About American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms pdf

From “all systems go” to “senior moment”—a comprehensive reference to idiomatic English. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms explores the meanings and origins of idioms that may not make literal sense but play an important role in the language—including phrasal verbs such as kick back, proverbs such as too many cooks spoil the broth, interjections such as tough beans, and figures of speech such as elephant in the room. With extensive revisions that reflect new historical scholarship and changes in the English language, this second edition defines over 10, 000 idiomatic expressions in greater detail than any other dictionary available today—a remarkable reference for those studying the English language, or anyone who enjoys learning its many wonderful quirks and expressions. “Invaluable as a teaching tool.”

from the book :

This book is a comprehensive survey of the idioms currently used in American English. An idiom is a set phrase of two or more words that means something different from the literal meaning of the individual words. For instance, the phrase to change one’s tune has nothing to do with music but means “to alter one’s
attitude.” Similarly, to hit the nail on the head often has nothing to do with carpentry but means simply “to be absolutely right.” Idioms are the idiosyncrasies of a language. Often defying the rules of logic, they pose great difficulties for non-native speakers. English abounds with phrases such as if worst comes to worst, far and away, and how do you do, which, if translated literally, make no sense. Indeed, the true test of an idiom is whether it changes meaning when rendered word for word in another language.

In addition to idioms, this book includes common figures of speech, such as dark horse and blind as a bat; interjections and formula phrases, such as all the best and take care; emphatic redundancies whose word order cannot be reversed, such as far and wide and cease and desist; common proverbs, especially ones that
often occur in abbreviated form, such as a bird in the hand; colloquialisms such as off the beam and out in left field; and slang phrases such as push the envelope.

Each expression is defined and illustrated by at least one sample sentence showing how it is used in context. In most cases the literal meaning of a phrase is omitted; thus the entry hold up omits the definition “keep upright” or “support.” Wherever possible I have included information regarding the expression’s origin or background, along with its date of first appearance. I have given approximate dates for most idioms to allow for their probable use in speech before being written down.

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