow»

show Your true colors-показывать свое истинное лицо

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

4. Mean Streak Lyrics-Deep Purple: «She drive me crazy gets inside my brain, She spun my money down the drain, ohh So I roll over for my reward

How much can I afford?

She says, «Just a little more»

money down the drain- зря тратить деньги, транжирить

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

5. Kenny Neal - Can't Have Your Cake

«Well you got someone else to give your lovin' too I'm seeing red and I'm feelin' blue But oh baby I'm hip to you You can't have your cake woman, and eat it too It's just as plain as night and day You can't keep on baby, treatin' me this way Whoa baby, just won't do You can't have your cake woman and eat it too Whoa babe, it just won't do You bit off more than you can chew You can't have your cake woman, and eat it too»

You can't have your cake and eat it -приготовить яичницу, не разбив яйца

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

6. Snoop Dogg -Midnight love

« But some punks that probably never turn the money to burn But I learn cuz I see, and I earn cuz I G But these problems probably havin niggaz prayin to see At an early age so at an early stage in life I chose to get my ish tight ya gotta struggle and fight It cost an arm and a leg just to live on your knees And I'm tryin to keep my sanity God help me please»

cost an arm and a leg- Это слишком дорого

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

7. Linkin Park-by myself

« What do I do to ignore them behind me? Do I follow my instincts blindly? Do I hide my pride from these bad dreams And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening? Do I let them go and try to stand it? Or do I try to catch them red handed Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness, Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness?»

to catch them red-handed -поймать с поличным

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

8. Craig Morgan-Hush

« Hush - can't talk about it Hush - dance all around it Everybody's doin' it, old and young Don't breathe a word, cat's got your tongue Hush»

cat's got your tongue - язык проглотил

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

9. Toby Keith -Downtown

«Moving upstairs, downtown Life's too short to be hanging around She's eighteen and it's time she got out of the wood She's getting out while the getting's good»

time she got out of the wood -вне опасности

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life

10. Galactic Cowboys -Breakthrough

«I should've seen it comin' should've seen the signs Seems that there's a break in our communication lines You haven't heard me talkin' for a long long time I guess you're in a new dimension but I'm still in mine Look out 'cause I'm a bull in a china shop»

I'm a bull in a china shop- слон в посудной лавке; неуклюжий и бестактный человек

Sources of idioms: from our everyday life



English songs	American songs
1. Depeche Mode - Walking in My Shoes «…Now I'm not looking for absolution Forgiveness for the things I do But before you come to any conclusions Try walking in my shoes Try walking in my shoes…»	Galactic Cowboys -Breakthrough: «Look out 'cause I'm a bull in a china shop «
2. The Beatles - Drive My Car «…I told that girl that my prospects were good, She said, baby, it's understood, Working for peanuts is all very fine…»	Toby Keith -Downtown “«She's eighteen and it's time she got out of the wood»
3. The Beatles-Nowhere man «…Nowhere man, don't worry Take your time, don't hurry Leave it all till somebody else lends you a hand…»	Craig Morgan-Hush «Don't breathe a word, cat's got your tongue Hush»
4. Mika- relax «…Relax, take it easy For there is nothing that we can do Relax, take it easy Blame it on me or blame it on you…»	Linkin Park-by myself «Do I sit here and try to stand it? Or do I try to catch them red-handed?»
5. Lady Gaga-Fancy Pants «…Let's take off our fancy pants tonight (Fancy, fancy, you're so fancy) …»	Snoop Dogg -Midnight love «it cost an arm and a leg just to live on your knees»
6. Lady Gaga-Poker face «…Can't read my, can't read my No he can't read my poker face…»	Kenny Neal - Can't Have Your Cake «You can't have your cake woman and eat it too»

English songs	American songs
The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo «Don't ya worry, get dressed, « cried my mother As she plied me with bourbon so sour Pull your socks up, put your suit on	Mean Streak Lyrics-Deep Purple: «She drive me crazy gets inside my brain, She spun my money down the drain, ohh So I roll over for my reward How much can I afford? She says, «Just a little more»
Lady Gaga -Monster “That boy is bad And honestly He's a Wolf In Sheep's Clothing But I can't stop staring in those evil eyes”	Phil Collins-true colors: «So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful, Like a rainbow»
Lady Gaga -Russian Roulette “A little gambling is fun when you're with me, I love it Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun”	Jeopardy by Skyclad: «In jeopardy - welcome to the lion's den, We skate on thin ice - dice with death»
The Beatles - All Things Must Pass It has not always been this grey All things must pass, all things must pass away All things must pass none of life's strings can last So I must be on my way and face another day	Alice Cooper-Yeah Yeah Yeah «Yeah, you could pull my leg Or anything»?»

We made a scheme on which we have analyzed songs, we translated idioms, and to determined the classifications, structures, thematic characteristics and sources of idioms. We analyzed 20 songs and found 22 idioms. (Appendix)

	Songs	Idioms	Structural type be Smirnitskij	Thematic characteristics of idioms	Sources of idioms	Classification by Koonin
English song	Depeche Mode - Walking in My Shoes	Walking in My Shoes -оказаться на чьем-либо месте, быть в таком же положении	phraseological unities	Clothes Idioms	from our everyday life	free word groups
American song	Galactic Cowboys -Breakthrough: «Look out 'cause I'm a bull in a china shop «	Like a bull in a china shop- неуклюжий	phraseological unities	Business Idioms	from our everyday life	free word groups
English song	Lady Gaga -Monster	a Wolf In Sheep's Clothing	phraseological unities	take - Idioms	from Bible (Matthew 7: 15, 1611 by King James)	free word groups
English song	Lady Gaga-Poker face	poker face-»каменное», бесстрастное лицо, не выдающее эмоций	phraseological unities	Card Playing Idioms	from our everyday life	free word groups
American song	Linkin Park-by myself	to catch them red-hand поймать на горячем	phraseological unities	Color Idioms	from our everyday life	free word groups
American song	Snoop Dogg -Midnight love	an arm and a leg -большая сумма денег	phraseological unities	Arm, Hand, & Finger Idioms	from our everyday life	free word groups

We have found idioms in English and American song and made conclusion:

We have added “Bible idioms” a description of its thematic characteristics of idioms.

Conclusion

The present research work has shown that a skilful use of idioms and phraseological units in the texts of mass media makes the speech more vivid, expressive, emotional and rises certain associations at readers' minds.

Phraseological expression as a unit of one of the level of a language system possese its own properties which differ it from the other units. They are stability, semantic integrity of componental structure, reproducibility, grammatical correlation, metaphorical meaning and expressiveness.

In our opinion, thanks to metaphorical meaning and expressiveness the use of phraseological expressions is especially popular in songs. It creates special expressiveness, accuracy and figurativeness of the text.

The aim of the present work was to to study all the aspects of idioms, the cases of their usage and to analyze the frequency of idioms usage in English and American songs. We successfully achieved the set objective and can draw a conclusion that idioms are widely used in English songs both in British and American.

To sum it up, we should point out that the present work was very interesting and informative. We came across both known and absolutely new, up-to-date set expressions and idioms, which certainly enriched our own vocabulary. However the significance of idiomatic expressions in songs is insufficiently investigated and demands deeper working out in respect of defining their role in creation of songs.

Being based on the accomplished practical and theoretical research we came to the conclusion that idioms are figurative expressions which do not mean what they literally state is and since they are so frequently encountered in both oral and written discourse, comprehending and producing idioms present language learners with a special vocabulary learning problem The essential feature of idioms is lack of motivation.

We came to the conclusion that the use of idioms isn't only an interesting theme for research but also, creatively used, newspapers and magazines can effectively promote learning, critical thinking, creativity and resourcefulness in learners of all ages. There are evidences that the songs can play a great role in language proficiency. Although complete mastery of idioms may be nearly impossible, every learner must be prepared to meet the challenge simply because idioms occur so frequently in the spoken and written English. In this work we have discussed how idioms can be used in newspapers and how they can influence the speech by making it more colorful and bright. So idioms are integral part of language which make our speech more colourful and authentically native.

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