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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise:
Idiom Insight
These exercises were written
by IWW members
and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its
members.
You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that
you found
them at the Internet Writers Workshop
(http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).
Prepared by Charles
Hightower
Posted on Sunday, March 8, 2009
Reposted on Sunday, June 20, 2010
Reposted on Sunday, October 9, 2011
Reposted on Sunday, November 18, 2012
Reposted on Sunday, December 29, 2014
Reposted on Sunday, November 25, 2018 Reposted on Sunday, August 22, 2021
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, create a story that might explain the
origin of an idiom.
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An idiom is a phrase that does not make literal sense. Idioms may
be among the most difficult concepts in English for foreigners to
understand.. For example, the phrase "kick the bucket" is
interpreted as the act of dying. Taken literally, though, neither
the kick nor the bucket has any apparent relationship to the
meaning of the phrase.
Select an idiom. Then make up a story that could explain the
idiom's origin, or show how it came to be. Use your imagination--the
tale need not be true. Show,
don't tell. Be sure to identify the idiom at start or finish.
If you need ideas, you might refer to
http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/id-list.html
or
http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idioms_proverbs.html
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Critique: Does the explanation seem plausible? Does the story do
a good job of showing how the idiom came to be coined? Was the
writing imaginative and interesting?
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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