Курсовая работа: The use of common names in idiomatic expressions

3. Adam's apple – the Adam's apple is a bulge in the throat, mostly seen in men (www.usingenglish.com).

Let us see the origin of the name Cain – this personwas the first murderer according to scriptural accounts in the Bible – Genesis 4 and in the Qur'an – 5:27-32. The biblical account, from the King James' Version, tells us how Cain and Abel, the two sons of Adam and Eve, bring offerings to God, but only Abel's is accepted. Cain kills Abel in anger and is cursed by God ().

The next big group is idioms with personal names which are taken from famous books, songs, cartoons. For example:

1. Rip van Winkle – Rip van Winkle is a character in a story that slept for twenty years, so if someone is a Rip van Winkle, they are behind the times and out of touch with what is happening now (www.usingenglish.com).

2. Mickey Mouse – something that is intellectually trivial or not of a very high standard (www.usingenglish.com).

3. Live a life of Riley – used in order to say that someone has a very comfortable, easy life without having to work hard or worry about money (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:210).

Let us look at the origin of the name Riley – this phrase originated in a popular song of the 1880s, “Is That Mr. Reilly?” by Pat Rooney, which described, what its hero would do if he suddenly came into a fortune (http://www.answers.com/topic/life-of-riley).

Idioms with personal names that are related to real persons are also often used in the English language. We have found 13 idioms of this kind. For example:

1. Bob’s your uncle – said after you tell someone how to do something, in order to emphasize that it will be simple and will definitely achieve the result they want (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:33).

2. Look a right Charlie – to look very strange or stupid, so that people laugh at you, or feel that people are going to laugh at you (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:58).

3. 50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong – used to say that something must be true because so many people think so (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:103).

Two well-known persons in our examples are Elvis Presley and Charlie Chaplin. Let us look at the example Bob’s your uncle. It is a catchphrase dating back to 1887, when British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury decided to appoint a certain Arthur Balfour to the prestigious and sensitive post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Not lost on the British public was the fact that Lord Salisbury just happened to be better known to Arthur Balfour as “Uncle Bob”. In the resulting furor over what was seen as an act of blatant nepotism, “Bob's your uncle” became a popular sarcastic comment applied to any situation where the outcome was preordained by favoritism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob's_your_uncle).

The smallest group found in our research was idioms with personal names originated from mythology. In spite of that, we could not say that those idioms are unknown or used very rarely. We have selected 10 idioms of this kind. Let us look at the examples:

1. Achilles' heel – a weakness of someone’s character that causes them problems, or the weak part of a place, system, argument where it can easily be attacked or criticized (www.usingenglish.com).

2. Midas touch – the ability to earn money very easily (www.usingenglish.com).

3. A sword of Damocles – something bad that may affect your situation at any time and make it much worse (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:335).

All these persons are well-known from Greek mythology. The death of Achilles was not mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, but appeared in later Greek and Roman poetry and drama concerning events after the Iliad, later in the Trojan War. According to a myth arising later, his mother, Thetis, had dipped the infant Achilles in the river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable where the waters touched him -- that is, everywhere but the areas covered by her thumb and forefinger – implying that only a heel wound could have been his downfall.

3.3 Idioms with place names

Analyzing the idioms with proper names we have found 23 idioms with place names. That is 25 % of all researched idioms. We have discovered that all the place names mentioned in idioms were real. In spite of that some of them were mentioned in the Bible, for example, Road to Damascus – if someone has a great and sudden change in their ideas or beliefs, then this is a road to Damascus change, after the conversion of Saint Paul to Christianity while heading to Damascus to persecute Christians, place Damascus is real. The most common place name used in idioms is Rome. For example:

· All roads lead to Rome – This means that there can be many different ways of doing something (www.usingenglish.com).

· Fiddle while Rome burns – used when you disapprove because someone is spending too much time or attention on unimportant matters instead of trying to solve bigger and more important problems (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:288).

· Rome was not built in a day – this idiom means that many things cannot be done instantly, and require time and patience (www.usingenglish.com).

Idioms with personal names are more frequently used than idioms with place names.

4. Groups of the personal names

In our research we have distinguished 6 main groups of the origin of the personal names used in idioms. The distinguished groups are the following ones:

Names derived from mythology:

1. A sword of Damocles – something bad that may affect your situation at any time and make it much worse (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:335).

2. A Pyrrich victory – used about a situation in which you are successful, but you suffer so much that it was not worth winning(Longman Idioms Dictionary:1999:368).

3. Achilles' heel – a weakness of someone’s character that causes them problems, or the weak part of a place, system, argument where it can easily be attacked or criticized (www.usingengllish.com).

4. Before you can say Jack Robinson – used in order to say that something happens very quickly (www.usingenglish.com).

5. Between Scylla and Charybdis – in a situation in which there two possible choices or actions both of which are equally bad (Longman Idioms Dictionary: 1999:297).