BAN THAO THANH NGU 2

IDIOM
I. INTRODUCTION
II. DEFINITION
1. WHAT IS AN IDIOM?
Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally. In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary. Every language has its own idioms. Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun!
2. STRUCTURE OF IDIOM
Most idioms are unique and fixed in their grammatical structure.
Some of these changes result in a change in the grammatical structure that would generally be considered to be wrong. There can also be changes in nouns, pronouns or in the verb tenses. 3. COMMON FEATURES
- Non-compositionality
- Non-substitutability
- Non-modifiability
III. IDIOMS AND PROVERB.
1. WHAT IS A PROVERB?
A proverb is a short saying or sentence that is generally known by many people. The saying usually contains words of wisdom, truth or morals that are based on common sense or practical experience. It is often a description of a basic rule of conduct that all people generally follow or should follow. Proverbs can be found in all languages.Money doesn't grow on trees - money is not easy to get and you must work hard for it The girl's father often says that money doesn't grow on trees when she asks him for money. 2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IDIOMS AND PROVERBS
Idioms
proverb
-Can not be taken literally
-Can be known by many people
-Contains words of wisdom, truth or morals that are based on common sense or practical experience
-They have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary.
-Proverbs are often borrowed from different languages and culoture
-Every language has its own idioms.

IV. HOW TO LEARN IDIOMS.
It is best to learn idioms as you do vocabulary. In other words, select and actively learn idioms which will be useful to you. Write the idiom in a relevant and practical sentence so that you will be able to remember its meaning easily. If you can, record the idioms in your file and on a card along with other words and idioms which have similar meanings.

BAN THAO THANH NGU 2

IDIOM
I. INTRODUCTION
II. DEFINITION
1. WHAT IS AN IDIOM?
Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally. In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary. Every language has its own idioms. Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun!
2. STRUCTURE OF IDIOM
Most idioms are unique and fixed in their grammatical structure.
Some of these changes result in a change in the grammatical structure that would generally be considered to be wrong. There can also be changes in nouns, pronouns or in the verb tenses. 3. COMMON FEATURES
- Non-compositionality
- Non-substitutability
- Non-modifiability
III. IDIOMS AND PROVERB.
1. WHAT IS A PROVERB?
A proverb is a short saying or sentence that is generally known by many people. The saying usually contains words of wisdom, truth or morals that are based on common sense or practical experience. It is often a description of a basic rule of conduct that all people generally follow or should follow. Proverbs can be found in all languages.Money doesn't grow on trees - money is not easy to get and you must work hard for it The girl's father often says that money doesn't grow on trees when she asks him for money. 2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IDIOMS AND PROVERBS
Idioms
proverb
-Can not be taken literally
-Can be known by many people
-Contains words of wisdom, truth or morals that are based on common sense or practical experience
-They have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary.
-Proverbs are often borrowed from different languages and culoture
-Every language has its own idioms.

IV. HOW TO LEARN IDIOMS.
It is best to learn idioms as you do vocabulary. In other words, select and actively learn idioms which will be useful to you. Write the idiom in a relevant and practical sentence so that you will be able to remember its meaning easily. If you can, record the idioms in your file and on a card along with other words and idioms which have similar meanings.

BAN THAO THANH NGU

Nang Nak - A Thai Ghost Story



Written by Siraporn Nathalang
There is no Thai who does not know Mae Naak. While mentioning her can make young children run and scream hysterically in the "Nang Naak game", mothers invoke Mae Naak's name to quiet their crying infants; otherwise, the ghost might break their necks and eat the ir heads with chilly sauce. The gothic tale of Mae Naak Phra Khanong has been filmed more than twenty times; moreover, every one of them is a box-office hit. Thai youths grow up watching her ghostly tale on television.
Whether Nang Naak was a real person or just a fabrication is still as mysterious as the myth itself. There is no historical evidence of her existence. However, most Thais tend to believe her story is genuine, or at least some parts are. Popular legend tells that she was born in the Phra Khanong area of Bangkok about a hundred and thirty years ago during the later period of King Rama IV (1851 - 1868) and died of childbirth complications some eighteen years later in the early part of King Rama V's regime (1868 - 1910). Others assume that she lived during the reign of King Rama III (1841 - 1851). Some believers even date her presence back to more than two hundred years ago in mid-eighteen century Ayutthaya.
Likewise, the detailed background of Nang Naak also varies from one tale to another, from being an ordinary farm girl to the daughter of the village chief. Nonetheless, her doomed fate and horrible deed stay the same. It begins as a love story. A teenage girl named Naak falls deeply in love with a handsome young man, Nai Maak. Some sources state that the couple are childhood lovers who grow up together, while another version take on the more tragic flavor of "Romeo and Juliet" in which their romance is opposed by Nang Naak's wealthy and powerful father, for Maak is of poorer and lower origin. No matter how harsh or smooth the situation is, they eventually manage to be together. Shortly after they get married, Nai Maak is conscripted for military service, involuntarily leaving his pregnant bride behind with tear and fear. The dutiful wife waits for her lover's return , but that day never comes in her lifetime. Haplessly, Nang Naak dies during labor along with her unborn child. Although they are buried instantly according to local tradition, her strong spirit refuses to perish. When Nai Maak comes back from the war, the ghost of Nang Naak disguises herself and her "infant son" as humans. Their uncanny reunion is sweet but brief. Despite her arduous effort to blind Nai Maak to reality, Nang Naak cannot prevent him from learning the truth of her death. The revelation itself provides one of the most memorable scenes in the story when Maak sees his wife grotesquely stretching her arm through the floorboard of their elevated house to pick up a fallen lime, or a knife in another version, on the ground.
The supernatural romance then transforms into a macabre horror. The terrified husband runs away, and the scary ghost follows. T here are many gory accounts of how Nang Naak chases, harasses, and even kills whoever comes between Maak and her. In order to get rid of the gruesome spirit, the villagers resort to all the possible religious means including exorcist and voodoo shaman, which soon prove to be futile. Another rendition states that Maak remarries after the death of Nang Naak. The jealous ghost is enraged, and she terrorizes the new couple along with the miserable community. In all versions, Maak finally takes refugee in the Mahabute temple. Defying the monks, Nang Naak persists and pursues. At last, a gifted young novice from far away comes to the village and rests her tormented soul. Certain versions claim it is the venerated Somdej Phra Puttajan from Thonburi who seizes the fierce spirit, whereas some editions combine the two together as the heroes. In all cases, the Buddhist representative imprisons Nang Naak in a ceramic pot and drops it in the river. In some of the renditions, the skull of Nang Naak is made into a belt buckle by the monk, which passes into the possession of the Prince of Chumporn and then disappears. Maak nevertheless, becomes a monk in some versions, and in others, he begins a new family and lives happily ever after. Yet this otherworldly saga of love and revenge does not end there. Numerous stories about Mae Naak's reappearances are widely and frequently spread, from Bangkok to Pattani, casting her in many roles from being a guiding angel to an enraged ghost.



Folk games have existed in every society for a long time since the early days of human civilization, although we can't specify the exact date of their inventions. What we can say without exaggeration is that folk games have evolved from the past to th e present, being adapted according to the context and society of each nation.
Thai folk games have been directly and indirectly meaningful for the life of Thai children in many aspects.
in joining the games, besides the benefit of doing exercises which is vital for children's physical development, they can also learn to observe the rules of the games. And in so doing, they learn how to compromise as well as how to be a good winner and loser. The children can be initiative in applying surrounding environments to the games and they are also expected to apply what they learn from the games to their daily lives. Such a practice can become a pattern or guideline for them when growing up as adults.
The most popular and well-known Thai folk games are Kite flying, Wheel rolling, Catching the last one in the lines, Snatching a baby from the mother snake, Spider clutching the roof, Pebbles tossing and picking, Hide and seek, Touching a finger on the hands, Tug of war, Chase racing, Hiding a cloth behind one's back, Monkeys scrambling for posts, Trapping the fish, Humming and tagging (Kabaddi), Blindfold pot-hitting, Walking with coconut shells, Rope skipping, Piggyback racing, Top spinning, and Banana rib hobbyhorse riding.
"Once upon a time......" is the well-known phrase to begin a folk tale of any nation. Folk tales are popul ar to entertain and to teach children through generations. Thai folks tales have constituted an important part of Thai life since the days of antiquity. They are native wisdom of the people, which has been accumulated for a long time. Many desirable attributes, e.g. bravery, honestly, reasonableness, self-reliability, etc. have been incorporated into folk tales for teaching young people.
In addition to folk tales, Thai literature is nauseated by parents to their children. The stories are also as much fun and popular as the folk tales. The most famous Thai folk tales and literature include Ta In Ta Na, Honwichai Khawi, Yai Ka Ta (Grandma and Grandpa). Tao Saen Pom, Tao Khulu Nang Ua, Si Thanon Chai, Ma Khon Kham (Golden-haired dog), Sano Noi Ruean Ngam, Pla Bu Thong, and Phra Aphai Mani, Sang Thong, Khun Chang - Khun Phaen, Rammakian (Ramayana) and Ngo Pa.
A celebration starts on the first day that a child is born. Some families prefer to lay the child in a rattan basket for three consecutive nights. If the child is a boy, parents will place a knife, a book, and a pencil in the basket. The knife signifies that the child will grow up to be diligent in earning his living, while the book and the pencil mean high intelligence. In case the child is a girl, they will put a needle and thread in the basket to signify that the girl will grow up to be a good housewife. This is followed by the ritual of arranging the cradle for the baby.
When a child is one month old, the rite of haircutting is held. Some families invite a monk to cut pieces of hair first, then followed by senior relatives. The child will then be bathed and dressed in new clothes before being put in a cradle while old relatives chanting some traditional folk songs. The ceremony usually ends with the floating of the child's hair into a canal to signify the child's peaceful life in the future.
Another important rite for a Thai is a ceremony to show respect for teachers. In the past, the ceremony was held when children started learning for the first time.
In addition to encouraging their children to learn secular knowledge. Thai parents also prefer to have their young sons temporarily ordained as novices in order to study ethics which will contribute to the boys' growing up as good citizens in the future.

THANH NGU (IDIOM)

Idiom
An Idiom is an expression (i.e. term or phrase) whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through conventional use. In linguistics, idioms are widely assumed to be figures of speech that contradict the principle of compositionality, however some debate has recently arisen on this subject.
In the English expression to kick the bucket, a listener knowing only the meaning of kick and bucket would be unable to deduce the expression's actual meaning, which is to die. Although it can refer literally to the act of striking a specific bucket with a foot, native speakers rarely use it that way. It cannot be directly translated to other languages -- for example, the same expression in Polish is to kick the calendar, with the calendar being as detached from its usual meaning as the bucket in the English phrase is.
Idioms hence tend to confuse those not already familiar with them; students of a new language must learn its idiomatic expressions the way they learn its other vocabulary. In fact many natural language words have idiomatic origins, but have been sufficiently assimilated so that their figurative senses have been lost.
Idioms and culture
Idioms are, in essence, often colloquial metaphors — terms which require some foundational knowledge, information, or experience, to use only within a culture where parties must have common reference and as such are not considered an official part of the language, but rather a part of the culture. As cultures are typically localized, idioms are more often not useful for communication outside of that local context. However some idioms can be more universally used than others, and they can be easily translated, or their metaphorical meaning can be more easily deduced.
The most common idioms can have deep roots, traceable across many languages. To have blood on one's hands is a familiar example, whose meaning is relatively obvious, although the context within English literature (see Macbeth and Pontius Pilate) may not be. Many have translations in other languages, and tend to become international.
While many idioms are clearly based in conceptual metaphors such as "time as a substance", "time as a path", "love as war" or "up is more", the idioms themselves are often not particularly essential, even when the metaphors themselves are. For example, "spend time", "battle of the sexes", and "back in the day" are idiomatic and based in essential metaphors, but one can communicate perfectly well with or without them. These "deep metaphors" and their relationship to human cognition are discussed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their 1980 book Metaphors we Live By.
In forms like "profits are up", the metaphor is carried by "up" itself. The phrase "profits are up" is not itself an idiom. Practically anything measurable can be used in place of "profits": "crime is up", "satisfaction is up", "complaints are up" etc. Truly essential idioms generally involve prepositions, for example "out of" or "turn into".
Interestingly, many Chinese characters are likewise idiomatic constructs, as their meanings are more often not traceable to a literal (ie. pictographic) meaning of their assembled parts, or radicals. Because all characters are composed from a relatively small base of about 214 radicals, their assembled meanings follow several different modes of interpretation - from the pictographic to the metaphorical to those whose original meaning has been lost in history. It maybe a feature that helps everyday life.
Common features
Non-compositionality: The meaning of a collocation is not a straightforward composition of the meaning of its parts. For example, the meaning of kick the bucket no longer has anything to do with kicking buckets (Kick the bucket means to die, and originally referred to suicide victims standing on inverted buckets, only to kick them away and thus hang themselves). Others, like the common yet semantically strange "leave well enough alone" may be a soramimi or mondegreen for "leave both well and ill alone"[1]. See also collocational restriction.
Non-substitutability: One cannot substitute a word in a collocation with a related word. For example, we cannot say kick the pail instead of kick the bucket although bucket and pail are synonyms.
Non-modifiability: One cannot modify a collocation or apply syntactic transformations. For example, John Ang kicked the green bucket or the bucket was kicked have nothing to do with dying. (However, John Ang kicked his bucket and John Ang's bucket was kicked are both valid.)
It is likely that every human language has idioms, and very many of them; a typical English commercial idiom dictionary lists about 4,000. When a local dialect of a language contains many highly developed idioms it can be unintelligible to speakers of the parent language; a classic example is that of Cockney rhyming slang. But note that most examples of slang, jargon and catch phrases, while related to idioms, are not idioms in the sense discussed here. Also to be distinguished from idioms are proverbs, which take the form of statements such as, "He who hesitates is lost." Many idioms could be considered colloquialisms.
In Spanish, the word idioma (= lengua) means language, and this is often reflected in their SL English—using idiom to refer to language.
Parlance
"Idiom" can also refer to the characteristic manner of speaking in a language, also called its parlance. Parlance is a word which originates from the Latin root "parl-", to speak. An utterance consistent with a language's parlance is described as idiomatic. For example, "I have hunger" is idiomatic in several European languages if translated literally (e.g. German ich habe Hunger; French j'ai faim; Spanish tengo hambre; Italian ho fame), but the usual English idiom is "I am hungry".
This sense is also carried over to programming languages, where the former sense does not apply as an expression or statement in a programming language can generally have only one meaning. For example, in Haskell, it is possible to apply a function to all members of a list using recursion, but it is more idiomatic to use the higher-order function map.
Computer science
In computer science, an idiom is a low-level pattern that addresses a problem common in a particular programming language. An idiom describes how to implement particular aspects of components or the relationships between them using the features of the given language.
For instance, in C source code one might see while(*a++ = *b++);, which copies characters from b to a until the null character ('\0') is encountered. This is an idiom in that a C programmer on seeing it does not need to mentally parse what it might mean, although in this case the effect of the code can be deduced from the literal syntax and C's order of operations.
Examples of idioms
There are many types of idioms in the world. These include expressions such as: Don't count your chickens before they hatch; Nothing to sneeze at; fit as a fiddle; put your John Hancock here. The famous playwright and poet William Shakespeare is estimated to have coined over 2,000 idioms that are in some form of use today in English.
References
1. ^ Aldous Huxley wrote in the introduction of Brave New World, "Resisting the temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone", which is semantically more clear.
External links
Self-study Idiom Quizzes by The Internet TESL Journal
Figures of Speech by Rob Bradshaw Examples of how the Bible uses idioms.
Dictionary of English Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions
Phrase Finder
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom"

What is an idiom?





Definition


An idiom is a multiword construction that

is a semantic unit whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of its constituents, and
has a non-productive syntactic structure.

Features

· An idiom is a multiword expression. Individual components of an idiom can often be inflected in the same way individual words in a phrase can be inflected. This inflection usually follows the same pattern of inflection as the idiom's literal counterpart.
Example:
have a bee in one's bonnet
He has bees in his bonnet.
· An idiom behaves as a single semantic unit.
o It tends to have some measure of internal cohesion such that it can often be replaced by a literal counterpart that is made up of a single word.
Example:
kick the bucket
die
o It resists interruption by other words whether they are semantically compatible or not.
Example:
pull one's leg
*pull hard on one's leg
*pull on one's left leg
o It resists reordering of its component parts.
Example:
let the cat out of the bag
*the cat got left out of the bag
· An idiom has a non-productive syntactic structure. Only single particular lexemes can collocate in an idiomatic construction. Substituting other words from the same generic lexical relation set will destroy the idiomatic meaning of the expression.
Example:
eat one's words
*eat one's sentences
?swallow one's words

Discussion

An idiom often shows the following characteristics:

· It is syntactically anomalous. It has an unusual grammatical structure .
Example:
by and large
· It contains unique, fossilized items.
Examples:
to and fro fro < from = away (Scottish)
cobweb cob < cop = spider (Middle English)

Some linguists contend that compound words may qualify as idioms (e.g. cobweb Wood 1986; 93), while others maintan that an idiom must be more lexically complex Cruse 1986.

Nonexamples

Idioms contrast with the following:

· Metaphors satisfy the first requirement for an idiom, that their meaning be obscure, but not the second, that they not be productive.
Examples:
throw in the towel
throw in the sponge
· Collocates may have restricted lexical possibilities or use archaic vocabulary such that they are not productive, but their meaning is not opaque.
Examples:
heavy drinking
mete out



Idiom
What is Idiom ?
Idiom® Technologies was founded in January 1998. Its mission was to fill the need for an enterprise-class software solution that could enable large global enterprises to achieve their globalization objectives. The company introduced WorldServer™ later that year. Today, WorldServer is the solution of choice for the entire globalization supply chain. Global enterprises such as Adobe Systems, Baxter Healthcare, eBay, Mattel, Motorola, Oracle, Travelocity.com and Continental Airlines choose WorldServer software to power translation and localization operations. These companies are joined by innovative Language Service Providers like iSP, Localize Technologies, One Planet and WH&P that use WorldServer to add value to their client offerings. And with WorldServer™ Desktop Workbench, independent translators freely enjoy the benefits of WorldServer-enabled translation and localization.Idiom is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. With offices throughout North America and Europe and a partner network that spans the globe, Idiom is ideally positioned to accelerate and optimize your globalization efforts.
What is an Idiom?

Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally. In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary. Every language has its own idioms. Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun!

For example, “break a leg” is a common idiom.

Literal meaning: I command you to break a bone in your leg and you should probably go to the doctor afterwards to get it fixed.

Idiomatic meaning: Do your best and do well. Often, actors tell each other to “break a leg” before they go out on stage to perform.

The Dictionary of Idioms contains idiomatic words and phrases, slang terms, figures of speech, common proverbs and metaphors, each clearly defined and illustrated with at least one sample sentence or quotation. It is produced in consultation with the editors of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.

What is a proverb?
A proverb is a short saying or sentence that is generally known by many people. The saying usually contains words of wisdom, truth or morals that are based on common sense or practical experience. It is often a description of a basic rule of conduct that all people generally follow or should follow. Proverbs can be found in all languages.money doesn't grow on trees - money is not easy to get and you must work hard for it The girl's father often says that money doesn't grow on trees when she asks him for money. the early bird catches the worm - arriving early gives one an advantage My boss always comes to work early because he believes that the early bird catches the worm. the pen is mightier than the sword - writing and ideas are more powerful than the use of force The pen is mightier than the sword and a good idea or strong beliefs will defeat the strongest army. What is an idiom?
An idiom is a combination of words that has a meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words themselves. It can have a literal meaning in one situation and a different idiomatic meaning in another situation. It is a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar.To sit on the fence can literally mean that one is sitting on a fence. I sat on the fence and watched the game. However, the idiomatic meaning of to sit on the fence is that one is not making a clear choice regarding some issue. The politician sat on the fence and would not give his opinion about the tax issue. Many idioms are similar to expressions in other languages and can be easy for a learner to understand. Other idioms come from older phrases which have changed over time.To hold one's horses means to stop and wait patiently for someone or something. It comes from a time when people rode horses and would have to hold their horses while waiting for someone or something."Hold your horses," I said when my friend started to leave the store. Other idioms come from such things as sports that are common in the United Kingdom or the United States and may require some special cultural knowledge to easily understand them.To cover all of one's bases means to thoroughly prepare for or deal with a situation. It comes from the American game of baseball where you must cover or protect the bases. I tried to cover all of my bases when I went to the job interview.
Structure of Idioms
Most idioms are unique and fixed in their grammatical structure. The expression to sit on the fence cannot become to sit on a fence or to sit on the fences. However, there are many changes that can be made to an idiom. Some of these changes result in a change in the grammatical structure that would generally be considered to be wrong.To be broken literally means that something is broken. The lamp is broken so I cannot easily read my book.To be broke is grammatically incorrect but it has the idiomatic meaning of to have no money. I am broke and I cannot go to a movie tonight. There can also be changes in nouns, pronouns or in the verb tenses. I sat on the fence and did not give my opinion. Many people are sitting on the fence and do not want to give their opinion. Adjectives and adverbs can also be added to an idiomatic phrase. The politician has been sitting squarely in the middle of the fence since the election. It is for these reasons that it is sometimes difficult to isolate the actual idiomatic expression and then find it in a dictionary of idioms.
Proverb
A proverb (from the Latin proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of mankind. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. If a proverb is distinguished by particularly good, it may be known as an aphorism.
Proverbs are often borrowed from different languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible and medieval Latin have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Western Europe and even further.
The study of proverbs is called paremiology (from Greek paremia = proverb) and can be dated back as far as Aristotle. Paremiography, on the other hand, is the collection of proverbs. Currently, the foremost proverb scholar in the United States is Wolfgang Mieder, who defines the term proverb as follows:
"A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation.” (Mieder 1985:119; also in Mieder 1993:24)
Subgenres include proverbial expressions (“to bite the dust”), proverbial comparisons (“as busy as a bee”), proverbial interrogatives (“Does a chicken have lips?”) and twin formulas (“give and take”).
Another subcategory are wellerisms, named after Sam Weller from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers (1837). They are constructed in a triadic manner which consists of a statement (often a proverb), an identification of a speaker (person or animal) and a phrase that places the statement into an unexpected situation. Ex.: “Every evil is followed by some good,” as the man said when his wife died the day after he became bankrupt.
It isn’t always the nonnative speaker’s accent (which may be perfect) that enables people to recognize instantly an outsider who is learning their language—it’s the odd mistakes that no native speaker would make. The idiomatic use of words such as to, for, and with varies from language to language. Just as each person has a unique, characteristic signature, each language has unique idioms. In fact, the word idiom comes from the Greek root idio, meaning a unique signature. Thus, each language contains expressions that make no sense when translated literally into another tongue. The humorist Art Buchwald wrote a famous column, often reprinted, in which he translated some of our Thanksgiving (Mercidonnant) terms into literal French, with comic results. If a German or Spaniard or Italian literally translated birthday suit and get down to brass tacks, the terms would make no sense, or the wrong sense. Even a native speaker of English who is not used to hearing literate idioms such as fits and starts, cock-and-bull story, hue and cry, and touch and go will not be able to make sense of them. Our purpose in defining these idioms is to let the cat out of the bag for those who haven’t heard them often enough to catch their meanings.
Other idioms are really allusions or foreign-language terms that make no sense unless you know what the allusions or terms mean. Carry coals to Newcastle translates adequately into any language, but it makes no sense to a person who doesn’t know that Newcastle is a coal-mining city. Knowing the literal meaning of idioms won’t enable you to understand them unless you also know what they allude to. Such ignorance is an Achilles’ heel and an albatross around one’s neck. Moreover, just knowing a baker’s dozen of them is not enough; you have to know them en masse. Educators who complain about the illiteracy of the young but pay no attention to teaching idioms are just weeping crocodile tears. We have therefore decided to cut the Gordian knot by systematically defining some of the most widely used idioms in American literate culture.

A phrase which has a meaning that is commonly understood by speakers of the language, but whose meaning is often different from the normal meaning of the words is called an idiom.
A. Mục đích:Ngôn ngữ có nhiều bậc, tuỳ trình độ của người học. Bậc thứ nhất là những từ-ngữ và mẫu câu thông dụng với nghĩa chân phương của chúng. Bậc thứ hai là thành ngữ, nghĩa là những từ-ngữ trong thành ngữ thoát khỏi ý nghĩa chân phương của nó. Bậc thứ ba là tục ngữ, với những dụng ý mang nặng tính chất phong tục và tập quán của dân tộc nói thứ tiếng ấy. Và còn nhiều bậc khác nữa. Trong phạm vi của phần trình bày này, chúng tôi xin nói đến thành ngữ. Trong phạm vi rộng hơn, thành ngữ sánh vai với khoảng 15 hình thức khác của mỹ từ pháp tiếng Việt.Phần trình bày hôm nay nhằm hai mục đích: Trước hết, chúng tôi xin giới thiệu quyển thành ngữ do chúng tôi sưu tầm và biên soạn. Đây là quyển sách lần đầu tiên ra mắt quý vị độc giả gồm có thành ngữ đi kèm với nghĩa đen dịch từ tiếng Việt sang và nghĩa bóng dịch theo ý hay thành ngữ tương dương của tiếng Anh. Thứ đến là đề cập vài phương cách dịch thuật áp dụng vào việc dịch thành ngữ Việt ra Anh.B. Định nghĩa:Thành ngữ là cách diễn đạt ý tưởng mang tính cách đặc trưng của ngôn ngữ. Về cấu trúc phần lớn thành ngữ không thành câu với những từ-ngữ mặc dầu có thể phân tích nhưng không thể tách rời. Về nghĩa thành ngữ mang một ý nghĩa không thể thay thế hay sửa đổi bằng cách nói khác để mang cùng ý nguyên thuỷ. Chẳng hạn, thay vì nói khóc giả dối thì dùng thành ngữ nước mắt cá sấu. Nói cách khác, thành ngữ là cách nói „bóng bẩy“ về một cái gì đó bình thường. Thành ngữ là bậc thang đầu tiên đi vào chiều sâu của một ngôn ngữ mà người nói sử dụng tuỳ theo trình độ ngôn ngữ kiến thức về nền văn hoá xứ đó. Nói theo kiểu phương Tây thì thành ngữ phản ảnh cách cắt chiếc bánh ngôn ngữ của người bản ngữ.Thật vậy, thành ngữ là cửa ngõ đầu tiên để đi vào cái tinh hoa của kho tàng ngôn ngữ một dân tộc. Hãy xét đến các thành ngữ nước mắt cá sấu 'khóc giả, khóc làm bộ', nước đổ đi rồi không hốt lại được để chỉ về `bất cứ sự việc đáng tiếc gì đã lỡ xảy ra rồi thì không thể trở lại như trước kia’hoặc râu ông nọ cằm bà kia 'dùng người hay vật sai cách, chắp vá hay vụng về' không thể thay thế cá sấu bằng thứ cá khác; nước bằng rượu hay bia; râu bằng tóc được, và cũng không thể thay cằm bằng trán hay má được. Thành ngữ phản ảnh cách suy nghĩ của người bản ngữ chứ nhưng không có ý răn đời. Thành ngữ có ý nghĩa độc lập với từng nghĩa riêng rẽ mà mỗi từ ngữ trong thành ngữ và chúng hợp thành một khối đồng nhất về nghĩa. C. Hình thức của thành ngữ Đa số thành ngữ là một nhóm những từ ngữ không trọn nghĩa của một câu nên không thể đứng một mình. Thông thường thành ngữ tiếng Việt được dùng rất nhiều trong ca dao, tục ngữ, thi ca hay các tác phẩm văn chương. Do đó thành ngữ chỉ nhằm góp một ý trong toàn câu. Chẳng hạn như nói công dã tràng. Ít nhất nó phải trong câu: „Đúng là công dã tràng.“Nhiều người cho rằng thành ngữ tiếng Việt chỉ thuần tuý là „đơn vị ngôn ngữ“. Theo đó, một ý nghĩa nào đó thay vì nói cách này thì được theo cách khách bay bướm hơn hay lạ tai hơn. Thí dụ: Thay vì nói: Anh ấy đi làm thì có khi có việc, có khi không có việc, rất bất thường thấy mà chán thì nói Anh ấy đi làm bữa đực bữa cái, thấy mà chán. Tuy nhiên thành ngữ mang nhiều ý nghĩa điển tích (hay điển cố) mà nếu nghiên cứu kỹ cũng giúp người dùng hiểu rộng thêm về ngôn ngữ và văn hoá Việt. Chẳng hạn như thành ngữ châu về Hiệp phố. Nó mang theo một câu chuyện để sau đó kết luận là „cái đã mất nay tìm lại được“.Thành ngữ không có ngữ điệu. Thành ngữ chỉ là một phần của câu tục ngữ, hay ca dao, hoặc câu thơ, câu văn nên không có vần có điệu như tục ngữ. Chẳng hạn như: Thay vì nói „Cái mặt còn non choẹt như vậy mà biết gì đến yêu mà nói!“ thì thường người ta sẽ nói „Cái mặt búng ra sữa mà .....“Thành ngữ cũng có các hình thức mô tả, so sánh và ẩn dụ như phú, tỉ và hứng trong ca dao. Phú là mô tả, kể lại sư việc gì đó. Đa số thành ngữ dựa trên điển tích đều thuộc hình thức phú: châu về Hiệp phố, kết cỏ ngậm vàng, ông tơ bà nguyệt, vv.. Ngoài ra những thành ngữ như ăn cơm nhà vác ngà voi, bàn tay có ngón ngắn ngón dài, cha nào con nấy, vv. đều thuộc thể phú.Thứ đến là hình thức tỉ. Tỉ là ví hay so sánh. Dùng một vật này so với vật kia rồi hàm ý sánh hơn sánh thiệt, khen hay chê, cho thấy tốt hay xấu. Chẳng hạn như ác như quỷ, cá chậu chim lồng, đen như cột nhà cháy, khổ như chó, cực như trâu, vv. đều thuộc tỉ. Sau cùng là hứng. Hứng là hình thức ẩn dụ. Các thành ngữ như cá gặp nước, như rồng gặp mây, của tiên dâng (đem) cho người phàm, cưỡi hạt chầu trời, chuyện ong bướm, vv… Cả ba hình thức này hỗ trợ cho nhau và liên kết với nhau làm cho ý nghĩa của thành ngữ vừa sâu vừa rộng. Thật vậy, khi nói bàn tay có ngón ngắn ngón dài, người nói nhắm đến ba điều: a) bàn tay thật sự có ngón ngắn ngón dài, và xem việc ngón ngắn ngón dài là đương nhiên. Đó là hình thức phú. b) Khi đem ví hình ảnh các ngón không đều của bàn tay với một hoàn cảnh mà trong đó có kẻ tốt người xấu là tỉ. Đây là sự kết hợp của phú và tỉ.Tương tự, khi nói của tiên dâng (đem) cho người phàm người nói đưa ra a) hai hình ảnh: của tiên (vật có giá trị) và người phàm (người thô vụng, quê mùa, trần tục) và b) sự ẩn dụ: hai hình ảnh trong (a) không phù hợp để kết luận c) việc ấy không nên làm hay không nên phí phạm. Đây là mô tả vừa ẩn dụ. Tuy thành ngữ không có ý nghĩa gì đặc biệt ngoài cách diễn tả một ý tưởng thông thường bằng một lối mà chỉ người bản ngữ hay người ngoại quốc có trình độ uyên bác về ngôn ngữ đang học mới thông hiểu một cách thấu đáo, dùng đúng thành ngữ có thể giúp người dùng nắm vững được vài khía cạnh về văn hoá. Thí dụ như chữ ăn trong tiếng Việt (74) ngoài nghĩa chính và nghĩa mở rộng liên quan đến ăn uống ra, ăn trong tiếng Việt bao hàm nhiều sinh hoạt khác trong xã hội. Do đó sử dụng đúng thành ngữ thì rất hay, nhưng dùng không đúng cách thì câu nói hoá thành ngô nghê, buồn cười.Thứ đến, thành ngữ chỉ mang ý nghĩa về sự mở rộng của từ-ngữ nên nó được xem là “từ đồng nghĩa”. Tức là một ý nhưng có nhiều cách nói, và thành ngữ là một trong các cách đó. Vì thế thành ngữ được xem là một hình thức định danh. D. Nội dung của thành ngữNhìn chung, thành ngữ Việt Nam nói riêng, cũng như ngôn ngữ Việt Nam nói chung, dựa trên văn minh nông nghiệp, kinh nghiệm sống nghèo khổ cộng với sự đấu tranh để sinh tồn vì giặc giã và thiên tai, và ảnh hưởng của nền nho học do hậu quả của một ngàn năm bị ách nô lệ của người Hán, và một trăm năm đô hộ của Pháp. Do đó đa số thành ngữ tiếng Việt của chúng ta phản ảnh rất rõ sinh hoạt nông nghiệp. chẳng hạn như anh em gạo, đạo nghĩa tiền. Gạo là nguồn lương thực chính của người mình từ bao đời nay. Anh hùng rơm, bát mồ hôi đổi lấy bát cơm, một nắng hai sương, con sâu làm rầu nồi canh, củi quế gạo châu, dễ như húp cháo, vv. là những sinh hoạt mang nặng tính chất nông nghiệp. Vì sống bám vào nông nghiệp nên cuộc sống tuỳ thuộc hầu như hoàn toàn vào thời tiết, mùa màng. Nạn đói và cái nghèo cứ đeo đẳng mãi với người dân quê. Do đó những có rất nhiều thành ngữ nói về cái ăn và cái nghèo, làm ăn vất vả, cuộc sống khó khăn. bán thân nuôi miệng, đầu đường xó chợ, đầu tắt mặt tối, tay làm hàm nhai, vuốt mũi bỏ miệng, khố rách áo ôm, một nắng hai sương, vv. Từ đó kinh nghiệm cuộc sống của người Việt chú trọng đến tâm tình nhiều hơn lý trí vì bản chất người Việt thuộc loại “duy tình”. Các thành ngữ như anh em hạt máu chẻ đôi, bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội, chết mẹ bú dì, chết trong hơn sống đục, vv. Điểm sau cùng thành ngữ phản ảnh quan niệm sống trong xã hội nhưng không thuộc giai tầng xã hội nào nên mọi giới và mọi lứa tuổi đều có thể dùng thành ngữ để diễn tả ý tưởng của mình. Nghiên cứu kỹ tất cả thành ngữ mà chúng tôi đã thu thập được, chúng tôi nhận thấy người Việt Nam không có khái niệm gì về đấu tranh giai cấp.E. Nguồn gốc và sự thành hình của thành ngữNgôn ngữ được ví như một con người sinh ra, lớn lên và trưởng thành. Trong tiến trình thành hình của ngôn ngữ, sự diễn đạt tư tưởng mỗi ngày một đa dạng. Do đó thành ngữ được phát triển để đáp ứng nhu cầu diễn đạt đó. Hơn nữa trong lối nói hàng ngày việc nói trực tiếp về một ý tưởng nào đó cho người nghe không tiện bằng dùng một thành ngữ để thay thế. Chẳng hạn như khi người con gái muốn cự tuyệt với người yêu cũ khi người này tìm đến để quyến dụ nàng bỏ chồng theo mình, cô ta là một phụ nữ đoan trang, bèn dùng thành ngữ “Thôi anh về đi. Đời em bây giờ như ván đã đóng thuyền rồi, mong anh đừng tới nữa mà hãy đi tìm duyên mới đi.”Thành ngữ là lối nói cô đọng do sự vận dụng những chuyện xưa tích cũ đã xảy ra khá lâu đời, nay chuyện tương tự như vậy lại xảy ra. Khi dùng đến thành ngữ loại này người nghe hiểu ngay và hiểu chính xác câu chuyện người nói muốn diễn tả. Thí dụ như nói về công dã tràng người nghe hiểu rất rõ ý nghĩa “nỗ lực rất lớn mà không mang lại kết quả gì.” Dùng thành ngữ trong khi tiếp xúc với hàng ngày khiến câu chuyện thú vị và đậm đà hơn. Thống kê cho thấy tỉ lệ thành ngữ gốc Hán chiếm một phần đáng kể trong tổng số thành ngữ tiếng Việt chúng ta. Điểm thú vị là có nhiều thành ngữ này lại được diễn tả theo lối rất bình dân vì đã được Việt hoá hoàn toàn. Chẳng hạn như: anh em như thể tay chân (huynh đệ thủ túc), ăn như mèo (nam thực như hổ, nữ thực như miêu), vv. Phần lớn thành ngữ tiếng Việt dùng tiếng Nôm, nhưng chịu nhiều ảnh hưởng Nho học, cả hình thức lẫn nội dung. Ảnh hưởng về hình thức là việc sử dụng luôn danh từ gốc Hán trong thành ngữ. Các thành ngữ như an bần lạc đạo, bán tín bán nghi, bần cùng sanh đạo tặc, có thực mới vực được đạo, duyên tao ngộ, đa đa ích thiện, vv. lấy từ sách của Tàu ra.Trong thực tế cũng có trường hợp chúng ta dùng thành ngữ Hán bằng thành ngữ Hán. Chẳng hạn yết miêu trợ trưởng > dục tốt bất đạt (theo tích nóng lòng muốn cho mau có thóc ăn nên một nông gia nhớm gốc mạ lên tưởng sẽ làm cho cây lúa mau lớn, không dè lúa chết hết. Hoặc, kinh tâm động phách > kinh hồn tán đởm rồi sau thành 'thất kinh hồn viá' hoặc mất hồn mất viá.' Cũng như thấy từ thành ngữ kiềm lư kỹ cùng 'chỉ có miếng quèn' > vô kế khả thi 'hết đường xoay xở'Một hình thức nữa là dịch nguyên văn từ thành ngữ Hán. Chẳng hạn như đường tí đương xa > 'bọ ngựa chống xe'; thương hải tang điền > biển cả thành nương dâu'; thuỷ trích thạch xuyên > 'nước chảy đá mòn' (đúng ra là 'nước giọt xuống làm thủng đá'); vvNgoài ra tiếng Việt vay mượn của tiếng Hán khá nhiều thành ngữ, nhưng không giữ nguyên lời mà chỉ mượn ý. Chẳng hạn như thủ chu đãi thố 'ôm gốc cây chờ thỏ' thì chúng ta noí lại là 'há miệng chờ sung'. Cả hai đều có cùng nghĩa là không chịu ra sức làm việc mà ngồi chờ may hoặc của người khác đem đến cho. Hoặc phả phủ trầm chu 'đập nồi làm đắm thuyền' > một mất một còn. Đả thảo kinh xà 'đập vào cỏ làm sợ rắn' > bứt dây động rừng đều thuộc loại này. Xa hơn nữa thay vì nói đường lang bổ thiền 'bọ ngựa bắt ve sầu' thì người Việt mình nói nôm na là 'kiến ăn cá cá ăn kiến' để chỉ các loại hại nhau rôài về sau áp dụng luôn cho người.Tóm lại, do hậu quả của hơn mười thế kỷ bị đô hộ, người Việt dùng dùng khá nhiều thành ngữ tiếng Hán làm thành ngữ của mình.Những thành ngữ xuất hiện dưới thời Pháp thuộc như ấm ớ hội tề, ba cọc ba đồng, dân ngu khu đen, vv.H. Phân biệt thành ngữ và tục ngữ Cần phân biệt rõ thành ngữ và tục ngữ. Trước hết về hình thức đa số tục ngữ là một câu trọn vẹn, có vần điệu riêng và là một trong nhiều thể loại của văn chương bình dân. Tuy nhiên có một số trường hợp rất dễ lẫn lộn. Chẳng hạn như đa mưu túc trí (thành ngữ gốc Hán) không thể cùng loại với thực túc binh cường (một câu gốc Hán). Hoặc hai đoản ngữ ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây và ăn cháo đái bát. Đoản ngữ đầu có thể đứng độc lập như thế này: “Ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây. Con phải biết nhớ ơn người đã giúp mình thì phải đạo làm người.” Trong khi đó, “Cái thứ ăn cháo đái bát đó thì có ngày trời đánh cho.”Về ý nghĩa, tục ngữ mang tính cách phán đoán và diễn đạt tâm lý, tục ngữ mang màu sắc xã hội có giai tầng và khái niệm về chân lý cuộc sống. Tục ngữ thuộc dân gian nên có gửi gấm tâm tình của đại chúng, kinh nghiệm nghề nghiệp, tập quán địa phương. Ngược lại, thành ngữ không có những tính chất nầy. PHẦN HAI Vài Nét Về Ngôn Ngữ Việt Nam qua Thành NgữQua thành ngữ, chúng ta tìm thấy gì đặc biệt trong ngôn ngữ Việt? Như đã đề cập trên đây, ngôn ngữ Việt Nam phản ảnh nền văn hoá nông nghiệp nên đa số các từ-ngữ trong thành ngữ Việt có rất nhiều những chữ như cá, cơm, bùn, hoa trái, vv.Đặc biệt nhất là tiếng Việt qua thành ngữ cho thấy rõ nét tính chất lưỡng vần (di-syllabic) tổng hợp mà đa số là hai chữ hay hai vần hoặc tứ vần (quaternary-syllabic). Sự tổng hợp này có hai hình thức: bao quát với chi tiết và cụ thể với trừu tượng.1) Hình thức bao hàm + chi tiết: chữ đứng trước bao hàm chữ đi sau, chữ đi trước quan trọng hơn chữ đi sau. Đa số các chữ ghép đóng vai danh từ hay động từ có hình thức này. Thí dụ: ăn uống, nhà cửa, bụng dạ, chợ búa, ngành ngọn, người ta, vợ chồng, vv.2) Hình thức cụ thể với trừu tượng. Hình thức này tìm thấy phần lớn ở tính từ tiếng Việt. Chẳng hạn khi nói đau khổ, cực khổ, hạnh phúc, vv. người ta hàm ý hai yếu tố: đau chỉ về thể chất và khổ chỉ về tinh thần. Và đau chính là nguyên nhân tạo ra khổ. Vấn đề Dịch Thuật Thành NgữDịch thuật là một nghề và là một nghệ thuật. Do đó, dịch thuật trong bất cứ thời nào cũng cần. Theo kinh nghiệm bản thân, dịch thuật thành ngữ thường trải qua hai giai đoạn - phân tích và chuyển hoán.Giai đoạn phân tích (analysis) (hay giải thích nguồn gốc, xuất xứ) buộc người dịch phải so sánh cấu trúc hiện của hai ngôn ngữ (Việt Anh chẳng hạn) để xem câu tiếng Việt có hàm ý quá khứ, hiện tai hay tương lai. Thí dụ: cơm bưng nước rót) (source language) --> 'carry rice and serve water' (text) dịch theo nghĩa đen để người mới học tiếng Việt hiểu cách nói của người Việt mình như vậy. Kế đến xem xét thành phần cấu tạo của thành ngữ (tức là từ loại của nó - động từ, danh từ, tính từ hay trạng từ), xong mới so sánh ý nghĩa của hai thành ngữ. Đồng thời bắt đầu lưu ý đến các nghĩa rộng của nó. Với cơm bưng nước rót, người nói có ngụ ý gì? khách quan hay chủ quan khi dùng nó, mỉa mai hay trách móc, phát biểu hay thông báo, vv. Nói tóm lại nếu xét theo góc độ thực dụng (pragmatics), có vô số cách suy diễn về nghĩa rộng của thành ngữ này. Tiếp theo là giai đoạn chuyển hoán (transfer). Theo chúng tôi giai đoạn này ít phức tạp vì đa số ngôn ngữ khác nhau ở cấu trúc hiện nhưng phần lớn cấu trúc ẩn rất giống nhau (Nida gọi là yếu tố tương đồng của các ngôn ngữ. Ý kiến này của chúng tôi cũng phù hợp với Nida (the kernel structures of different languages are surprisingly similar, so that transfer may be affected with the least skewing of the content (Nida: 86).
B. Phương cách thực dụng
Chúng tôi xin thêm vào khía cạnh văn hoá trong giai đoạn này, tức là phải xét đến yếu tố tương đồng chung cho cả hai ngôn ngữ, theo công thức:
ngôn ngữ gốc
(surface structure)

ngôn ngữ dịch
(surface structure)



chân ý
(deep structure)
Tuy Nida không phân định rõ kernel structure nay thuộc về thực dụng (pragmatic), cú pháp (syntactic) hay ngữ nghĩa (semantic), nhưng theo chúng tôi đây phải là cấu trúc ngữ nghĩa -- semantic structure). Vì có cấu trúc này mới bước sang giai đoạn ba - tức là phục chế (restructuring) được. Vậy thành nghĩa cơm bưng nước rót mang ý nghĩa gì? Không ai phủ nhận được cấu trúc ngữ nghĩa của nó là “hết mình phục vụ cho một người nào qua hình ảnh một người hầu đi theo chủ để làm mọi việc chủ sai khiến”. Giai đoạn ba - restructuring - là chọn một ý nghĩa tương đương nhất mà cấu trúc ngữ nghĩa bao phủ được trọn vẹn được hết để có thể mang lại hình ảnh “hết mình phục vụ cho một người nào như hình ảnh một người hầu đi theo chủ để làm mọi việc chủ sai khiến” như vừa nêu trên đây. Rất may trong tiếng Anh cũng có hình ảnh đó. Vậy chúng ta có thể dịch là to wait on someone foot and hand (receptor language). Nói một cách khác, chúng ta không dịch từng chữ một trong thành ngữ mà phải nhìn nó như một đơn vị ý nghĩa tương tự như những bó lúa được cột thật chặt để người nông dân hân hoan gánh về nhà vậy.Trong việc dịch thuật các thành ngữ tiếng Việt sang tiếng Anh là chỉ có gần nửa thành ngữ tiếng Việt có thành ngữ tương đương bên tiếng Anh. Phần còn lại là phải theo lối “dịch” thật sự. Khi dịch như vậy chúng tôi gặp ba trở ngại.
a) Như trên đã đề cập, tiếng Việt phản ảnh cuộc sống nông nghiệp trong khi tiếng Anh thì thiên về kỹ nghệ nhiều hơn tuy rằng Anh quốc cũng từng trải qua thời kỳ phát triển nông nghiệp.
Thí dụ: an cư lạc nghiệp a good shelter flourishes one's career
ba bò chín trâu a farmer's richness
chín đụn mười trâu the wealth of a farmer
một nắng hai sương toil in the fields
b) Điểm nữa là thành ngữ tiếng Anh có tính cách phân tích, trong khi thành ngữ tiếng Việt manh tính cách tổng quát hơn.
Thí dụ: ăn đàng sóng nói đàng gió have a forked tongue
ba đời bảy kiếp forever, an extended family
cá nước chim trời free like a bird
c) Điểm thứ ba là sự khác biệt về nhân sinh quan của hai dân tộc: người Việt mình duy tình, còn người Anh thuộc loại duy lý.
Thí dụ:
anh em như thể tay chân love your siblings as you love yourself
chị ngã em nâng sisters and brothers in unity and love
chết mẹ còn dì a close relative can replace a parent
con mình con tiên, ... every mother thinks her gosling a swan

Tổng kết
Thành ngữ tiếng Việt là một phần trong toàn bộ cơ cấu ngôn ngữ của tiếng Việt. Nói về tính cách thông dụng của nó trong sinh hoạt hằng ngày, thành ngữ chiếm một tỉ lệ khá cao so với tục ngữ hay ca dao. Nó chỉ đứng sau những cách nói đơn giản thông thường. Thành ngữ tiếng Việt trong chừng mực nào đó có thể giải thích vì nó phản ảnh lối suy nghĩ và nếp sinh hoạt của người Việt, nhất là giới bình dân.
A little better than noneCó còn hơn khôngDiamond cuts diamondVỏ quýt dày có móng tay nhọnIt is the first step that is troublesomeVạn sự khởi đầu nanSlow and steady win the raceChậm mà chắcHe who laughs today may weep tomorrowCười người xin chớ cười lâuCười người hôm trước hôm sau người cườiHonour charges mannersGiàu đổi bạn, sang đổi vợCurses come home to roostGieo gió, gặt bãoThe cobbler should stick to his lastBiết thì thưa thốt, không biết thì dựa cột mà ngheThe early bird catches the wormTrâu chậm uống nước đụcThe bad workman always blames his toolsVụng múa chê đất lệchBeauty is only skin deepTốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn



Thành ngữ là những câu nói mà không nhằm mục đích để hiểu theo nghĩa thông thường. Ý nghĩa của một thành ngữ rất khác với ý nghĩa của từng chữ một trong câu. Ví dụ: "chiếc xe màu đỏ đập vào mắt tôi." Chúng ta biết rằng một chiếc xe không thể đập vào mắt tôi và mắt người ta cũng không thể bị chiếc xe văng trúng. Chúng ta phải hiểu ý nghĩa của thành ngữ "đập vào mắt tôi" là gì để có thể hiểu được ý của câu nói.
A stranger nearby is better than a far-away relative. Bà con xa không bằng láng giềng gần Tell me who's your friend and I'll tell you who you are. Hãy nói cho tôi biết bạn của anh là ai, tôi sẽ nói cho anh biết anh là người như thế nào Time and tide wait for no man Thời gian và nước thủy triều không đợi ai cả. Silence is golden Im lặng là vàng Don't judge a book by its cover Đừng trông mặt mà bắt hình dong The tongue has no bone but it breaks bone Cái lưỡi không xương đôi đường lắt léo You will reap what you will sow Gieo nhân nào gặt quả nấy A wolf won't eat wolf Chó sói không bao giờ ăn thịt đồng loại Don't postpone until tomorrow what you can do today. Đừng để những việc cho ngày mai mà bạn có thể làm hôm nay\
Do not cast your pearls before swineĐàn khảy tai trâuDon't look a gift horse in the mouthĐược voi đòi.....Hai Bà Trưng....ủa lộn.... đòi tiên Little strokes fell great oaksNước chảy đá mònThere's no accounting for tasteMười người mười ý
idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional—that is, whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed. For example, the English phrase to kick the bucket means to die. A listener knowing the meaning of kick and bucket will not thereby be able to predict that the expression can mean to die. Idioms are often, though perhaps not universally, classified as figures of speech. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom
A use of words peculiar to a particular language.csmp.ucop.edu/crlp/resources/glossary.html
an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (eg, raining cats and dogs)myopiczeal.blogsome.com/2005/03/17/definitions-of-words-in-our-glossary-of-terms/
the styles or techniques that are characteristic to a particular artist or period, movement or medium.www.worldimages.com/art_glossary.php
an expression of language or dialect of a people that is not understood outside its culture. A special terminology.www.calvarychapel.com/redbarn/terms.htm
a sequence of words which functions semantically as a unit and with an unpredictable meaning (eg kick the bucket, meaning die). This is generally accompanied by a degree of syntactic restriction.www.essex.ac.uk/linguistics/clmt/MTbook/HTML/node98.html
an expression that does not mean what it literally says (eg, You’re driving me up a wall.)ww2.aps.edu/users/apsedumain/CurriculumInstruction/glossary.htm
a phrase or expression that is (usually) not taken literally. For example, "Don't let the cat out of the bag" means to not tell something one knows, to keep silent.www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/Reading/glossary_reading_terms.htm
a sequence of words which forms a whole unit of meaningwww.nwlg.org/pages/resources/knowitall/resources/english.htm
A common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs from its literal meaning, such as “It’s raining cats and dogs” or “That cost me an arm and a leg.”www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/newsat/chapter12section2.rhtml
"A use of words, a grammatic construction peculiar to a given language, or an expression that cannot be translated literally into a second language" (Holman and Harmon).www.baylorschool.org/academics/english/studentwork/stover/toolbox/diction.html
is a group of words that, taken as a whole, has a meaning different from that of the sum of the individual words: You’re driving me up the wall!www.state.tn.us/education/ci/cistandards2001/la/cilaglossary.htm
A language familiar to a group of people. Example: Ya'll comin' to da party tonight?www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_dictionary.php
an expression that does not mean what it literally says, as to have the upper hand has nothing to do with hands. Note: Idioms are peculiar to a given language and usually cannot be translated literally. For this reason, languages especially rich in idioms, as English, French, German, and Russian, are difficult to translate. adj. idiomatic.www.nde.state.ne.us/READ/FRAMEWORK/glossary/general_f-j.html
Idiom refers to a grammatical construction unique to a certain people, region, or class that cannot be translated literally into another language (eg, "To be on thin ice," "To pull someone's leg").www.pearsoned.ca/text/flachmann4/gloss_iframe.html
An idiom is a phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of the words. For example 'give in’ is an English idiom meaning 'yield’. Quite a few words in English have idiomatic uses and these are usually given in a dictionary after the definitions of the word itself. These idioms have to be cleared.www.geocities.com/clearbirds/study/glosstudy.htm
or idiomatic the combining of words into a unit of expression to convey a meaning different from the meaning conveyed by the individual words. Example: ἐπὶ τῆς Μωυσέως καθέδρας καθιστάναι (literally sit on Moses’ seat) means have authority to interpret Mosaic law (MT 23.2)www.biblecentre.net/nt/greek/alex/glo.htm
A phrase or expression that means something different from what the words actually say. An idiom is usually understandable to a particular group of people (eg using over his head for doesn’t understand).www.armour.k12.sd.us/Mary's%20Classes/literary_terms_glossary.htm
An expression whose meaning cannot be derived from its constituent elements. An example might be "to kick the bucket", meaning "to die."www.theology.edu/theology/glossary.htm
an individual peculiarity of language.www.baptistlink.com/bbib1/personal/glossary.htm
The English language is full of idioms (over 15,000). Native speakers of English use idioms all the time, often without realising that they are doing so. This means that communication with native speakers of English can be quite a confusing experience.What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example:- How do you know about John's illness?- Oh, I heard it on the grapevine.Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying the idea of information spreading around a widespread network, visually similar to a grapevine.We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.Idioms: the good newsSometimes idioms are very easy for learners to understand because there are similar expressions in the speakers' mother tongue. For example: Idioms: the bad newsHowever, idioms can often be very difficult to understand. You may be able to guess the meaning from context but if not, it is not easy to know the meaning. Many idioms, for instance, come from favourite traditional British activities such as fighting, sailing, hunting and playing games. As well as being quite specialist in meaning, some of the words in idioms were used two or three hundred years ago, or longer, and can be a little obscure. Here are some examples:How can I learn idioms?It is best to learn idioms as you do vocabulary. In other words, select and actively learn idioms which will be useful to you. Write the idiom in a relevant and practical sentence so that you will be able to remember its meaning easily. If you can, record the idioms in your file and on a card along with other words and idioms which have similar meanings. It isn’t always the nonnative speaker’s accent (which may be perfect) that enables people to recognize instantly an outsider who is learning their language—it’s the odd mistakes that no native speaker would make. The idiomatic use of words such as to, for, and with varies from language to language. Just as each person has a unique, characteristic signature, each language has unique idioms. In fact, the word idiom comes from the Greek root idio, meaning a unique signature. Thus, each language contains expressions that make no sense when translated literally into another tongue. The humorist Art Buchwald wrote a famous column, often reprinted, in which he translated some of our Thanksgiving (Mercidonnant) terms into literal French, with comic results. If a German or Spaniard or Italian literally translated birthday suit and get down to brass tacks, the terms would make no sense, or the wrong sense. Even a native speaker of English who is not used to hearing literate idioms such as fits and starts, cock-and-bull story, hue and cry, and touch and go will not be able to make sense of them. Our purpose in defining these idioms is to let the cat out of the bag for those who haven’t heard them often enough to catch their meanings. Other idioms are really allusions or foreign-language terms that make no sense unless you know what the allusions or terms mean. Carry coals to Newcastle translates adequately into any language, but it makes no sense to a person who doesn’t know that Newcastle is a coal-mining city. Knowing the literal meaning of idioms won’t enable you to understand them unless you also know what they allude to. Such ignorance is an Achilles’ heel and an albatross around one’s neck. Moreover, just knowing a baker’s dozen of them is not enough; you have to know them en masse. Educators who complain about the illiteracy of the young but pay no attention to teaching idioms are just weeping crocodile tears. We have therefore decided to cut the Gordian knot by systematically defining some of the most widely used idioms in American literate culture.

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. Situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, with parkland to its south and close to the equally famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, the building and its surroundings form an iconic Australian image.As well as many touring theatre, ballet, and musical productions, the Opera House is the home of Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony. It is administered by the Opera House Trust, under the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts.
Description
Sydney Opera House at Night.The Sydney Opera House is an expressionist modern design, with a series of large precast concrete 'shells', each taken from the same hemisphere, forming the rooves of the structure. The Opera House covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land. It is 183 metres (605 feet) long and about 120 metres (388 feet) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 580 concrete piers sunk up to 25 metres below sea level. Its power supply is equivalent for a town of 25,000 people. The power is distributed by 645 kilometres of electrical cable.[citation needed]
The rooves of the House are covered with 1.056 million glossy white and matte cream Swedish-made tiles,[citation needed] though from a distance the tiles look only white. Despite their self-cleaning nature, they are still subject to periodic maintenance and replacement.[citation needed]
The Concert Hall and Opera Theatre are each contained in the two largest groups of shells, and the other theatres are located on the sides of the shell groupings. The form of the shells is chosen to reflect the internal height requirements, rising from the low entrance spaces, over the seating areas and up to the high stage towers.A much smaller group of shells is set to one side of the Monumental steps and houses the Bennelong Restaurant. Although the roof structures of the Sydney Opera House are commonly referred to as shells (as they are in this article), they are in fact not shells in a strictly structural sense, but are instead precast concrete panels supported by precast concrete ribs.The building's interior is composed of pink granite quarried in Tarana and wood and brush box plywood supplied from northern New South Wales.[citation needed]
Performance venues and facilities
The Concert Theatre and Grand Organ.The Sydney Opera House contains five theatres, five rehearsal studios, two main halls, four restaurants, six bars and numerous souvenir shops.The five theatres making up the performance facilities:The Concert Hall, with 2,679 seats, contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world with over 10,000 pipes.[citation needed]
The Opera Theatre, with 1,547 seats, is the main performance space for Opera Australia; it is also used by the Australian Ballet Company.
The Drama Theatre, with 544 seats
The Playhouse, with 398 seats
The Studio Theatre, with 364 seats
Besides theatrical productions, venues at the Sydney Opera House are also used for functions such as weddings,parties and conferences.
History (Origins)
Planning for the Sydney Opera House began in the late 1940s when Eugene Goossens, the Director of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, lobbied for a suitable venue for large theatrical productions. At the time, the normal venue for such productions was the Sydney Town Hall, but this venue was not considered large enough. By 1954, Goossens succeeded in gaining the support of NSW Premier Joseph Cahill, who called for designs for a dedicated opera house.It was also Goossens who insisted that Bennelong Point be the site for the Opera House. Cahill had wanted it to be on or near the Wynyard Railway Station, located in the north-western Sydney CBD.The competition was launched by Cahill on 13 September 1955 and received a total of 233 entries from 32 countries. The criteria specified a large hall seating 3000 and a small hall for 1200 people, each to be designed for different uses including full-scale operas, orchestral and choral concerts, mass meetings, lectures, ballet performances and other presentations.[1] The basic design announced in 1957 was the one submitted by Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect. Eero Saarinen, a Finnish-American architect and product designer, served on the jury for the Sydney Opera House commission and was crucial in the selection of the design by Jørn Utzon. Utzon arrived in Sydney in 1957 to help supervise the project.[2]
Design and construction of the Opera House Construction progress in 1968.The Fort Macquarie Tram Depot, occupying the site at the time of these plans, was demolished in 1958, and formal construction of the Opera House began in March, 1959. The project was built in three stages. Stage I (1959–1963) consisted of building the upper podium. Stage II (1963–1967) saw the construction of the outer shells. Stage III consisted of the interior design and construction (1967–73).
Stage I: Podium Stage I commenced on December 5, 1958, by the construction firm Civil & Civic. The government had pushed for work to begin early fearing that funding, or public opinion, might turn against them. However major structural issues still plagued the design (most notably the sails, which were still parabolic at the time).By January 23, 1961, work was running 47 weeks behind[citation needed], mainly due to unexpected difficulties (inclement weather, unexpected difficulty diverting stormwater, construction beginning before proper construction drawings had been prepared, changes of original contract documents). Work on the podium was finally completed on August 31, 1962.The forced early start led to significant later problems, not least of which was the fact that the podium columns were not strong enough to support the roof structure, and had to be re-built.[3]
Stage II: Roof Sydney Opera House shell ribs
The shells of the competition entry were originally of undefined geometry,[4] but early in the design process the "shells" were perceived as a series of parabolas supported by precast concrete ribs. However, engineers Ove Arup and partners were unable to find an acceptable solution to constructing them. They had to find a way in which to economically construct the shells from precast concrete, because the formwork for using in-situ concrete would have been prohibitively expensive. Without repetition in the roof forms the construction of precast concrete would also be too expensive.From 1957 to 1963 the design team went through at least twelve different iterations of the form of the shells (including schemes with parabolas, circular ribs and ellipsoids) before a workable solution was completed. The design work on the shells involved one of the earliest uses of computers in structural analysis in order to understand the complex forces the shells would be subject to.[5] In mid-1961 the design team found a solution to the problem: the shells all being created as sections from a sphere.With whom exactly this solution originated has been the subject of some controversy. It was originally credited to Utzon. Ove Arup's letter to Ashworth, a member of the Sydney Opera House Executive Committee, states: "Utzon came up with an idea of making all the shells of uniform curvature throughout in both directions."[5] Peter Jones, the author of Ove Arup's biography, states that "the architect and his supporters alike claimed to recall the precise eureka moment ...; the engineers and some of their associates, with equal conviction, recall discussion in both central London and at Ove's house". He goes on to claim that "the existing evidence shows that Arup's canvassed several possibilities for the geometry of the shells, from parabolas to ellipsoids and spheres."[5] Yuzo Mikami, a member of the design team, presents an opposite view in his book on the project, Utzon's Sphere.[6][7] It is unlikely that the truth will ever be categorically known, but there is a clear consensus that the design team worked very well indeed for the first part of the project and both Utzon, Arup, and Ronald Jenkins (partner of Ove Arup and Partners responsible for the Opera House project) played a very significant part in the design development.[8] As Peter Murray states in The Saga of the Sydney Opera House:"...the two men - and their teams - enjoyed a collaboration that was remarkable in its fruitfulness and, despite many traumas, was seen by most of those involved in the project as a high point of architect/engineer collaboration."[3] The shells were constructed by Hornibrook Group Pty Ltd, who were also responsible for construction in Stage III. Hornibrook manufactured the 2400 precast ribs and 4000 roof panels in an on-site factory, and also developed the construction processes.[3]The achievement of this solution avoided the need for expensive formwork construction by allowing the use of precast units (it also allowed the roof tiles to be prefabricated in sheets on the ground, instead of being stuck on individually at height). Ove Arup and Partners' site engineer supervised the construction of the shells which used an innovative adjustable steel trussed 'erection arch' to support the different roofs before completion. On April 6, 1962 it was estimated that the Opera House would be completed between August 1964 and March 1965. By the end of 1965, the estimated finish for stage II was July 1967.
Stage III: Interiors
Stage III, the interiors, started with Utzon moving his entire office to Sydney in February 1963. However, there was a change of government in 1965, and the new Robert Askin government declared the project under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works. This ultimately led to Utzon's resignation (see below).The cost of the project so far, even in October of that year, was still only $22.9 million,[citation needed] less than a quarter of the final cost. However the projected costs for the design were at this stage much more significant.In 1966, following Utzon's resignation, the acoustic advisor, Lothar Cremer, confirmed to SOHEC that Utzon's original acoustic design only allowed for 2000 seats in the main hall, and further stated that increasing the number of seats to 3000 as specified in the brief would be disastrous for the acoustics. According to Peter Jones, the stage designer, Martin Carr, criticised the "shape, height and width of the stage, the physical facilities for artists, the location of the dressing rooms, the widths of doors and lifts, and the location of lighting switchboards".[5]The second stage of construction was still in process when Utzon resigned. His position was principally taken over by Peter Hall, who became largely responsible for the interior design. Other persons appointed that same year to replace Utzon were E.H. Farmer as government architect, D.S. Littlemore and Lionel Todd.The four significant changes to the design after Utzon left were:
1. The cladding to the podium and the paving (the podium was originally not to be clad down to the water, but to be left open).[citation needed]
2. The construction of the glass walls (Utzon was planning to use a system of prefabricated plywood mullions, but a different system was designed to deal with the glass).[citation needed]
3. Use of the halls (The major hall which was originally to be a multipurpose opera/concert hall, became solely a concert hall. The minor hall, originally for stage productions only, had the added function of opera to deal with. Two more theatres were also added. These changes were primarily due to inadequacies in the original competition brief, which did not make it adequately clear how the Opera House was to be used. The layout of the interiors was changed and the stage machinery, already designed and fitted inside the major hall, was pulled out and largely thrown away).[citation needed]
4. The interior designs: Utzon's plywood corridor designs, and his acoustic and seating designs for the interior of both major halls, were scrapped completely. His design for the Concert Hall was rejected as it only seated 2000, which was considered insufficient.[5] Utzon employed the acoustic consultant Lothar Cremer, and his designs for the major halls were later modelled and found to be very good.[citation needed] The subsequent Todd, Hall and Littlemore versions of both major halls have some problems with acoustics, particularly for the performing musicians. The orchestra pit in the Opera Theatre is cramped and dangerous to musicians' hearing.[9] The Concert Hall has a very high roof leading to lack of early reflections onstage - perspex rings (the "acoustic clouds") hanging over the stage were added shortly before opening in an (unsuccessful) attempt to address this problem.[citation needed]
The Opera House was formally completed in 1973, having cost $102 million. H.R. ‘Sam’ Hoare, the Hornibrook director in charge of the project, provided the following approximations in 1973: Stage I: podium Civil & Civic P/L approximately $5.5m. Stage II: roof shells M.R. Hornibrook (NSW) P/L approximately $12.5m. Stage III: completion The Hornibrook Group $56.5m. Separate contracts: stage equipment, stage lighting and organ $9.0m. Fees and other costs $16.5m.The original cost estimate in 1957 was £3,500,000 ($7 million). The original completion date set by the government was January 26, 1963.[5]
Utzon and his resignation
Before the Sydney Opera House competition, Utzon had won seven of the eighteen competitions he had entered, but had never seen any of his designs built.[5] Utzon's concept for the Sydney Opera House is almost universally admired and considered groundbreaking. The Assessors Report of January 1957, stated:"The drawings submitted for this scheme are simple to the point of being diagrammatic. Nevertheless, as we have returned again and again to the study of these drawings, we are convinced that they present a concept of an Opera House which is capable of becoming one of the great buildings of the world." For the first stage of the project Utzon worked highly successfully with the rest of the design team and the client, but as the project progressed, it became clear (with the revised hall usage insisted by the clients) that the competition requirements had been inadequate with regards to acoustics, specifications of performance spaces and other areas, and that the client had not appreciated the costs or work involved in design and construction. Tensions between the client and the design team grew further when an early start to construction was demanded, despite an incomplete design.The relationship of client, architect, engineers and contractors became an increasing point of tension, between Utzon and the clients, and also Utzon and Arups. Utzon believed the clients should receive information on all aspects of the design and construction through his practice, while the clients wanted a system (notably drawn in sketch form by Davis Hughes) where architect, contractors, and engineers each reported to the client directly. This difference had great implications for procurement methods and cost control, with Utzon wishing to negotiate contracts with chosen suppliers (such as Ralph Symonds for the plywood interiors), and the Australian government insisting contracts were put out to tender.[3]However, the reasons for Arups need to be able to contact the clients directly were equally clear. Peter Murray explains that:"when he moved to Australia, he closed his office down for three months and went travelling. Arups were unable to contact him and were force to make a number of design choices without Utzon's input. This was to have a significant effect on Utzon's relationship with his engineers." Utzon was highly reluctant to respond to questions or criticism from the client's "Sydney Opera House Executive Committee" (SOHEC).[5].However Utzon was greatly supported throughout by Professor Harry Ingham Ashworth, a member of the committee and one of the original competition judges. However the relationship was not helped by Utzon, who was unwilling to compromise on some aspects of his designs the clients wanted to change. As he said to Jack Zunz, a member of the design team, in 1961: "I don't care what it costs. I don't care how long it takes. I don't care what scandal it causes. That is what I want."[5]Utzon consistently claimed to have solved all problems "in his head" but he was reluctant to produce either drawings or documentation in order to demonstrate, cost or later construct his design vision. Peter Murray states:"Utzon was continually investigating new solutions but, with a reluctance to commit himself, he would worry away at a problem for months."[3] During the concept and early design stages this was no problem, but later in the process it lead to considerable tensions. Utzon's ability was never in doubt, and indeed Ove Arup stated that Utzon was "probably the best of any I have come across in my long experience of working with architects", and: "The Opera House could become the world's foremost contemporary masterpiece if Utzon is given his head."[5]Throughout the following years the relationship only got worse, with Utzon refusing access to drawings and documents by the Minister of Public Works' representative and in 1964 dropping all first names from project correspondence, referring to people only as "Dear Sir".[5]At the same time, there were also arguments over work Utzon had carried out and not received payment for. Arups were increasingly cast in the role of peace keepers, and had to reconcile the two sides. Jack Zunz, a member of the Arup design team, stated following a meeting with Utzon in London in 1964:"He put up very powerful arguments to support his case and insists ... we support him loyally as he has supported us in Stages I and II. We should do this. .... provided it does not conflict with our basic responsibilities to the client." In May 1965, Davis Hughes became Minister for Public Works, In October 1965, Utzon gave Hughes a schedule setting out the completion dates of parts of his work for stage III.[citation needed] Hughes withheld permission for the construction of plywood prototypes for the interiors.Utzon was at this time working closely with Ralph Symonds, a manufacturer of plywood, based in Sydney and highly regarded by many, despite Arup's warnings in March 1964 that Ralph Symonds' "knowledge of the design stresses of plywood, was extremely sketchy" and that the technical advice was "elementary to say the least and completely useless for our purposes". Ralph Symonds went broke within the year.[5]However, the relationship between Utzon and the client never recovered, and the government minutes record that following several threats of resignation Utzon stated to Davis Hughes: "If you don't do it, I resign". Hughes replied; "I accept your resignation. Thank you very much. Goodbye."[5]Utzon left the project on February 28, 1966. He said that Hughes' refusal to pay Utzon any fees and the lack of collaboration caused his resignation, and later famously described the situation as "Malice in Blunderland". In March 1966, Hughes offered him a reduced role as 'design architect', under a panel of executive architects, without any supervisory powers over the House's construction but Utzon rejected this.Following the resignation, there was great controversy about who was in the right and who was in the wrong.The Sydney Morning Herald initially reported:"No architect in the world has enjoyed greater freedom than Mr Utzon. Few clients have been more patient or more generous than the people and the Government of NSW. One would not like history to record that this partnership was brought to an end by a fit of temper on the one side or by a fit of meanness on the other." However on 17 March 1966 it reported:"It was not his fault that a succession of Governments and the Opera House Trust should so signally have failed to impose any control or order on the project .... his concept was so daring that he himself could solve its problems only step by step .... his insistence on perfection led him to alter his design as he went along."[5] To this day opinion is still split on the roles of the different parties in the project.[10][11]Consequences for Utzon, architecture and engineering In an article in Harvard Design Magazine in 2005 [12], professor Bent Flyvbjerg argues that Utzon fell victim to a politically lowballed construction budget, which eventually resulted in a cost overrun of 1,400 percent. The overrun and the scandal it created kept Utzon from building more masterpieces. This, according to Flyvbjerg, is the real cost of the Sydney Opera House.The Sydney Opera House opened the way for the immensely complex geometries of some modern architecture. The design was one of the first examples of the use of computer analysis to design complex shapes. The design techniques developed by Utzon and Arup for the Sydney Opera House have been further developed and are now used for architecture such as works of Gehry and "blobitecture", as well as most reinforced concrete structures.The design is also one of the first in the world to use araldite to glue the precast structural elements together, and proved the concept for future use.
Opening
Gold lettering on collectible Sydney Opera House wine The Opera House was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, on October 20, 1973, which crowds of millions attended. The opening was televised and included fireworks and a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.Prior to the opening, two performances had already taken place in the finished building. On September 28, 1973, a performance of Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace was played at the Opera Theatre. On September 29, the first public concert in the Concert Hall took place. It was performed by the Sydney Symphony, conducted by Charles Mackerras and with accompanying singer Birgit Nilsson.During the construction of the Opera House, a number of lunchtime performances were arranged for the workers, with Paul Robeson the first artist to perform at the (unfinished) Opera House in 1960.The exterior on the public stageOn November 24, 1996, Crowded House played its last show on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in front of a crowded house of almost 100,000.In 1997, French urban climber, Alain "Spiderman" Robert, using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices, scaled the building's exterior wall all the way to the top.It received attention during Sydney 2000 Olympics. It was included in the Olympic Torch route to the Olympic stadium, and involved Australian swimmer Samantha Riley standing on top of the Opera House waving the Olympic torch. It was the backdrop of some Olympic events, including the triathlon—which began at the Opera House—and the yachting events on Sydney Harbour.Security at the Opera House has increased as the result of the likelihood of it attracting attention of terrorists in the post September 11 era. This security did not prevent two anti-war activists in March 2003 climbing to the top of the highest sail and painting "NO WAR" in massive red letters. The pair, David Burgess and Will Saunders, were arrested and sentenced in January 2004 to nine months of periodic detention for malicious damage and ordered to pay $151,000 in clean-up costs to the Opera House Trust for daubing their anti-war slogan.
Reconciliation with Utzon and new works
The Utzon Room : rebuilt and redecorated to Utzon's original design.Beginning in the late 1990s, the Sydney Opera House Trust began to communicate with Jorn Utzon in an attempt to effect a reconciliation, and to secure his involvement in future changes to the building. In 1999 he was appointed by the Sydney Opera House Trust as a design consultant for future work.[13] In 2004, the first interior space rebuilt to match Utzon's original design was opened, and renamed "The Utzon Room" in his honour.[14] In April 2007, he proposed a major reconstruction of the Opera Theatre[15].
Cultural Heritage of DenmarkThe Danish Minister for Culture encouraged in 2006 to define 12 cultural Icons in each of nine fields of achievement. The Sydney Opera House was selected as one of the objects to be included in architecture which was thus included into the Cultural Canon of Danmark 2006 (→ da:Kulturkanonen).
New Seven Wonders nomination The Sydney Opera House has been nominated in an election to determine the New Seven Wonders of the World. On the day it was nominated, a morning tea hosted by the New South Wales premier Morris Iemma was held outside the Opera House. Symbolism The Sydney Opera House has been used as the basis of the official 2000 Summer Olympics logo and medal, and the logo of the Sydney Swans Australian Football League, Sydney Roosters National Rugby League team, Sydney Kings National Basketball League (Australia) team, Sydney FC A-League, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and the logo of the AMSA (Australian Medical Student Association) Convention of 2005.
The Sydney Opera House, situated on Sydney Harbour at Bennelong Point, is considered by many to be one of the wonders of the modern world. Designed by Jørn Utzon and constructed under some controversy, it was opened in October 1973. The Opera House is one of Sydney's most popular icons with tourists and travellers from the world over visiting, photographing and standing in awe of the cultural centre of Sydney.
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House from the harbour. Photograph courtesy of Andrew Watt.Sydney Opera House must be one of the most recognisable images of the modern world - up there with the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building - and one of the most photographed.Not only is it recognisable, it has come to represent 'Australia'.Although only having been open since 1973, it is as representative of Australia as the pyramids are of Egypt and the Colosseum of Rome.The Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point, which reaches out into the harbour. The skyline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the blue water of the harbour and the Sydney Opera House, viewed from a ferry or from the air, is dramatic and unforgettable.Ironic, perhaps, that this Australian icon - the Opera House with a roof evocative of a ship at full sail - was designed by renowned Danish architect - Jorn Utzon.In the late 1950s the New South Wales (NSW) Government established an appeal fund to finance the construction of the Sydney Opera House, and conducted a competition for its design.Utzon's design was chosen. The irony was that his design was, arguably, beyond the capabilities of engineering of the time. Utzon spent a couple of years reworking the design and it was 1961 before he had solved the problem of how to build the distinguishing feature - the 'sails' of the roof.The venture experienced cost blow-outs and there were occasions when the NSW Government was tempted to call a halt. In 1966 the situation - with arguments about cost and the interior design, and the Government withholding progress payments - reached crisis point and Jorn Utzon resigned from the project. The building was eventually completed by others in 1973. After more than 30 years, the Sydney Opera House has its first interior designed by Utzon. The Utzon Room, a transformed reception hall that brings to life Jorn Utzon's original vision for his masterpiece, was officially opened on September 16 2004.
Sydney Opera House facts and figures
The Sydney Opera house:
Was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon
Was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973
Presented, as its first performance, The Australian Opera's production of War and Peace by Prokofiev
Cost $AU 102,000,000 to build
Conducts 3000 events each year
Provides guided tours to 200,000 people each year
Has an annual audience of 2 million for its performances
Includes 1000 rooms
Is 185 metres long and 120 metres wide
Has 2194 pre-cast concrete sections as its roof
Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons
Has roof sections held together by 350 kms of tensioned steel cable
Has over 1 million tiles on the roof
Uses 6225 square metres of glass and 645 kilometres of electric cable