Idiom vs Discourse - What's the difference?
idiom | discourse | Related terms |
A manner of speaking, a way of expressing oneself.
A language or dialect.
Specifically, a particular variety of language; a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context etc.
* 2010 , (Christopher Hitchens), "The Other'' L-Word", ''Vanity Fair , 13 Jan 2010:
An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.
An expression peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language, especially when the meaning is illogical or separate from the meanings of its component words.
* 2008 , Patricia Hampl, “You’re History”, in Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May (editors), Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life , Minnesota Historical Society, ISBN 9780873516303,
(programming) A programming construct or phraseology generally held to be the most efficient, elegant or effective means to achieve a particular result or behavior.
* {{quote-book, 2005, Magnus Lie Hetland, Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional, page=100, isbn=159059519X
, passage=I have to use the same assignment and call to raw_input in two places. How can I avoid that? I can use the while True/break idiom :
(uncountable, archaic) Verbal exchange, conversation.
* 1847 , , (Jane Eyre), Chapter XVIII
(uncountable) Expression in words, either speech or writing.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
, author=
, title=Pixels or Perish
, volume=100, issue=2, page=106
, magazine=
(countable) A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written.
(countable) Any rational expression, reason.
* South
* Shakespeare
(social sciences, countable) An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after ).
* 2007 , Christine L. Marran, Poison Woman: Figuring Female Transgression in Modern Japanese Culture (page 137)
* 2008 , Jane Anna Gordon, Lewis Gordon, A Companion to African-American Studies (page 308)
(obsolete) Dealing; transaction.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse.
To write or speak formally and at length.
(obsolete) To debate.
To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason.
Idiom is a related term of discourse.
As nouns the difference between idiom and discourse
is that idiom is idiom while discourse is (uncountable|archaic) verbal exchange, conversation.As a verb discourse is
to engage in discussion or conversation; to converse.idiom
English
(wikipedia idiom)Noun
(en-noun)- Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young.
page 134:
- You’re history , we say . Surely it is an American idiom . Impossible to imagine a postwar European saying, “You’re history. . . . That’s history,” meaning fuhgeddaboudit, pal.
Synonyms
* (phrase) expression (loosely), form of words (loosely), phrase (loosely)Derived terms
* idiolect * idiomatic * idiomatical * idiomaticallySee also
*External links
*American idioms- a comprehensive list of idioms, browsable through alphabetical links. Includes parts of speech, definitions and example sentences. *
English and American Idioms- RSS subscription channel *
Glossary of Linguistics*
Today's English Idioms at GoEnglish.com* *
Anagrams
* ----discourse
English
(wikipedia discourse)Noun
- Two or three of the gentlemen sat near him, and I caught at times scraps of their conversation across the room. At first I could not make much sense of what I heard; for the discourse of Louisa Eshton and Mary Ingram, who sat nearer to me, confused the fragmentary sentences that reached me at intervals.
citation, passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse . Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}
- The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.
- difficult, strange, and harsh to the discourses of natural reason
- Sure he that made us with such large discourse , / Looking before and after, gave us not / That capability and godlike reason / To rust in us unused.
- Furthermore, it should be recalled from the previous chapter that criminological discourse of the 1930s deemed every woman a potential criminal, implicitly including the domestic woman.
- But equally important to the emergence of uniquely African-American queer discourses is the refusal of African-American movements for liberation to address adequately issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Good Captain Bessus, tell us the discourse / Betwixt Tigranes and our king, and how / We got the victory.
Synonyms
* (expression in words) communication, expression * (verbal exchange) debate, conversation, discussion, talk * (formal lengthy exposition of some subject) dissertation, lecture, sermon, study, treatise * (rational expression) ratiocinationDerived terms
* direct discourse * indirect discourseVerb
(discours)- (Dryden)