Editing Idiom (section)

==Translation==
A [[literal translation|word-by-word translation]] of an opaque idiom will most likely not convey the same meaning in other languages. The English idiom ''kick the bucket'' has a variety of equivalents in other languages, such as ''kopnąć w kalendarz'' ("kick the calendar") in Polish, ''casser sa pipe'' ("to break one’s pipe") in French<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.idiommaster.com/search/en-fr?search-term=kick+the+bucket |title=Translation of the idiom kick the bucket in French |publisher=www.idiommaster.com |access-date=2018-01-06 |archive-date=2022-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519151942/https://www.idiommaster.com/search/en-fr?search-term=kick+the+bucket |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''tirare le cuoia'' ("pulling the leathers") in Italian.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.idiommaster.com/search/en-it?search-term=kick+the+bucket |title=Translation of the idiom kick the bucket in Italian |publisher=www.idiommaster.com |access-date=2018-01-06 |archive-date=2018-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107060955/https://www.idiommaster.com/search/en-it?search-term=kick+the+bucket |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some idioms are transparent.<ref>Gibbs, R. W. (1987)</ref> Much of their meaning gets through if they are taken (or translated) literally. For example, ''lay one's cards on the table'' meaning to reveal previously unknown intentions or to reveal a secret. Transparency is a matter of degree; ''spill the beans'' (to let secret information become known) and ''leave no stone unturned'' (to do everything possible in order to achieve or find something) are not entirely literally interpretable but involve only a slight metaphorical broadening. Another category of idioms is a word having several meanings, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes discerned from the context of its usage. This is seen in the (mostly uninflected) [[English language]] in [[polysemes]], the common use of the same word for an activity, for those engaged in it, for the product used, for the place or time of an activity, and sometimes for a [[verb]].

Idioms tend to confuse those unfamiliar with them; students of a new language must learn its idiomatic expressions as vocabulary. Many [[natural language]] words have ''idiomatic origins'' but are assimilated and so lose their figurative senses. For example, in Portuguese, the expression ''saber de coração'' 'to know by heart', with the same meaning as in English, was shortened to 'saber de cor', and, later, to the verb ''decorar'', meaning ''memorize''.

In 2015, [[TED (conference)|TED]] collected 40 examples of bizarre idioms that cannot be translated literally. They include the Swedish saying "to slide in on a shrimp sandwich", which refers those who did not have to work to get where they are.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.ted.com/40-idioms-that-cant-be-translated-literally/|title=40 brilliant idioms that simply can't be translated literally|website=TED Blog|date=20 January 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-04-08|archive-date=2016-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409050117/http://blog.ted.com/40-idioms-that-cant-be-translated-literally/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Conversely, idioms may be shared between multiple languages. For example, the Arabic phrase في نفس المركب (''fi nafs al-markeb'') is translated as "in the same boat", and it carries the same figurative meaning as the equivalent idiom in English. Another example would be the Japanese [[yojijukugo]] 一石二鳥 (''isseki ni chō''), which is translated as "one stone, two birds". This is, of course, analogous to "to kill two birds with one stone" in English.

According to the German linguist Elizabeth Piirainen, the idiom "to get on one's nerves" has the same figurative meaning in 57 European languages. She also says that the phrase "to shed crocodile tears", meaning to express insincere sorrow, is similarly widespread in European languages but is also used in Arabic, Swahili, Persian, Chinese,<ref>BOGUSHEVSKAYA, V. (2016). Guànyòngyǔ 慣用語 (Idioms and Common Sayings). In R. Sybesma (ed.), Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2210-7363_ecll_COM_000301 https://www.academia.edu/30792442/Guànyòngyǔ_慣用語_Idioms_and_Common_Sayings_</ref> Vietnamese,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-11-16 |title=Nước mắt cá sấu |url=https://scov.gov.vn/ban-sac-van-hoa/giai-thich-thanh-ngu-tuc-ngu/nuoc-mat-ca-sau.html |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=scov.gov.vn |language=vi}}</ref> Mongolian, and several others.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

The origin of cross-language idioms is uncertain. One theory is that cross-language idioms are a [[language contact]] phenomenon, resulting from a word-for-word translation called a [[calque]]. Piirainen says that may happen as a result of [[lingua franca]] usage in which speakers incorporate expressions from their own native tongue, which exposes them to speakers of other languages. Other theories suggest they come from a shared ancestor-language or that humans are naturally predisposed to develop certain metaphors.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}