Idioms, Ducks, Chickens, and the Impossibility of the English Language

Idioms are a colorful way of getting a point across. Often they reflect the culture, geography, folk lore, values, and sense of humor of the people who speak the language.

A little background….

An idiom is a phrase or expression that usually presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Some phrases which become figurative idioms, however, do retain the phrase’s literal meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom’s figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. Idioms occur frequently in all languages; in English alone there are an estimated twenty-five million idiomatic expressions.

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, Mongolian, and several others.
Wikipedia

25 Million? Does that mean that each American can be assigned their own unique 13 idioms?

Ukrainian Idioms

Before diving into the 25MI (mega-idioms) claim, let’s take a look at some Ukrainian idioms. As our viewer(s) know, we support ENGin in their mission to improve the English skills of Ukrainians.

We borrowed from these great sites:

https://www.ukrainianlessons.com/20-ukrainian-idioms-proverbs-and-expressions

https://www.speakua.com/25-ukrainian-famous-sayings-proverbs-and-idioms-to-get-your-head-around

Original / Literal	Meaning	English Equivalent
Про вовка промовка “Talking about the wolf”	Something that you say when someone you have been talking or thinking about suddenly appears.	Speak of the devil
Біла ворона “A white crow”	This idiom is used to describe a person who is unusual or extraordinary	Black Sheep
Німий як риба “Mute as a fish”	Someone that says very little or nothing	Quiet as a mouse
Вичавлений лимон “A squeezed lemon”	Very tired	Dog Tired Running On Empty Hit The Hay (going to bed)
Копійка гривню береже “Kopiyka saves hryvnia”	Be frugal	Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves A penny saved is a penny earned.
Лóжка дóгтю в бóчці мéду. A spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey.	Something small can spoil something really good.	A fly in the ointment.
Під лежáчий кáмінь водá не течé. Under the lying stone, water does not flow.	No effort makes no progress.	No pain, no gain.
Показáти, де рáки зимýють. To show where the crayfish is wintering.	To punish or show someone the consequences of their behaviour	To teach someone a lesson.
Абó пан, абó пропáв. Either lord or lost.	To risk everything.	All or nothing. Go big or go home. Sink or swim.
Вовкíв боятися – у ліс не ходѝти. If you are afraid of wolves, don’t go to the forest.	Sometimes you must take risks to achieve a goal	Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Крáпля в мóрі. A drop in the sea/ocean.	An insignificant amount. A minimal compared to the amount needed.	A drop in the ocean. A drop in the bucket.

And from Quora…

Hello to our ENGin Buddies!

The Elders all pitched in to give you greetings from their home towns….

Ahoy [nerd warning]
Aloha [nerd warning]
G’day / and Gidday mate (Australian)
Good day
Greetings [either a nerdy greeting from friends or a visit from the FBI]
Hello (works in all situations)
Hello stranger! (when you haven’t seen someone in a long time)
Hey
Hey dude
Hey, you
Hi
Hola (pronounced o-la) (a Texas thing)
Howdy / Howdy Y’all / How ‘ya doin? (a Texas thing)
Long time no see
What’s up?
What’s up buttercup? [nerd warning]
What’s up doc? (From the Bugs Bunny cartoons) [nerd warning]

And a special hello from our Canadian Elders…

“G’day, eh!” or “How’s it goin’?” or “How’s it goin’, eh?”

Or as the Newfies might say, “Whatddaya at?”

And I am told that nobody of Irish descent ever says, “Top of the morning to ya.” But is sounds like something we should say.

Basically, any greeting you can think of, followed by “, eh” makes it Canadian.

Have a good day, eh.
UC#1

Pecked to Death By Chickens: A Scholarly Analysis

We are still concerned about the outrageous Wikipedia claim that there are 25MI (mega-idioms) in the English language. Perchance are they enumerating all possible tenses, pronouns, conditions, etc? Let’s take a look at one idiom.

Phrase: To be pecked to death by chickens

Meaning: To be inundated with trivial matters to the point of exhaustion

Let’s see how many idioms we can obtain from this phrase. We will enumerate the possibilities.

Personal Pronouns

Singular	Plural
I	we
you	you (not counted in analysis)
he	they
she
it

Present Continuous Tense

I am being pecked to death by chickens.
You are being pecked to death by chickens.
He is being pecked to death by chickens.
She is being pecked to death by chickens.
It is being pecked to death by chickens.
We are being pecked to death by chickens.
They are being pecked to death by chickens.

Present Continuous / Contraction

I’m being pecked to death by chickens.
You’re being pecked to death by chickens.
He’s being pecked to death by chickens.
She’s being pecked to death by chickens.
It’s being pecked to death by chickens.
We’re being pecked to death by chickens.
They’re being pecked to death by chickens.

Present Continuous Negation + Contraction

I am not being pecked to death by chickens.
I’m not being pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

Present Continuous Interrogative

Am I being pecked to death by chickens?
etc.

Present Continuous Interrogative / Negation

Am I not being pecked to death by chickens?
etc.

Simple Past Tense

I was pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

Past Tense / Negation + Contraction

I was not pecked to death by chickens.
I wasn’t pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

Past Progressive

I was being pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

Past Progressive / Negation + Contraction

I was not being pecked to death by chickens.
I wasn’t being pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

Past Perfect Tense

I had been pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

Past Perfect Progressive Tense

(not sure if this applies)

Simple Past / Progressive / Perfect / Negation Interrogative

Was I pecked to death by chickens?
Was I being pecked to death by chickens?
Had I been pecked to death by chickens?
Was I not pecked to death by chickens?
Was I not being pecked to death by chickens?
Had I not been pecked to death by chickens?
etc.

Some examples of past tense (historical) chicken pecking….

[ed. note: at this point we lost interest and stopped trying very hard…]

Future Simple / Continuous / Perfect / Perfect Continuous

I will be pecked to death by chickens.
I will have been pecked to death by chickens.
I am going to be pecked to death by chickens.
etc.

est. count: 28

Future Conditional / Negation / Interrogative

I might be pecked to death by chickens.
I might not be pecked to death by chickens.
Might I be pecked to death by chickens?
etc.

est. count: 280

Future tense chicken pecking….

Commands

Be pecked to death by a chicken!
May you be pecked to death by a chicken.
etc.

est. count: 140

Let’s say there are 2,000 ways to say “Pecked to death by a chicken”, that reduces the Wikipedia claim of 25,000,000 idioms to a mere 12,500 idioms. Still hard to believe.