Edition – 2025 – 26

Before the learner of the English language understands the importance of the present book and uses it in a profitable and rewarding manner, it is important for him to know what an idiom is. The syntax, grammar and forms of expression are peculiar to every language and this peculiarity distinguishes one language from another. Even if you have a rich vocabulary of a language at your command, you may not be able to express yourself in it with ease, lucidity and fluency. The reason is that you have not been able to grasp and imbibe ‘ the idiom’ of that language. Unless you assimilate it into your verbal resources, you will remain unsure of yourself, you will keep faltering and floundering.

Strictly speaking, an idiom is an expression with a meaning which cannot be guessed at or derived from the meanings of the individual words which form it. Some short expressions which are used for a particular purpose are also called idioms. Certain phrases have a fixed form and can, therefore, be included in the category of idioms. Loosely, we can attach the tag of an idiom to any expression which differs even slightly from a phrase having a literal meaning. For clarity and precision, however, an idiom must be differentiated from (a) standard phrases that are considered separate words, (b) phrasal verbs, and (c) sayings and proverbs, all of which have their own importance. A few sayings or proverbs have been included in this book, just to show that they actually fall in another category. Sometimes, there may be some confusion as to whether a phrase is an idiom or a phrasal verb. It has been considered advisable to include such phrases in this book, for the simple reason that they have a practical value.