People use languages to communicate. Any language has its ways to express people’s minds. One of the ways in common is the use of idioms. An idiom is a group of words. It has a special meaning that is different from the usual meaning. For example, under the weather is an idiom meaning ill. So when people say “I’m under the weather," they are saying that they’re not feeling well. Another example, in all weathers means in all kinds of weather. So, “There are homeless people sleeping on the streets in all weathers" tells us that homeless people sleep on the streets no matter whether it is cold or hot.

Different languages may have different ways to make idioms. For people who are learning a foreign language, idioms could cause misunderstandings and bring them endless headaches. On the other hand, if things are done right, idioms can also be a fun way of looking into a new culture and understanding how the people think and talk.

Metaphor (比喻) is often used in idioms. Let’s read the following two examples:

● It makes my blood boil (煮沸) when people litter.

● The night was dark and quiet; my blood ran cold when I heard a strange noise outside at dark night.

In neither situation above, our blood can reach the point so high or so low in temperature. Yet, with the situations the two sentences created, it is not difficult to work out the unhappy feelings of really angry in the first example and very afraid in the second.

Of course, not all idioms are this easy to understand. When we come to idioms of a foreign language, a good dictionary of idioms is always suggested.

“How are you?” is a nice question. It’s a friendly way that people in the United States greet each other. But when someone says to his friend “How are you?”, he likes the answer “fine” even when his friend isn’t fine. It’s because that “How are you?” isn’t really a question, and “fine” isn’t really an answer. They are common（常见的）ways of saying “Hello” and “Hi”.

Sometimes people also don’t say just what they think. For example, when someone asks, “Do you think so?” the other one may be thinking, “No, I don’t think so. I think you are wrong.” But it doesn’t sound very friendly, so they may say, “I’m not so sure.” It’s a nice way to say that you don’t think the same as your friend.

It’s fun when people want to finish talking. For example, when a man wants to finish talking he may say “I have to go now.” Sometimes he often gives an excuse, “Someone is at the door”, “Something is burning” and so on. The excuse may be real, or it may not. It’s a nice way to stop a conversation（对话）and it doesn’t hurt your friend’s feelings. People don’t always say just what they are thinking. And it’s a part of the game of speaking.

Do you know what an English first name means? Here is a list of British, American and Australian first names for boys and mothers often get names for their baby boys.