Vilnius Pedagogical University

Faculty of Philology

Department of English Philology

Elena Rinkauskaitė

HUMAN UNHAPPINESS IN ENGLISH AND LITHUANIAN ANIMAL IDIOMS

Academic adviser: Assoc. Prof. Dr. L. Selmistraitis

2011

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Vilnius Pedagogical University

Faculty of Philology

Department of English Philology

HUMAN UNHAPPINESS IN ENGLISH AND LITHUANIAN ANIMAL IDIOMS

This MA paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of the MA in English Philology

By Elena Rinkauskaitė I declare that this study is my own and does not contain any unacknowledged work from any source

Academic adviser: Assoc. Prof. Dr. L. Selmistraitis

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CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 4

INTRODUCTION 5

1. THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF IDIOMATICITY 7

1.1. The concept of an idiom: structure and semantics 7

1.2. Functions and usage of idioms 14

1.3. Principles of the classification of idioms 16

1.4. Idioms and culture 23

2. UNHAPPINESS IN FOLKLORE AND MODERN UNDERSTANDING 26

3. MANIFESTATIONS OF UNHAPPINESS THROUGH ENGLISH AND

LITHUANIAN ANIMAL IDIOMS 30

3.1. Animals represented in English and Lithuanian idioms related to unhappiness 30

3.2. Constituent parts of human unhappiness expressed by English and Lithuanian

animal idioms 49

CONCLUSIONS 63

SUMMARY 66

REFERENCES 68

SOURCES 72

APPENDICES 73

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to explore how human unhappiness is expressed through English and

Lithuanian animal idioms.

The research has been carried out deriving from both quantitative and qualitative

perspectives, focusing on understanding of the main theoretical aspects of an idiom and the

notion of ‘unhappiness’, and searching for the relationships between animal idioms in the

comparable languages. To illustrate the main similarities and differences between two languages,

79 English and 122 Lithuanian animal idioms denoting unhappiness were subjected to the

analysis. The comparative, descriptive and content analysis methods were mainly employed in

the study. The research demonstrated that only seven animal idioms share equivalence in the

comparable languages. This fact exhibited that nations representing distant cultures vary

considerably in their perception of the world. The Lithuanians and the British understand the

concept of unhappiness within the similar framework but employ different animals, images, and

syntactic structures to express the same psychological aspect. The meanings of many idiomatic

expressions are based on animal symbolism. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the English

and Lithuanian languages do not differ substantially in the choice of animals expressing the

concept of unhappiness: 19 animal names coincided in both languages. Although, many idioms in

the English and Lithuanian languages contain the same animals, they represent different

denotations. Furthermore, the findings revealed that idioms connected with ‘the dog’ comprise

the biggest part in both languages; in the English language they make 25% while in the

Lithuanian – 30% of the overall figure. Other animal names are not so conspicuous.

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INTRODUCTION

An idiom is an expression, word, or phrase having a figurative meaning which is often related to

cultural codes. The English and the Lithuanian languages are full of idiomatic expressions.

Native speakers use idioms all the time, often without realizing that they are doing so. This

means that communication with native speakers can be quite confusing experience. Indeed,

sometimes idioms are easily understandable because there are similar expressions in the speakers'

mother tongue but usually it is difficult to grasp the meaning of phraseological units.

An idiom is generally considered a colloquial metaphor which requires some foundational

knowledge, information, or experience, and both conversational parties must possess common

cultural references. Thus, usually idioms are not regarded as a part of the language, but as a part

of the culture. Since culture typically is localized, idioms often are useless beyond their local

context. Nevertheless, some idiomatic expressions can be more universal than others, can be

easily translated, and the metaphoric meaning can be deduced. Therefore, the research into

idiomatic expressions gives the possibility not only for improving language competence but also

for obtaining the deeper insight into the culture.

Hypothesis

Having in mind the historical and cultural background of the English and Lithuanian

languages, the hypothesis arose that phraseological units expressing unhappiness should differ in

their representation through animal idioms in English and Lithuanian cultures.

Novelty of the research

This study is intended to deepen the understanding of phraseological units in English and

Lithuanian since no research comparing English and Lithuanian animal idioms denoting

unhappiness has been done.

Significance of the research

As it was mentioned before, the study is intended to deepen the understanding of

phraseological units. Moreover, it can be used as a background for the further research. As the

thesis focuses only on animal idioms denoting unhappiness, idioms expressing other aspects of

human life could be analyzed in further research. The thesis may contribute to any research

related to the comparison of English and Lithuanian idiomatic expressions.

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The purpose of the research

The purpose of the research is to explore how certain aspects of human unhappiness are

expressed through English and Lithuanian animal idioms.

Objectives of the research

In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the following tasks were set:

to overview the theoretical material on idioms, i.e. structure, semantics, functions, usage,

classification of idioms, and links between idiomatic expressions and culture;

to collect English and Lithuanian idiomatic expressions denoting unhappiness;

to investigate and compare the expression of unhappiness in the English and Lithuanian

languages through animal idioms;

to reveal any commonalities and differences in English and Lithuanian animal idioms

denoting unhappiness.

Methods

The aim was achieved by different methods applied to the investigation. First of all, the

descriptive method was used as all idiomatic expressions denoting unhappiness were analyzed

and described. Furthermore, the comparative method was used as a tool to compare and contrast

English and Lithuanian animal idioms expressing different aspects of unhappiness. Furthermore,

some statistical data of the frequency was presented in the analysis.

The scope of the research

The present research is restricted to the analysis of 79 English and 122 Lithuanian animal

idioms denoting human unhappiness. The Lithuanian animal idioms were collected from

Frazeologijos Žodynas (2001) whereas Longman Idioms Dictionary (2000) was the main source

for English animal idioms denoting unhappiness.

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1. THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF IDIOMATICITY

1.1. The concept of an idiom: structure and semantics

The English language has more than 1,000,000 words and is one of the most flexible languages in

the world. Understanding the lexicon of English demands more than knowing the denotative

meaning of words; it requires its speakers to have connotative word comprehension and an

understanding of figurative language. Idioms fall into this final category (Ambrose, 2004). The

problem of investigating idioms has existed for several centuries. Idioms are interesting because

they are colourful and lively. However, at the same time, they are difficult to understand because

they have unpredictable meanings and special connotations. Idioms play important role in spoken

and written language. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, preconditions for phraseology

allocation in an independent linguistic discipline were created. In this process researches of many

linguists such as J. Seidl, W. McMordie, Ch. Bally, F. de Saussure, K. Brugmann, H. Paul, O.

Jespersen, etc. were really important.

Hornby has created a definition of an idiom based on its fixed characteristics: an idiom is

a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and

which must be learnt as a whole unit (Hornby, 1995). Sharing the same point of view, Hill (1979)

considered an idiom as a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning

of several words. According to Hill, the fixed characteristics of an idiom can be realized as

follows: 1. form: the words of an idiom are generally fixed. It means that the components forming

an idiom are unchanged in using; 2. structure: the fixed characteristic of structure of an idiom is

expressed by the fixed order of the components forming an idiom.

Seidl and McMordie present an idiom in a similar way and assert that it is a number of

words which, taken together, mean something different from the individual words of the idiom

when they stand alone (Seidl & McMordie, 1983). According to Higi-Wydler (1989), an idiom

consists of at least two words. However, in the Introduction to A Dictionary of American Idioms,

Makkai allows for one-word idioms. For example, peanuts as in work for/get (paid) peanuts or a

packet as in cost/charge/make/earn a packet are one-word idioms. In the given examples, the

verbs retain their original meaning. It is the nouns (peanuts, a packet) which acquire a figurative

sense if combined with suitable verbs. It can be argued that Makkai’s approach does not

contradict the traditional conception of idioms since one-word idioms are used with a relatively

limited number of semantically restricted word groups (Tkachuk, 2005).

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Baker regards idioms as frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in

form and often carry meanings which can not be deduced from their individual components

(Baker, 1992). Jakaitienė states the same idea just in different wording: the meaning of an idiom

can not be deduced from the separate words that it consists of (Jakaitienė, 1980). In other words

phraseologisms or idioms are semantically frozen sets of words and they have general or solid

meaning.

According to Moon, an idiom is an ambiguous term, used in conflicting ways. In lay or

general use, an idiom has two main meanings. First, an idiom is a particular means of expressing

something in language, music, art, etc., which characterizes a person or group. Secondly, an

idiom is a particular lexical collocation or phrasal lexeme, peculiar to a language (Moon, 1998).

Dictionaries present various definitions of an idiom. In Longman Idioms Dictionary (LID,

2000) it is affirmed that an idiom is a sequence of words which has a different meaning as a

group from the meaning it would have if each word was understood separately. Idioms add

colour to the language, helping us to emphasize meaning and to make our observations,

judgements, and explanations lively and interesting. They are also very useful tools for

communicating a great deal of meaning in just a few words. Oxford English Dictionary (OED,

1989) indicates that the term idiom derives from Greek lexeme idios which means ‘own, private,

peculiar’. It also adds that an idiom is a form of speech peculiar or proper to a people or country,

own language or tongue. Fromkin and Rodman point out that idioms often violate co-occurrence

restrictions of semantic properties. What is more, Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms

(CDAI, 2003) emphasizes that idioms are often informal, but they can also be slang, rude slang,

or even slightly formal. Many idioms are used in spoken English, but they also appear in

newspapers and magazines, in books, and even in academic writing. The fact that idioms give

specific grammatical, syntactical, and structural character to language is indicated in The

American Heritage: Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary (AHIED, 1987).

We will carry out the research following the definition presented in Longman Idioms

Dictionary (LID, 2000) but modified by adding the fact that idioms reflect cultural differences

peculiar to a language.

It is worth mentioning that the terms ‘idiom’ and ‘phraseological unit’ can be used

interchangeably. The first term is preferred by the Western scholars while the term

‘phraseological unit’ is mostly found in the works of Russian scientists since they have done

great contributions to the field of phraseology. In the Lithuanian language idioms are called

phraseologisms as well. In the current work the term ‘idiom’ will be mostly used; when the ideas

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will be grounded on the works of Russian scholars, the term ‘phraseological unit’ will be

employed.

An idiom has a fixed form or invariability – the number of paradigmatic variants (if there

are any) is limited. However, this statement is also questionable. The criterion of fixed form gives

the impression that idioms are not flexible, but it is true only to a certain extent – idioms do have

variants. The following list of possible variants of idioms is adapted from Kvetko:

• syntagmatic variants – feather your nest, feather your own nest

• paradigmatic or lexical variants – a pot of gold, a crock of gold

• grammatical variants – be well off, be better off, be the best off

• spelling variants – on a shoe string, on a shoestring (Tkachuk, 2005).

An idiom, is usually strange, irrational or sometimes grammatically improper. But idioms

seem to be tolerant of structures which would be otherwise considered ungrammatical. For

example, in idiomatic phrases one can find instances of peculiar grammar usage (you pays your

money and you takes your chances/choice) or unusual morphological conversion (the haves and

the have-nots). There are many instances of words which are not used nowadays because the

objects they denote have ceased to exist, and it is only in idioms that these words still occur

(purse with strings in tighten/loosen/control/hold the purse strings; slate in wipe the slate clean or

on the slate; shilling in cut someone off without a shilling or make an honest shilling). Common

practices from the past also appear in idiomatic expressions (the practice of paying workers in

salt instead of wages is illustrated in the idiom be worth your salt). Even obsolete words have a

chance of surviving in idiomatic expressions (thar in the idiom there is gold in them there/thar

something) (Tkachuk, 2005).

Idioms can be constructed from different forms and structures. They can have a correct

grammatical structure or an incorrect grammatical structure. The idiom I am good friends with

him is incorrect or irrational because of its grammatical structure. Although idioms are incorrect,

various structures can be used. Moreover, an idiom can have a grammatically correct structure

with the not definite meaning, e.g. to have a bee in one’s bonnet. It means that one is

prepossessed by a thought, but it is obscure if we do not know the idiom itself. An idiom where

the form together with the meaning are incorrect also exist, e.g. to be at large. The form verb +

preposition + adjective without a noun is odd and we have no notion of the meaning. Basically,

many idioms are found to be assigned to the second type, where the structure is correct, but the

meaning is vague. However, idioms of this group can be easily guessed from associations, e.g. to

give someone the green light (Seidl & McMordie, 1983).

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Relations between idioms can be compared to relations between independent words.

Idioms can have synonyms, antonyms and homonyms. Homonymous relations between idioms

are much less common than those between words. Homonymous idiomatic expressions (hit the

roof/ceiling is used to describe a situation when prices increase suddenly and rapidly or when a

person becomes angry and starts shouting at someone) have different meanings and distinctive

figurativeness and motivation (Kvetko, 1999). Antonymous relations seem to occur more

frequently. They are based on the contrasting figurativeness and motivation (e.g. have (got)

money to burn and not have (got) two pennies/ cents to rub together). Therefore idioms with pure

negation (e.g. be in the red – be out of the red; have (got) money to burn – not have (got) money

to burn) are considered as merely negative forms, not real antonyms (Kvetko 1999). Similarly,

synonyms are based on different figurative meanings, e.g. bleed someone dry/white and take

someone to the cleaners. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic variants are merely variants of the same

idiom.

Idiomatic semantic fields combine idioms with similar semantic features. For example, in

the idiomatic semantic field “Be Wealthy and Wealth” one can find such idioms as be/live in

clover, live like a king, live in the lap of luxury, be in the money, be made of money, be born with

a silver spoon in your mouth, a king’s ransom, a small fortune or as rich as Croesus (Tkachuk,

2005).

The features of idioms, which were mentioned above, in the work fall under three notions

and quite clearly outline the most common characteristics:

1. Compositeness: idioms are commonly accepted as a type of multiword expressions (red

herring, make up, smell a rat, the coast is clear, etc.) though a few scholars accept even

single words as idioms.

2. Institutionalization: idioms are conventionalized expressions, conventionalization

being the end result of initially ad hoc, and in this sense novel, expressions.

3. Semantic opacity: the meaning of an idiom is not the sum of its constituents. In other

words, an idiom is often non-literal (Gibbs, 1986).

Other scholars, such as Nunberg, Sag and Wasow (Nunberg, Sag, Wasow, 1994) extended

the list of properties typical to idioms:

1. Conventionality. Idioms are conventionalized: their use or meaning can’t be predicted,

or at least entirely predicted, on the basis of knowledge of the independent conventions

that determine the use of their constituents when they appear in isolation from one

another.

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2. Inflexibility. Idioms typically appear only in a limited number of syntactic frames or

constructions, unlike freely composed expressions.

3. Figuration. Idioms typically involve metaphors (e.g. take the bull by the horns),

metonymies (e.g. lend a hand), hyperboles (e.g. not worth the paper it’s printed on), or

other kinds of figuration.

4. Proverbiality. Idioms are typically used to describe – and implicitly, to explain – a

recurrent situation of particular social interest in virtue of its resemblance or relation to a

scenario involving homey, concrete things and relations.

5. Informality. Like other proverbial expressions, idioms are typically associated with

relatively informal and colloquial registers and with popular speech and oral culture.

6. Affect. Idioms are typically used to imply a certain evaluation or affective stance

toward the things they denote. A language doesn’t ordinarily use idioms to describe

situations that are regarded neutrally – buying tickets, reading a book – though of course

one could imagine a community in which such activities were sufficiently charged with

social meaning to be worthy of idiomatic reference.

However, apart from the property of conventionality, none of these properties applies

obligatory to all idioms. There are some idioms, for example, which do not involve figuration –

the clearest examples are expressions that contain an item which occurs in no other context (e.g.

by dint of), and which therefore could not have a figurative interpretation. By the same token, not

all idioms have literal meanings that denote concrete things and relations (e.g. malice

aforethought, second thoughts, method in one’s madness); and many idioms lack register

restrictions and some even have a decidedly literary flavour (e.g. render unto Caesar) (Nunberg,

Sag, Wasow, 1994).

Idioms typically admit two different interpretations: a literal one and a non-literal (or

figurative) one. The relationship between an idiom’s literal meaning and its overall figurative

meaning is not arbitrary, but is motivated by conceptual devices, such as conceptual metaphors

and metonymies, which help speakers to ‘make sense’ of the idiom’s figurative meaning. Idioms

are conceptually motivated in the sense that there are cognitive mechanisms (such as metaphors,

metonymy, and conventional knowledge) which link literal meaning with figurative idiomatic

meaning. This view is also shared by Gibbs who claims that ‘idioms do not exist as separate

semantic units within the lexicon, but actually reflect coherent systems of metaphorical concepts’

(Gibbs, 1986).

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Metaphors create idiomatic expressions in two ways: one, the symbolization of a concrete

scene, and the other, the comparison on abstract concepts to more concrete ones on the basis of

conceptual metaphors.

The idiom break the ice is a typical example of the symbolization process involved in the

creation of an idiom. Seidensticker (1983) explains its origin – the image of icebreakers crushing

ice is applied to humorous remarks or kind behavior that helps to lighten a formal atmosphere. In

this case an event occurring in a setting with glaciers is mapped to that of an event in a meeting

by using a parallel construction, namely, that of deflating a troublesome situation. Breaking the

ice implies that the individuals are meeting for the first time and that the atmosphere is

oppressive and cold like that of glacier. Other idioms in this category also display such

differences in nuance. The idiom spill the beans evokes the image of legumes in a container

being scattered. Confidential information is metaphorically referred to as ‘beans’ in spill the

beans and spilling them out of a container represents the revelation of a secret (Yagihashi, 2006).

The images accompanying them indicate that the idioms in this category are effectively

motivated by, and at the same time, have a close relationship to the original scene. To summarize,

picturesque figurative expressions such as the ones mentioned above are created by way of

metaphorical mapping from the source domain, that is an original scene to the target domain.

Careful attention must be directed toward the fact that the idioms let the cat out of the

bag, come out of the closet, etc. which carry almost the same meaning as spill the beans, are

motivated by the concept from within to without. This implies that these idioms are identical at

the conceptual level. In other words, it is the concept itself that generates various concrete

expressions through metaphorical processes.

Similarly conceptual metaphors established at a primitive level are the foundations of

various idiomatic expressions. For example, let off steam consists of two parts: let off and steam,

and as a whole means to get rid of anger. Anger is often metaphorically understood in terms of

MIND IS A CONTAINER and ANGER IS A HOT FLUID IN A CONTAINER. In this case, the

mapping of the literal meaning of steam to the figurative meaning anger through the conceptual

metaphors is empirically and cognitively understandable because steam, like anger, has power –

to move locomotives and ships or to make raw food edible. Steam is seen as a heated fluid in a

container and the release of the hot vapor figuratively signifies anger and frustration gradually

fading away (Yagihashi, 2006).

The conceptual metaphors MIND IS A CONTAINER and ANGER IS A HOT FLUID IN

A CONTAINER exist in the conceptual systems of English speakers such that idioms related to

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anger, such as blow one’s stack, flip one’s lid, hit the ceiling, etc. are motivated and understood in

terms of the same image and encyclopedic knowledge. Gibbs and O’Brien (1990) state that

conceptual metaphors serve as motivations for idiomatic expressions. Thus, they function as

grounds for the interpretation of idioms based on conceptual metaphors, so that the addressers

and addressees are able to represent almost the same images and meanings (Yagihashi, 2006).

As far as idioms present a condensed means of expression, they are supposed to be

subjected to language economy. However, idioms do not necessarily follow the logic of language

economy. For the sake of emphasis, idioms sometimes contain ‘unnecessary‘ words, for instance,

two nearly synonymous words (pinch and scrape) or two alternatives (not for love or money)

(Tkachuk, 2005). It is worth mentioning that deletion of some parts is possible in certain English

idioms, e.g. with no strings attached - with no strings; but there are also large numbers,

particularly those comprising verb with either preposition or particle, where no deletion is

possible, e.g. to see through someone, to bring the house down, to turn on, to put up, to step up,

etc. The possibility of deletion in idioms is largely a matter of use and would vary widely from

language to language.

Idioms can also be modified by items which are not the part of the idiom and sometimes

even the order of the idiom can be reversed. But the language-user can go even further in order to

achieve surprising and unusual effects. In such instances an element of the idiom may be

changed, without its original import being changed at the same time, by 1) substitution or 2)

inversion; 1) substitution: the idiom to give the green light is changed to red light; 2) reversal of

the order of constituents: whereas the morphemic constituents of a single word (e.g.

unmeaningfully) cannot be reversed (*fullymeaningun) the order of phrasal or sentential idioms

could be if the user wished to make a point opposite to the one conveyed by the idiom in

question, e.g. for the cat to swallow the canary - the canary had swallowed the cat) (Fernando,

Flavell, 1981).

Idioms carry a large amount of cultural information, such as history, geography, religion,

custom, thinking pattern, etc. In other words, language and culture interact with each other and

shape each other; language mirrors the culture and history of a community and embodies the

common knowledge of the world that the members of the community share. Idioms are the

heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. Accurate information of English idioms

can provide us with a deep understanding of the cultural connotations of English vocabulary and

cultural differences. Thus, idioms enrich communication in every culture.

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1.2. Functions and usage of idioms

Newmark claims that an idiom has two main functions: pragmatic and referential (Newmark,

1988). The pragmatic function is to appeal to the senses, to interest, to surprise, to delight.

According to Newmark, the first function is called cognitive, while the other is aesthetic. The

referential function is “to describe a mental process or state, a concept, a person, an object, a

quality or an action more comprehensively and concisely than is possible in literal or physical

language” (Newmark, 1988).

Idioms may perform other functions in different discourse as in texts or interactions, too.

They may convey thanks, apologies, agreements and greetings in interpersonal communication.

Moreover, it may include actions, situations, emotions in their meaning. In this case, Fernando

(Fernando, 1994) classifies all functions that are performed by idioms into three groups: 1)

ideational, 2) interpersonal, and 3) relational.

1. Idioms that have ideational function denote content which includes action (e.g. pull an

invisible string), situation (e.g. to be under the thumb of one’s family), people and things (e.g.

made rather a fool of myself).

2. Interpersonal function fulfills interactional function through apologies (e.g. I beg your

pardon), greetings (e.g. good evening), directives (e.g. to put it straight), etc.

3. Idioms with relational function are used to ensure cohesion and coherence of discourse.

These are idioms that integrate (e.g. on the one hand...on the other hand, in addition) and

sequence information (e.g. in the first/second place).

Jakaitienė distinguishes three functions of idioms: emotional-expressive, nominative and

motional. Emotional-expressive idioms are figurative, picturesque; suggestively and expressively

expressing the idea. Phraseologisms with the nominative function have the functions equal to the

functions of verbs (e.g. ant rankų nešioti), adverbs (e.g. kaip kamparas be pipirų), adjectives (e.g.

vėjo pamušalas) and nouns (e.g. dyka kišenė). The last function is emotional. Such

phraseologisms usually perform the function of interjections. Interjections in express the

emotions of people. For example: “eik jau eik” is said when wanting to mock someone, “po šimts

pypkių” is a very soft old-fashioned form of curse (Jakaitienė, 1980).

Sometimes it may be difficult to decide in which situation, i.e. formal or informal, it is

correct to use an idiom. The choice depends on the interlocutor and situation. If one has close

relationships with the person he/she is communicating with and the situation is private, the

informal language or even slang expressions may be employed. By contrast, in a formal or public

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situation, when two or more unacquainted people interact, words should be chosen more

carefully. Nonetheless it is nothing wrong to use idiomatic expressions in formal situations as

idioms do not necessarily sound colloquial. Furthermore, it is important to know whether an

idiom is natural and appropriate in a certain situation. This can be learnt only by listening to

native speakers or reading English texts which contain many idiomatic expressions (Seidl &

McMordie, 1983).

As Ginzburg points out, sometimes there is some difficulty in distinguishing idioms from

free word-groups. The problem is that the border between free word-groups and idioms is not

obviously determined. The so-called free word-groups are only relatively free as collocability of

their member-words is fundamentally delimited by their lexical and grammatical valency which

makes at least some of them very close to set-phrases.

Idioms are constantly settled as motiveless word-groups and are assumed as ready-made

units. The basic elements of idioms are constancy of the logical components and lack of

motivation. As distinct from idioms, components of free word-groups can shift depending on the

needs of communication.

For instance, the component red in the free word-group red flower can be replaced by any

other adjective denoting colour (blue, white, yellow etc.), without radically changing the meaning

of the word-group. This would still mean a flower of a certain colour. An idiom red tape meaning

bureaucratic methods cannot be converted as a change of the adjective would transform the

meaning of the group. Changing the adjective red into blue (white, black, etc.), the phrase blue

tape would mean a tape of a certain colour. The implication is that the idiom red tape is

semantically motiveless and is a ready-made linguistic unit (Ginzburg, 1979).

Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether the given phrase is an idiom or a metaphor

since it is rather subjective. When faced with an unknown expression, one has no way of knowing

whether it is to be interpreted metaphorically to arrive at the actual meaning, or whether in fact it

is an idiom. For instance, Murphy (1968) uses a lesser-known idiom kick up one's heels. This was

given to native-speaker informants who were asked what it meant. The consensus was that it

meant 'to be rebellious', 'to reject authority', or (idiomatically) 'kick against the pricks'. This is

perhaps the most obvious metaphorical interpretation, but it is not in fact correct. M. J. Murphy

defines it as 'relax and have a good time', similar to 'let one's hair down'. Clearly, when faced with

an unknown phrase, the tendency is to give it its most likely metaphorical interpretation. Non-

native speakers do exactly the same thing: have cold feet is often classed by them as semi-

transparent, meaning 'to be ill' or something similar, rather than the opaque 'to be afraid'.

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Even in the case of apparently simple metaphors, such as buttercup, the interpretation is

not easy. The compound may be metaphorical, but which metaphor is applicable? If buttercup is

unknown, as it may be to a non-native, it could be the flower Ranunculus bulbosus, a yellow bowl

of a certain design, a special kind of cake (cf. hot dog), or a thousand and one potential

associations.

Sufficient context will give the meaning, at least in general terms. But the interpretation

of metaphors and idioms is only reasonable after the event. The tendency is that the native speaker

classes phrases as more transparent than they actually are because of his/her inbuilt a posteriori

knowledge of their actual meaning. Since native speakers appear to have this inbuilt hind-sight, it

is suggested that the following scheme to define whether a phrase is simply metaphorical or

opaque and so idiomatic should be presented to both natives and non-natives, for one group to act

as a check on the other (Fernando & Flavell, 1981).

1.3. Principles of the classification of idioms

Idioms are usually classified by taking into consideration two aspects: semantics and structure.

Still some scholars, as for instance, Smirnitsky and Strassler (1982), offer classification which is

based on both aspects: structure and semantics. The classifications based on transformations and

thematic principle are also available. Furthermore, some linguists suggest classifying idioms into

families.

According to Vinogradov’s semantic classification, idioms are divided into three

classes: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological collocations. This

classification is based upon the motivation of the unit that is the cognition between the

signification of the whole and the significations of its component parts.

Phraseological fusions are word-groups which are absolutely motiveless. There is no

cohesion with the signification of the components or with the whole group simultaneously.

Idiomaticity is mostly compounded with absolute consistency of the lexical components and

grammatical formation of the fusion, e.g. red tape; brown study; red herring; mare’s nest, etc.

Phraseological unities are partly motiveless as the meaning of the whole unity may be

understood from one of the components or may be conceived through the figurative meaning of

the whole phraseological unit. Phraseological unities are mostly noticeable by a considerable

degree of consistency of the lexical components, e.g. to skate on thin ice; to stick to one‘s guns,

etc.

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Phraseological collocations are motivated word-groups and they are formed of words

containing peculiar lexical combinability which clarifies a substantive degree of consistency. It is

a structure where every word has an independent meaning while one of the components has a

restricted meaning, e.g. to fall in love; to lose one‘s temper; to stick to one‘s word, etc. (Ginzburg

et al, 1979).

In the Lithuanian lexicological tradition, idioms, according to their meaning, are divided

into two large groups: motivated phraseologisms and unmotivated phraseologisms (Jakaitienė,

1980). The motivation of phraseologism is determined by two factors: first is the relation between

the meaning of separate words and set of words; the second is the relation between the

phraseologism and the image that is created by phraseologism by using its direct meaning.

The term unmotivated phraseologisms corresponds to the term phraseological fusions

and phraseological unities introduced by Vinogradov. Thus, unmotivated phraseologisms are

defined in the same way: idioms that are totally fixed, rigid phraseologism whose meaning is

very far removed from the meaning of its components. Words, that such idioms consist of, have

totally lost their semantic meaning and are recognized only as one unit. For example, the idiom

beržinė košė – mušamoji rykštė, mušimas baudžiant (strict warning to punish a child) has no

direct meaning of separate words. It is a very old fixed idiomatic expression used as one unit.

Motivated phraseologisms correspond to phraseological collocations and they are

considered as idioms where there is a relation between the whole phrase and the meaning of each

word. This type of phraseologism is divided into three smaller groups: tropical phraseologisms

(fixed phrases generally used figuratively, e.g. padėti šaukštą – to die), comparative

phraseologisms (phrases which have comparative form, e.g. laikrodis mosavo švytuokle lyg

arklio uodega) and phraseological combinations (combinations which have close meaning to the

meanings of their components, e.g. tiek to gyvulio – tik skūra ir kaulai) (Jakaitienė, 1980).

The structural principle of classifiying phraseological units is based on their ability to

perform the same syntactical functions as words. In the traditional structural approach, the

following principal groups of phraseological units are distinguishable:

1. Verbal (e.g. to run for one’s (dear) life – to depart as fast as possible; to get (win) the

upper hand - to win or begin a sport by having the last hand hold on a stick or a bat; to

talk through one’s hat – to talk nonsense; to make a song and dance about something - to

make something seem more important than it really is so that everyone notices it, etc.);

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2. Substantive (e.g. calf love - temporary infatuation or love of an adolescent for a

member of the opposite sex; white lie - an often trivial, diplomatic or well-intentioned

untruth; tall order - a formidable task or requirement, etc.);

3. Adjectival (e.g. high and mighty - as if you are more important than other people; spick

and span - entirely new, fresh or unused; brand new - conspicuously new, etc.);

4. Adverbial (e.g. in the dead of night - during the middle of the night; between the devil

and the deep sea - in difficulty, faced with two dangerous alternatives; in cold blood - ,

ruthlessly, without any emotion, etc.);

5. Interjectional (e.g. my God! (used to emphasize what you are saying, when you are

surprised, annoyed, or amused), by Jove! (used to express surprise or to emphasize

something), goodness gracious! (said when you are surprised or sometimes angry), etc.)

(Antrushina et al, 1985).

Koonin classified phraseological units according to the way they are formed. He

differentiated between primary and secondary ways of idiom formation. When a structure of a

unit is formed on the base of a free-word group, the way of forming phraseological units is

primary. He noted the following features of these formations. First of all, many phraseological

units were formed from free-word groups by transforming their meaning (e.g. granny farm,

Trojan horse), by deforming a word group (e.g. odds and ends was formed from odd ends), by

using archaisms (e.g. in brown study means in gloomy meditation; here both segments retain their

archaic meanings). In addition, alliteration can also form phraseological units, e.g. a sad sack,

culture vulture, fudge and nudge. They also could be formed as interjections to show

expressivity, e.g. my aunt!; hear, hear! Phraseological units could be used in a different field of

life therefore the meaning changes, e.g. that cock won‘t fight can be used in sports (cock fighting)

or metaphorically denoting that something will not succeed. What is more, they could be formed

to express unreal visions, e.g. to have butterflies in the stomach (to feel very nervous before

doing something), to have green fingers (to be good at making plants grow). Expressions of

writers or politicians can also be formed as phraseological units, e.g. corridors of power (Snow),

American dream (Alby), locust years (Churchil), the winds of change (McMillan).

Another instance noted by Koonin is when a phraseological unit is formed on the base of

another phraseological unit. This is a secondary way of formation. The features of these units are:

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1. Transformation, e.g. to vote with one‘s feet was transformed into vote with one‘s feet;

2. Change of grammar, e.g. the imperative mood make hay while the sun shines was

changed into a verb phrase to make hay while the sun shines;

3. Compression or shortening proverbs, e.g. you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

was shortened to to make a sow’s ear denoting mistake;

4. Borrowings and loanwords, e.g. living space (German), to take the bull by the horns

(Latin); phonetic borrowings: corps d’elite (French; a group of the best people in a

category), sotto voce (Italian; very softly - used as a direction in music), etc. Phonetic

borrowings are rare among phraseological units because they belong to scholastic style

(http://whatever-massimo.blogspot.com).

Professor Smirnitsky offered a classification system which is peculiar as an attempt to

combine the structural and the semantic principles. Idioms in this classification system are

grouped according to the number and semantic significance of their constituent parts.

Accordingly two large groups are established:

1. One-summit units which have one meaningful constituent, e.g. to give up, to make out,

to pull out;

2. Two-summit and multi-summit units which have two or more meaningful constituents,

e.g. black art, first night, common sense, to fish in troubled waters.

Within each of these large groups the phraseological units are classified according to the

category of parts of speech of the summit constituent. So, one summit units are subdivided into:

1. Verbal-adverbial units equivalent to verbs in which the semantic and the grammatical

centres coincide in the first constituent, e.g. to give up;

2. Units equivalent to verbs which have their semantic centre in the second constituent

and their grammatical centre in the first, e.g. to be tired;

3. Prepositional-substantive units equivalent either to adverbs or to copulas and having

their semantic centre in the substantive constituent and no grammatical centre, e.g. by

heart.

Two-summit and multi-summit phraseological units are classified into:

1. Attributive-substantive two-summit units equivalent to nouns, e.g. black art;

2. Verbal-substantive two-summit units equivalent to verbs, e.g. to take the floor;

3. Phraseological repetitions equivalent to adverbs, e.g. now or never;

4. Adverbial multi-summit units, e.g. every other day (Antrushina et al, 1985).

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Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English (vol. 2) (ODCIE, 1984) classifies idioms

according to the criterion of transformation into four big groups: pure idioms, figurative idioms,

restricted collocations, and open collocations.

Pure idioms are such units that are very stable and allow no transformations or just

minimal, e.g. to kick the bucket allows no transformations except the change of tense form (he

kicked the bucket). In this group no lexical or syntactical transformations are allowed.

Figurative idioms are also comparatively stable but differently than pure idioms, they

allow some minor lexical transformations, e.g. to act the part can be normally used as to act the

role.

Restricted collocations are sometimes called semi-phraseological units one part of which

has a figurative meaning and the other appears in its literal sense, e.g. to jog one’s memory. The

majority of restricted collocations allow various transformations.

In open collocations both members can be used in a literal sense, e.g. to spill the beans

can be understood literally and figuratively. Open collocations allow maximal transformations.

One more principle for classifying idioms is based on their original content and might be

alluded to as thematic. On this principle idioms are classified according to their sources of

origin, ‘source’ referring to the particular sphere of human activity, of life of nature, of natural

phenomena, etc. Idioms come from many different sources - from the Bible to horse racing, from

ancient fables to modern slang. Sometimes famous authors and storytellers, such as Homer,

Aesop, Geoffrey Chaucer, or William Shakespeare made them up to add spark to their writings.

Smith gives groups of idioms used by sailors, fishermen, soldiers, hunters and associated

with the realia, phenomena and conditions of their occupations. In Smith's classification we also

find groups of idioms associated with domestic and wild animals and birds, agriculture and

cooking. There are also numerous idioms drawn from sports, arts, etc. This principle of

classification is sometimes called ‘etymological’ (Arnold, 1986).

Smith points out that word-groups associated with the sea and the life of seamen are

especially numerous in English vocabulary. Most of them have long since developed

metaphorical meanings which have no longer any association with the sea or sailors. Here are

some examples: to be all at sea — to be unable to understand or to be in a state of ignorance or

bewilderment about something (e.g. How can I be a judge in a situation in which I am all at

sea?); to sink or swim — to fail or succeed (e.g. It is a case of sink or swim. All depends on his

own effort.); to be in the same boat with somebody — to be in a situation in which people share

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the same difficulties and dangers (e.g. I don't like you much, but seeing that we're in the same

boat I'll back you all I can).

In the English language there are many idioms which are connected with food and

cooking, e.g. to eat humble pie – to act submissively and apologetically, especially in admitting

an error; out of the frying-pan into the fire - going from one bad situation into a worse one; to be

in the soup – to be in a bad situation; to have one’s own cake and eat it - to want more than

someone can handle or deserves, etc. Agricultural life has given a rise to idioms as: to go to seed

- to get into a much worse condition; to put one's hand to the plough - to begin or undertake a

task; to lead someone up the garden path – to deceive, etc. Nautical life and military life are the

sources of idiomatic expressions as: to cross swords with someone – to argue with someone

(http://www.sky-net-eye.com). The word-groups associated with sports are also numerous in the

English vocabulary. They have evolved a usage and meaning independent of sports and are often

used by those with little knowledge of these games, e.g. to carry the ball - to take charge; to pull

one's punches – to use less force than one is capable of; to take a dive — to pretend or feign, with

intent to deceive, etc. (http://en.wikipedia.org).

Undoubtedly, animal idioms occupy an important place in the English vocabulary.

Animals tend to convey a full intellectual image of the society: the social sphere is reflected by

the animal sphere. Fables are not the only reference here. Many other literary genres trust animals

to convey the meaning they are after well. Animals make our language full of symbols.

The plethora of animal idioms can be subdued to segregation, embodying either the good

or the bad. Herd animals, in general, horses, cattle, are associated with fertility as inheritance

from the Celts and, thus, gain positive coordinates. However, they preserve specific features of

characteristic behavior which are emphasized and employed at a metaphorical level: a dark horse

(a candidate who is little known to the general public), eat like a horse (to eat a lot), flog/beat a

dead horse (to continue fighting a battle that has been won), get off one`s high horse (to begin to

be humble and agreeable), get on one`s high horse (to behave with arrogance), hold one`s horses

(to wait, to be patient), look a gift horse in the mouth (to complain if a gift is not perfect), work

like a horse (to work very hard), the black sheep of the family (the worst or the most unpopular

member of a family), a sacred cow (a belief or system that is treated with much respect and is not

usually criticized), etc. On the other hand, bad animals are usually associated with the snake or

the wolf: a snake in the grass (a treacherous or underhand person), a snake-pit (any arena where

people are viciously fighting each other for power). Serpents symbolize trouble corollary to strife

and infertility, whereas wolfs, though paragons of loyalty, success, perseverance, stability,

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thought, intuition, learning, occur in idioms with negative connotations: cry wolf (to give a false

alarm, to warn of a danger that is not there), keep the wolf from the door (to maintain oneself at

the most basic level), keep the wolves at bay (to fight against some kind of trouble), a lone wolf

(someone who prefers to spend time alone and has few friends), throw (someone) to the wolves

(to send someone into danger without protection, to sacrifice someone), wolf down (something)

(to gulp down something, to eat something quickly), a wolf in sheep`s clothing (a person who

pretends to be good), etc. (Varga & Groszler, 2008).

In the animal idioms mostly the dog, the cat and the horse are found. The dog is

considered as the best man's friend and intelligent animal. However, despite this fact, the most of

the uses of the word ‘dog’ are pejorative; when someone is compared to dog, it means that the

person dirty, tired, hungry, etc. There is always a sort of interactive relationships between dog

and cat in all cultures; it is generally that of quarrel and argues. In addition, almost all cultures

hold horse in great esteem because it embodies power, prosperity and respect

(www.angelfire.com).

Animal idioms may revolve around the same trait of characteristic behavior which is

inherent in the animal, they may be attached features eloquent for a particular geographic space,

or they may inherit traits a posteriori as consequence of their social, historical or religious

involvement and significance in these events. Idioms enucleate a cornucopia of details in the

history of a language explaining for alterations and providing with depictions of certain cultures

(Varga & Groszler, 2008).

The thematic principle of classifying phraseological units has real merit but it does not

take into consideration the linguistic characteristic features of the phraseological units.

Some linguists suggest classifying idioms into families (Fernando & Flavell, 1981). The

idea of the 'idiom family' provides some equally troublesome problems. Idiom families can be

classified under two main headings, which in practice usually overlap to some extent: the 'formal'

idiom family and the 'concept' idiom family. The first of these involves a set of idioms sharing a

similar syntactic pattern and at least one lexical item. For instance: hit - hit the sack, hit the hay,

hit the town, hit the high spots, hit the bottle, hit the jackpot, etc.; blue – blue joke, blue film,

scream blue murder, blue stocking, etc. The second of these types, the 'concept' idiom family,

contains pairs such as bury the hatchet and take/dig up the hatchet. Further, white-collar worker

(which itself replaced black-coated worker historically) has spawned blue-collar worker and iron

curtain finds its oriental counterpart in bamboo curtain.

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The difficulties presented by the 'formal' idiom family can be satisfactorily explained.

Examples, such as hit the town and hit the high spots are semi-idioms. Examples hit the bottle

and hit the jackpot share a lexical item and a common structure (in some cases) but, most

importantly, subject to a closer analysis, have no semantic links. The 'formal' similarity of the

common lexical item and structure is coincidental.

As for the 'concept' family, the patterning inherent in the creation of blue-collar worker

and bamboo curtain suggests a degree of productiveness which rules these expressions out from

being considered as fully-fledged idioms. It is important to bear in mind the metaphorical nature

of these expressions. The new coinings were made diachronically at a time when the original

metaphor was still living and available for extension and further application. Metaphors, by

definition still 'living', often spawn new ones. However, synchronically, it is a matter of opinion

whether these forms are now 'dead' and more idiomatic, or not. It may well be that a person

unaware of the etymology of iron curtain (in fact originally coined in telegrams to President

Truman in 1945 by Winston Churchill, and first publicly used by him in a speech at Fulton,

Missouri, in 1946) and the political situation, and quite possibly unaware of the phrase bamboo

curtain, might consider both expressions to be opaque and inexplicable. These would then be

classed as at least semi-opaque idioms. At the present time it is a matter of opinion whether the

original metaphor is sufficiently 'dead' (Fernando & Flavell, 1981).

1.4. Idioms and culture

As it was mentioned above, idioms mirror the national characteristics of a language and they are

always rich in cultural connotation and national flavor. In other words, social custom culture

could be learnt through studying idioms.

English idioms are mainly related to the religious belief, Greek and Roman mythologies,

social fashions, food customs, literary masterpieces, ancient fables, etc. America and Great

Britain are the countries that have Christianity and Hebraism as their cultural background. Most

idioms produced in this background carry rich religious elements. Getting to the roots of idioms,

one can find that they mainly originated from the Bible. It is firm concept of Western people that

God created people. They think that God is omnipotent and sacred. God, Christ, devil, Adam and

some educational segments of the stories from the Bible are passed down, for example: Judas’s

kiss - a deceitful act of courtesy because Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss (New Testament);

much cry and little wool - a proverbial saying expressive of contempt or derision for one who

24

promises great things but never fulfils the promises; originally the proverb says: great cry and

little wool, as the Devil said when he sheared the hogs; and it appears in this form in the ancient

mystery of David and Abigail, in which Nabal is represented as shearing his sleep, and the Devil

imitates the act by ‘shearing a hog’; turn the other cheek - to take no action against the person

who has hurt or harmed one, especially to allow him to do it again (http://www.360doc.com).

Mythologies are ancient stories that are based on popular beliefs or that explain natural or

historical events because the people of the primitive society were scared of the nature and longed

for the nice future. In America and Great Britain, many idioms are originated from mythology;

especially many idioms came from the Greek and Roman mythologies, such as: Midas touch - the

excellent skill of making money; Pandora’s Box - a prolific source of troubles; a Trojan horse -

someone or something that attacks the group or organization it belongs to (in Greek stories, the

Trojan horse was a large wooden horse that the Greeks used to take soldiers secretly into the city

of Troy in order to destroy it) (Baugh & Cable, 2002).

The social fashion is a traditional habit that is popular in a period of time in society; it

concludes living habit, etiquette, traditions, behavior standards, methods of social

communication, etc. Every person lives in the atmosphere of social fashion and traditional habit,

and this atmosphere influences their daily life. Meanwhile, these influences reflect the language,

for instance: Let one’s hair down - to relax after a period of tense; long before, in whatever

occasion, the English woman’s hair were very clean and tidy that comb up in the forehead, only

when they were alone which to let their hair down. Therefore, people use the idiom of let one’s

hair down to express their relaxation after a long time of working and tense situation; take off

one’s hat to someone – to pay one’s respect to someone; long ago, the English people wore the

hat as a fashion. When they greeted with people in the social occasion and showed the respect to

someone, they took off their hat. For this reason, take off one’s hat to someone extends the

meaning to show the respect to someone; go down the aisle - get married, enter into matrimony;

when the wedding starts, the father of the bride always companies with her walk down the aisle.

Therefore, the idiom to walk down the aisle expresses the idea to enter into matrimony.

On a large while, the food is the life of human being, the history of human being is mainly

to struggle for food. Sea influences Britain’s weather which is neither very cold, nor hot. Thus,

wheat, barley and oats of main grain are adapted to the climate of Britain. The staple food of

Britain people includes bread, milk, butter, and cheese, for example: bread and butter -

livelihood, a way of earning money; bread and circuses - food and amusement; bread with

someone - to have dinner with somebody; take the bread out of someone’s mouth - grab

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somebody’s job; butter would not melt in his mouth - very honest; bread buttered on both sides -

living a comfortable life; big cheese - an important figure, boss; cry over spilt milk - to waste time

feeling sorry about something that cannot be changed for the better; jam tomorrow - something

you want but it does not belong to you, etc. (http://www.360doc.com).

Many popular Western literary masterpieces have the classic words, phrases and

sentences that attract people greatly; they are shaped to evolve the hidden meaning, for instance:

to the manner born - destined to be suited to something, by virtue of birth or custom and practice

(this saying was used and probably coined by W. Shakespeare in Hamlet, 1602); paint the lily -

an unnecessary action (from W. Shakespeare's King John, 1595); man of mould - ordinary person

(Henry V); much ado about nothing - create trouble out of nothing (Much Ado About Nothing – a

comedy by W. Shakespeare) (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings).

Though ancient fable stories are short and refined, they teach people many philosophic

and educational theories while being narrated. They contain many idioms, for example: Naked

truth - the plain, unvarnished truth; the truth without trimmings. The fable says that Truth and

Falsehood went bathing; Falsehood came first out of the water, and dressed herself in Truth’s

garments. Truth, unwilling to take those of Falsehood, went naked. Sour grapes - disparage

something that is beyond one’s reach; the allusion is to Aesop’s well-known fable of the fox,

which tried in vain to get at some grapes, but when he found they were beyond his reach, he went

away saying “I see they are sour” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki). Bell the cat - to risk one’s own

life to do something dangerous; the allusion is to the fable of a cunning old mouse, who

suggested that they should hang a bell on the cat’s neck to give notice to all mice of her approach;

the lion’s share - the largest part; all or nearly all. In Aesop’s Fables, several beasts joined the

lion in a hunt; but, when the spoil was divided, the lion claimed one quarter in right of his

prerogative, one for his superior courage, one for his dam and cubs, “and as for the fourth, let

who will dispute it with me.” Awed by his frown, the other beasts yielded and silently withdrew.

Great Britain has a long history which fertilized its brilliant culture. Long time ago,

Britain was occupied by the Roman Empire for nearly four hundred years. The Romans left their

deep marks on Britain culture. In 49 B.C. the Roman emperor Caesar sent the order of burning

out boats after his army passed Lupigen River, showing the determination to take an all-out war.

That is the origin of the English idiom to burn one’s boats (Reynolds, 1959).

Colours in different cultures have different meanings. In the West, on behalf of noble

purple, belonging to the royal or upper class society can be understood from the idioms be born

in the purple and raise to the purple; while in the East, especially in China, yellow has the same

26

symbolic meaning. Colour can also be reaction of the human personality; red, for example, in the

West, generally is connected with anger (red mist - if someone sees red or the red mist, they lose

their temper and self-control completely) or financial difficulties (in the red – losing money);

while red in China is a symbol of joy and joyful atmosphere (http://eng.hi138.com/?i93984).

Some of idiomatic expressions were derived from the speech of the American natives, e.g.

someone speaks with a forked tongue, happy hunting ground, paddle one's own canoe, etc. These

idioms have filtered to British English through centuries: through books, newspapers and most

recently through powerful mediums like radio, TV, and movies. And then the question arises -

when did American culture take the leading role and start shaping the English language and

especially idiomatic expressions? Most claim that the real turning point was the World War II

during which English-speaking nations were united against a common enemy and the U.S. took

the leading role. In these few years and a decade after the War, American popular culture first

established itself in British English. The influence of American English can even be seen in other

European languages. In Finland, for example, people are adopting and translating American

English proverbs, idioms and expressions. Most proverbs and idioms that have been adopted to

British English from American English are of spoken origin (Yu, 2003).

How then does American English differ from British English in the use of idioms? There

are no radical differences in actual use. The main difference is in the situations where idiomatic

expressions are used. American English adopts and creates new idioms at a much faster rate

compared to British English. Also the idioms of American English origin tend to spread faster

and further. After it has first been established in the U.S., an American idiom may soon be found

in other variants and dialects of English language. Nowadays new British idioms tend to stay on

the British Isles and are rarely encountered in the U.S. British idioms are actually more familiar

to other Europeans or to the people of the British Commonwealth than to Americans, even

though the language is the same (Yu, 2003).

2. UNHAPPINESS IN FOLKLORE AND MODERN UNDERSTANDING

‘Unhappiness’ is an abstract and subjective notion. In order to understand it and carry on with the

comparative study of English and Lithuanian animal idioms expressing unhappiness, definition,

reasons for unhappiness from psychological point of view, and the understanding of unhappiness

in English and Lithuanian folklore and modern tradition should be presented.

27

Dictionaries provide different aspects of the adjective ‘unhappy’. Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English (LDCE, 2003) defines this adjective in the following way: not happy;

feeling worried or annoyed because you do not like what is happening in a particular situation.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED, 1989) adds ‘unfortunate’ and McMillan Dictionary (1984) -

‘bad luck’ to the previous definition. Collins English Dictionary (2003) gives ‘depression’ as

another aspect of unhappiness. Modern Lithuanian Dictionary (Dabartinės Lietuvių kalbos

žodynas, 1993) defines ‘unhappiness’ in a very similar way: misfortune and hardships.

According to Di Marsico, unhappiness can be understood in several ways:

1. Unhappiness is the feeling of a belief about a perceived or imagined phenomena; not an

experience caused by the phenomena or anything else;

2. Believing something causes unhappiness is the very reason it seems to ‘cause’

unhappiness;

3. Believing that something can cause unhappiness is the only cause of the fear of it. By

‘fear’ is meant loathing, need to avoid, need to cure, need to kill or eliminate, disgust,

hatred, terror, horror, repulsion, disdain and all such similar feelings;

4. Believing someone or something is morally wrong or evil, psychologically ‘sick’ or

behaviorally inappropriate is to fear that person or thing as if it could cause unhappiness;

5. Unhappiness is fear that unhappiness can ‘happen’ or be caused by anything;

6. Unhappiness is belief that something is necessary, something has to be, should be,

ought to be, or must be other than what it is (http://www.optionmethodnetwork.com).

Cottringer indicates eight causes of unhappiness: 1) person looks in the mirror and does

not like what he/she sees; 2) person feels tired, unenergetic, worn out, morose or generally

depressed; 3) a person is not getting along with his/her spouse or partner, arguing a lot, having

different values or interests, growing apart or not getting needed emotional support during a

serious crisis; 4) a person does not feel like he/she belongs or is a part of the in-group at work and

is unhappy with feelings of alienation, rejection and not being accepted; 5) a person is

unemployed or in a financial mess; 6) a person has a legitimate problem and source of real

unhappiness, whatever it may be, that nobody else seems to understand; 7) the sudden and

unexpected loss of a loved one. This can be a seemingly impossible challenge to overcome,

especially when it involves a young child; 8) a person is a victim in a relationship or family

involving any of the Three Big A’s: Addiction, Adultery or Abuse and feeling very hopeless

about the possibility of any happy ending (http://www.authorsden.com).

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In addition to Cottringer’s eight reasons, Bolivar adds three more. First of all, she

indicates the fear of rejection. According to psychologist, it hurts when people reject us. It leaves

a feeling of sadness and lowers our self-esteem. Then Bolivar mentions life according to other

people’s standards. She says that this is a very common cause of unhappiness. The people who

care too much about what others think about them usually have difficulties deciding things for

themselves. They live their lives according to other people’s will and expectations. It’s difficult

to find happiness when we spend our time pleasing others instead of ourselves. Finally, she

claims that destructive criticism is one of the greatest causes of unhappiness

(http://ashleybolivar.com).

In the English folklore, unhappiness is understood in several ways – as unhappy love,

problem of childlessness, death, etc. For example, English folk songs ‘Sylvia’ and ‘The woods so

wild’ present unhappiness in the frames of unhappy love:

As Sylvie was walking down by the riverside

And looking so sadly upon its swift tide,

And looking so sadly, and looking so sadly,

And looking so sadly upon its swift tide…

Moreover, the notion of unhappiness can be connected with the problem of childlessness:

They seemed both to be very unhappy. He therefore asked them why they were so melancholy,

and learned that they were miserable because they had no children. The poor woman said, with

tears in her eyes: “I should be the happiest creature in the world if I had a son“ (English fairy

tales, 2005, 89).

Unhappiness in the English folklore is inseparable from death, e.g. “But Fred was

unhappy. <...> Bettes worth spent two days without food or sleep attending to his wife while he

waited for the doctor. She died a few days after her removal to the infirmary“ (Notestein, 1970,

18). The motif of death is found in folk songs as well.

In the Lithuanian folklore, unhappiness is mostly emphasized in war songs and laments.

Many war-time historical songs were written down without their melodies, and the melodies that

are known do not have stylistic characteristics singular to the genre. In general, the character of

these songs is not march-like, but more lyric or epic because these songs usually tell about

parting, for example:

Kada, broli, tu parjosi?

Gailile raso.

Lauk, sesute, gaidiems giedant,

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Gailile raso.

Lauk, sesute, aušrai auštant,

Gailile raso (Sauka, 1982).

Sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one can not be separated from the concept of

unhappiness. Death is one of the main motives in war-time songs, for instance:

Ten didį mūšį mušė,

Ten kardų tvorą tvėrė,

Pučkelėmis duobę kasė

Ten kraujo upė bėgo.

Laments are one of the oldest forms of musical poetry. They usually originate from

funeral customs but also can be performed during the moment of parting. Many laments reflect

the ancient Lithuanian world outlook, and a unique perspective on the afterlife. Laments often

depict the world of the souls, where loved ones abide.

According to Wilson and MacArthur (2001), the happy person is a young, healthy, well-

educated, well-paid, optimistic, worry-free, with high self-esteem, job morale, and modest

aspirations. By contrast, unhappy person should lack some of these qualities. This quote accounts

for the fact why the nation of Lithuania is one of the unhappiest in the world. According to the

statistics, Lithuania is the first country in the European Union by the numbers of emigration.

Moreover, during the economic crisis in Lithuania wages and loan portfolio decreased more than

in any other EU country. Lithuanians are the first in the world by worrying about rising prices of

utilities, such as electricity, gas, and heating because the living standards in Lithuania are one of

the lowest in Europe. Furthermore, it is pointed out that it has been found that married persons

report being happier and more satisfied with their lives than unmarried persons. And by the

number of divorces Lithuania is the first in the European Union.

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3. MANIFESTATIONS OF UNHAPPINESS THROUGH ENGLISH AND LITHUANIAN

ANIMAL IDIOMS

3.1. Animals represented in English and Lithuanian idioms related to

unhappiness

Categorization of the English and Lithuanian animal idioms according to the semantic aspect

makes them easier to analyze and compare, i.e. to establish relations between idioms in order to

observe the basic similarities and differences.

The analysis of the English animal idioms revealed that 31 species of animals are used in

depicting unhappiness, among them: albatross, bat, bear, bird, bull, canary, camel, cat, chicken,

cow, crow, dog, donkey, duck, fish, fly, fox, frog, goat, goose, hare, horse, lion, monkey, mouse,

parrot, sheep, snake, turkey, wolf, and worm. By contrast, 38 major species of animals expressing

unhappiness were distinguished in the Lithuanian tradition, namely: bear, bee, bird, bull, cat,

cow, cricket, crow, cuckoo, dog, earthworm, fish, flea, fly, fox, gander, goat, goose, hare,

hedgehog, hen, heron, horse, louse, magpie, mouse, pig, pigeon, ram, rooster, she-dog, sheep,

snake, snipe, sparrow, tit, wolf, and worm.

In order to analyse idioms in a more conventional way, animal names (found in the

English and in the Lithuanian languages) were classified into two big classes: vertebrates and

invertebrates. These big classes were further subdivided into the smaller subclasses: domestic and

wild mammals, domestic and wild birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, and vermes. This

classification helps to notice easily that many classes of animals are credited with negative

characteristics.

Because of the close relationship between animals and man throughout history, animals

have been used in all cultures to reflect the nature of humanity, symbolizing societal and

individual characteristics. The traits of individual animals are very simple to observe and

recognize, whereas human behaviour is more intricate and difficult to describe. Animals are

familiar creatures, which mutely encourage projection of people's emotions and attitudes onto

them. Animals can be used to convey deep dimensions of human feelings and ideas

(http://www.schoolofabraham.com). Thus, the meanings of many idiomatic expressions are

explained through universally accepted animal symbolism.

In this chapter, we juxtapose animal names found in English and Lithuanian idiomatic

expressions and give a symbolic meaning of them.

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1. VERTEBRATE:

1.1. Land DOMESTIC MAMMALS:

Bull

Take the bull by the horns To face a challenge or danger boldly. Like a red flag to a bull

To say that a statement or action is like a red flag to a bull means that it is sure to make someone very angry or upset.

Bull in a China town A person with no tact who upsets others or upsets plans. Jautis

Juodų jaučių mindžiotas Užsidaręs, niūrus.

The bull in almost all cultures symbolizes stability, strength, and determination. Since

the bull may have different colours, black bulls were associated with death or sorrow. Lithuanian

animal idiom juodų jaučių mindžiotas also carries the meaning of dismay.

Two of three English idiomatic expressions containing ‘the bull’ (take the bull by the

horns and like a red flag to a bull) probably come from Spain where bullfights took place. In

bullfights Spanish banderilleros plant darts in the neck of the bull and tire him more by waving

red cloaks and seizing him by the horns, trying to hold his head down. Furthermore, bull in a

China town probably stands for the reckless destruction of a physical kind. Also, it may be a way

to express a metaphorical clumsiness.

Cat

Not a cat in hell's chance No chance at all. Look like something the cat dragged in

To look tired/worn out.

Cat among the pigeons If something or someone puts, or sets or lets, the cat among the pigeons, they create a disturbance and cause trouble.

(To lead) cat and dog life If people lead a cat and dog life, they are always arguing. Herding cats If you have to try to co-ordinate a very difficult situation,

where people want to do very different things, you are herding cats.

Play cat and mouse To play with a person in a cruel or teasing way. Weak like a kitten To be weak, sick. Nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs

To be nervous.

Katė/katinas Katės mūka Blogai atrodantis, nuvargęs. Juoda katė perbėgo (skersai kelią)

Apie nesugyvenančius.

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Juoda katė perbėgo taką Nesiseka. Katė pagavo knygas Sakoma, kai netikėtai kas iš rankų paimama arba pražūva. Kaip katė su šunim Apie nesutariančius. (Gauti) katino knatą Nieko negauti. Svirplių katė Sudžiūvusi, liesa moteris.

The cat is usually associated with independence. Thus, it is said that it is impossible to

own a cat, cats come and go as and when they wish to. Herding cats is the English animal idiom

that fully indicates this meaning (i.e. independence).

In Western tradition, black cats have been associated with witchcraft. This is due to

black being associated with supposed perils of the night, and the cat is associated with

transformation just as the veil of night shifts our perception of reality (http://www.whats-your-

sign.com). The black cat is found only in the list of Lithuanian animal idioms: juoda katė

perbėgo (skersai kelią) and juoda katė perbėgo kelią.

Cow

Have a cow To become very upset about something. Karvė

Karvė užtrūko Neteko paramos, baigėsi dienos be rūpesčių. Nei karvei ant ragų, nei arkliui ant stimburio

Niekam netinkamas.

In many cultures the cow is a symbol of fertility, nurturing, and power. This idea is

emphasized in the Lithuanian animal idiom karvė užtrūko which implies the meaning of troubles,

i.e. it is difficult to maintain a family without the cow.

Dog

Dogs breakfast Something bad happened. Dog tired Very tired. To die like a dog To die in misery, with no honour or dignity. In the dog house To be in trouble. Dog's life

If someone has a dog's life, they have a very unfortunate and wretched life.

Lead a dog’s life Work hard and be treated unkindly. My dogs are barking My feet are hurting. Sad as a hound dog's eye Very sad; pitiful. Sick as a dog To be very sick. Gone to the dogs If something has gone to the dogs, it has gone badly wrong

and lost all the good things it had. Dog eat dog In a dog eat dog world, there is intense competition and

rivalry, where everybody thinks only of himself or herself/ ruthless competition or self-interest.

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Work like a dog If you work like a dog, you work very hard. Hair of the dog If someone has a hair of the dog, they have an alcoholic

drink as a way of getting rid of a hangover, the unpleasant effects of having drunk too much alcohol the night before.

Give a dog a bad name

A person who is generally known to have been guilty of some offence will always be suspected to be the author of all similar types of offence. Once someone has gained a bad reputation, it is very difficult to lose it.

Crooked as a dog's hind leg Someone who is very dishonest is as crooked as a dog's hind leg.

If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas

This means that if you become involved with bad company, there will be negative consequences.

It’s a dog eat dog world Vicious world. Let sleeping dogs lie

Don't bring up an old issue/topic that will raise tempers or cause an argument.

Dog-faced liar A terrible liar. Like dog's breath Not pleasant, not popular.

Šuo Blakstienas kapoti/karpyti šunims

Elgetauti.

Blauzdas karpyti šunims Valkatauti. Šėko pjauti šunims Apie niekam tikusį. Šuns alga Menka alga, menkos pajamos. Šuns balsu kaukti/šaukti Gailiai verkti. Šuns balso klausyti Elgetauti. Iš šuns dalies Be išteklių, vargingai. Šuns dienos Prastas, vargingas buvimas. Šuns duona Prastas, vargingas gyvenimas. Šuns garas Valkata. Šuns giesmes giedoti Vargstant dejuoti. Šuns kaina Menki pinigai. Šuns kaklą apsikabinęs Labai graudžiai verkti. Ant šuns karnos nueiti Niekais virsti. Šuns kąsnis Prastas valgis. Šuns maltuvė Kalėjimas. Šunų melnyčia Prasta darbovietė, pastumdėlio darbas. Šunų nugaras skusti Niekais virsti. Šunų pyragai Vargas. Šuns plikumu Neturtingas. Šuns skuduryje būti Patekti į pavojų. Šuns vietoje Paniekintas, ujamas. Šuns takus parodyti Išvaryti. Šlapią šunį šukuoti Atsidurti bėdoje, vargti. Trumpas šuo prie uodegos Vargas atėjo. Šunis ganyti Valkatauti. Šunys išlojo Apie mirusį. Šunis kaustyti Elgetauti.

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Šunis lodyti Elgetauti. Šuo nunešė ant uodegos Dingo, pražuvo be naudos. Šuniui rėžti per kudlas Elgetauti. Už šunį prapulti Patirti nesėkmę. Kaip šuo šulinyje Blogai, prastai gyvena. Išmetė kaip šunį iš kepyklos Niekam nereikalingas. Šuniškas gyvenimas Vargingas, prastas gyvenimas. Pavargęs kaip šuva Labai pavargęs.

The dog is the emblem of faithfulness and guardianship. Dogs are considered loyal and

temperate and the dog is a symbol of a skilled hunter. They were also associated with priests

since priests were thought of as watchdogs against the devil.

Human society has even given them the nickname ‘man's best friend’. However, despite

this fact, when applied to human beings the phrases with ‘the dog’ are usually loaded with

negative connotations. On the basis of the idioms in two languages under analysis we could infer

several reasons: dogs are servile, submissive and undignified (to slink off like a whipped dog). It

deserves note that perfectly positive and easily observable qualities of dogs, namely their loyalty

and faithfulness towards man, gave rise to a negative evaluation of dogs’ behaviour (the supposed

servility and lack of dignity). Moreover, dogs are worthless, contemptible and low creatures.

They deserve bad and rough treatment – they may be beaten and abused, chased away or even

killed (to treat somebody like a dog; išmetė kaip šunį iš kepyklos). Dogs do not cherish any rights

and have no chance of improving their fate. Dogs lead a wretched and sorrowful existence (to

lead a dog’s life; šuniškas gyvenimas) and they die a woeful death (to die like a dog). They may

be exploited and used to do excessive amounts of work (work like a dog). Furthermore, dogs

have mean character; they are ruthless and fierce. Their appearance is miserable and evokes pity

(Paszenda, 1998).

Donkey

Donkey work Any hard, boring work or task.

The donkey is a symbol of stubbornness, ignorance, or foolishness. The English animal

idiom donkey work could be explained by the fact that people with limited intellect usually get

menial, boring and low-paid jobs.

Goat Get your goat If something gets your goat, it annoys you.

Ožka/ožys

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Prie ožio lazdos nuvesti Apgaudinėti, apgauti. Į ožio ragą riesti/užvesti Varginti, spausti. Ožkų pieno nueiti Nusigyventi. Prie ožkos būti Sunkiai verstis, skursti.

Both sexes of the goat symbolize fertility, vitality and ceaseless energy. Thus, no

relations between the symbolic meaning of the goat and animal idioms in both languages could

be observed. Furthermore, the goat was probably the earliest domesticated animal after the dog.

Horse

So hungry I could eat a horse Very hungry. Horse feathers Lies, false stories. A charley horse Leg pain.

Arklys Šyvu arkliu važiuoti Blogai gyventi, nesisekti. Ant šyvo arklio joti Nesisekti. Už juodą arklį Sunkiai dirbti. Kaip juodas arklys Sunkiai dirbantis. Nuo gero žirgo kristi Apie moralinį smukimą.

Due to its natural companionship with man in work, the horse easily occupies a special

seat in history, ranking high marks of symbolism. Serving man in war, mobility, productivity,

agriculture, development of all kinds, horse is by far one of the largest contributor to the

enhancement of civilization. Despite these positive characteristics, the horse in the English

language conveys the meaning connected with hungriness, lies, or pain whereas in the Lithuanian

language 2 of 5 idioms mean ‘hard work’. Probably it can be related with the Lithuanian

agricultural tradition where the horse was the main animal for preparing the soil. The English

animal idiom horse feathers (meaning: lies, false stories) may be interconnected with the Greek

mythology where Trojan horse stands for deception.

Kalė

Po kalės uodegai nueiti Niekais virsti. Kalei bežiūrint į trūnę Neatgauti (skolos). Kaip kalė kanapėse Sakoma nežinant, ką daryti, patekus į nemalonią padėtį.

The she-dog is loaded with negative connotations as well as the dog; the reasons for that

are already explained above (look ‘dog’).

Kiaulė/paršas Kaip ubago paršelis Neturtingas.

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Į kiaulę sutraukti Suparalyžiuoti. Kaip kiaulė su žąsinu Apie nesutariančius.

According to Paszenda (1998), the dog and the pig belong to the meanest and most

abominable creatures that are known to man. Leach (1964) states that the very high frequency

with which the dog and the pig appear in the linguistic expressions and the multitude and variety

of meanings which the animal names convey proves that the two creatures have constituted a

very important part of human everyday life since the earliest times. The dog and the pig are

among the most common domesticated European animals, they have been known to man for

thousands of years. Unaccountably, there are no idioms connected with ‘the pig’ denoting

unhappiness in the English language while three idioms are found in the Lithuanian tradition.

Similarly to dogs, pigs could be described as miserable creatures that deserve pity since their life

is woeful and sordid. Conversely, pigs are used to describe other aspects of life than unhappiness

in the English language (they express even happiness, e.g. live high on/off the hog - to have the

best of everything; happy like a pig in mud - happy and content, etc.). In the Lithuanian language

animal idioms with ‘the pig’ convey the meaning of illness, poorness, and quarrels.

Sheep

Black sheep Someone who is the black sheep does not fit into a group or family because their behaviour or character is not good enough.

Avis Avelių ganyti pas Abraomą nuėjo

Mirė.

The sheep in many cultures symbolize innocence and helplessness as they were always an

easy prey for predators.

In the English idiomatic expressions, black sheep is selected to symbolize worthlessness.

Possibly it is just the linking of black things with bad things, which is a long standing allusion in

English texts: black mood, black looks, etc. It may also be because shepherds disliked black

sheep as their fleeces were worth less than those of white sheep.

Ram

Devyni avinai po galvą daužosi/mušasi

Ima rūpestis, nežinant, ką daryti.

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The animal symbolism of the ram speaks of power, force, energy, virility, protection, and

fearlessness. Thus the question why the ram is employed in the Lithuanian language to denote

troubles remains unanswered.

WILD MAMMALS:

Bat As blind as a bat Can't see well because of poor eyesight.

Bats are not blind; like many animals, they are born blind, but gain eyesight from the time

they are seven to nine days old. Thus, the English idiomatic expression as blind as a bat probably

arose because of the way bats fly around, darting here and there at night. Actually, the bat is

hunting insects, which people cannot see in the dark when the bat is flying about.

Bear

Have a bear by the tail To have a very difficult problem to solve. Hungry as a bear Very hungry. Like a bear with a sore head

If someone is like a bear with a sore head, they complain a lot and are unhappy about something.

Meška Baltas meškas ganyti Būti ištremtam į Sibirą. Pas Baltąsias meškas Į Sibirą. Tarp meškos ir vilko Nesant išeities.

For inhabitants of the northern regions of the world, the bear used to be of existential

importance (as well as a threat). Bear hunting, on the one hand, was the most important basis of

existence, while man’s fight with the wild animal, on the other hand, was dangerous and life

threatening. In the more southern regions of Europe, the bear is of minor importance.

Camel

Straw that broke the camel's back

The problem that made you lose your temper or the problem that finally brought about the collapse of something.

Strain at gnats and swallow camels

To criticize other people for minor offences while ignoring major offenses.

The camel represents strength, but its existence as a living creature subjected it to the

laws of physical reality. The camel therefore made a useful symbol of something strong but

limited. That symbolism lay behind an Arab proverb about a camel that, despite its strength, was

finally loaded to the point where it could not move.

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Many languages in various parts of the world have proverbs expressing the idea that a

small thing, if culminating a series of small things, can cause a big effect (e.g. Lith. lašas po lašo

ir akmenį pratašo); usually, in such proverbs, a negative effect. The best-known English version

of that idea is the straw that broke the camel's back (Lyman, 1994).

Ežys/ežė

Ežės pėdomis išeiti Veltui, žlugti.

It is said that hedgehogs know how to take care of themselves and do so with grace and

style. It packs itself tightly in a neat little ball, exposing some lethal looking quills. Any predator

who takes a bite of this prickly morsel will spit it right back out (http://www.whats-your-

sign.com). The failure expressed through the Lithuanian animal idiom ežės pėdomis išeiti may be

reasoned by the natural qualities of the hedgehog.

Fox

Sly as a fox

Someone who is as sly as a fox is cunning and experienced and can get what they want, often in an underhand way.

Sneaky as a fox in the hen-house

Scoundrelly.

Lapė Sena lapė Suktas žmogus.

Overwhelmingly, due to the ability to blend into their surroundings, foxes are treated as

cunning and sly animals. In addition, they symbolize intelligence. The examples taken from the

English and the Lithuanian languages are based upon the traits of the fox.

Hare

Make a hare of (someone) To defeat (someone) completely. Kiškis

Kiškio vietoje Neramiai gyventi. Kiškį pagauti Pargriūti. Zuikis perbėgo kelią Nepasisekė.

The hare is often associated with impatience and haste; in some cultures it symbolises

intimidation and diligence. The Lithuanian idiomatic expression kiškio vietoje renders one of the

qualities associated with the hare, i.e. cowardice.

Lion

Walk into the lion's den

If you walk into the lion‘s den, you find yourself in a difficult situation in which you have to face unfriendly or

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aggressive people. The symbolic meaning of lions primarily deals with strength, power, and authority. Lions

are predators, thus they are aggressive. The English animal idiom walk into the lion’s den is

directly connected with aggressiveness.

Monkey Throw a monkey wrench into the works

To wreck a project.

To make a monkey out of (someone)

To make someone look foolish.

A monkey on one's back A serious problem that stops someone from being successful at something.

The monkey symbolizes agility and playfulness. The meaning of the idiomatic

expressions connected with ‘the monkey’ probably can be explained by its behavioural traits.

Mouse

Poor as a church mouse Very poor. Pelė

Bažnyčios pelė Varguolis, neturintis pinigų. The mouse symbolizes silence, stealth, shyness, inconspicuous, invisibility, and

innocence. Some of these aspects could be included in the notion of ‘poorness’.

Wolf

Throw someone to the wolves

If someone is thrown to the wolves, they are abandoned and have to face trouble without any support.

Wolf in sheep's clothing A wolf in sheep‘s clothing is something dangerous that looks quite safe and innocent.

Vilkas Vilko popieriai Pašalinimas iš mokyklos be teisės įstoti į kitą. Vilkais nueiti Žlugti. Kaip vilko nagė Apie daug vargstantį. Alkanas kaip vilkas Labai alkanas.

The symbolic function (something like ‘dangerous’ or ‘destructive’) lies behind the wolf

and idiomatic expressions in the comparable languages prove that. Hungry wolves can consume

enormous quantities of meat. They bury parts of their prey which gives the impression that the

prey disappears overnight. The deeply rooted image of the wolf’s dangerousness and its ever-

devouring greed can be traced back to these peculiarities. The wolf has been rather well-known

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up to the present because of its semiotisations. People often familiarize themselves with a certain

image of the wolf from their early childhood. Various cultural codes are involved in the

symbolization of the wolf, of which fairy tales are the most well-known, such as ‘Little Red

Ridinghood and the Wolf’ and ‘The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats’ collected by the Grimm

Brothers, or the British fairy tale ‘The Story of the Three Little Pigs’ where the wolf appears as a

greedy and people-devouring killer (Dobrovol'skij & Piirainen, 2005).

BIRDS:

Bird

Get the bird To be fired or dismissed. Give (someone) the bird To tell (someone) rudely to depart.

Paukštis Vargo paukštis Varguolis.

Since the ancient times, because of birds’ connection to the sky, they have been thought

of as a supernatural link between the heaven and the earth. In the mythology they were usually

related to something positive because they symbolize freedom (Biedermann, 2002). However, in

the idiomatic expressions, birds are related with misfortune at work, ejection, or even lack of

money.

WILD BIRDS: Albatross

Albatross around your neck An albatross around, or round, your neck is a problem resulting from something you did that stops you from being successful.

There is no connection between the albatross as the symbol of hope and good luck and

the albatross used in the idiomatic expression denoting a problem.

Balandis

Keptais balandžiais nesninga Niekas negyvena be rūpesčių. The snowfall of baked pigeons as well as the life without troubles was surprising for

people. Hypothetically, this is the reason why the bird representing love and peace is employed to

denote such meaning.

Canary

Canary in a coal mine An early warning of danger.

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Have a canary To react with disapproval, anxiety, etc.

The canary is usually interpreted as a symbol of happiness; however, if depicted in a cage

it symbolizes entrapment.

The origin of the idiom canary in a coal mine could be explained by the fact that miners

kept caged canaries in the mines as an ‘early warning device’. The canaries were more sensitive

to the deadly fumes. So their dying would warn the miners to get out.

Crow Stone the crows An expression of dismay.

Varna Varnoms kristi Mirti. Varnas dera Greit mirs.

Šarka Į šarkų bažnyčią daboti/žiūrėti Būti silpnos sveikatos, rengtis mirti. Į šarkų bažnyčią eiti Mirti. Į šarkos bažnyčią išvežti Palaidoti.

The crow is a member of the corvid family which includes ravens, magpies and blue jays.

The Celts believed that any member of the corvid family was an omen of death and conflict.

These birds were associated with death transitions. Thus, it is not unusual that in four Lithuanian

animal idioms the magpie (į šarkų bažnyčią eiti and į šarkos bažnyčią išvežti) and the crow

(varnoms kristi and varnas dera) are employed to denote death or fragile health. In most of

England, seeing a solitary the crow meant anger or something unpleasant. English idiom stone

the crows is a perfect instance of this symbol.

Cuckoo

Gegutės balso nesulaukti Greit mirti. Gegute pakukuoti Vargo perkęsti. Bado gegutė Badas.

Almost all European nations attributed a role of sibyl to the cuckoo. For example, when

one hears a cuckoo for the first time in spring he/she should count how many times it will sing –

that will be the number of years he/she is going to live. Lithuanian idiomatic expression gegutės

balso nesulaukti clearly exemplifies these characteristics. Gegute pakukuoti and bado gegutė are

two idiomatic expressions that could be explained by another aspect of the cuckoo presented in

the Lithuanian folklore: a human being should have money in his/her pocket when he/she hears a

cuckoo for the first time in spring; otherwise he/she will stay poor that year (Sauka, 1982).

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Garnys

Garnį išriesti Kojas užversti.

Most Native American tribes took note of the heron’s inquisitiveness, curiosity and

determination. As such this set the heron as a symbol of wisdom in that this creature seemed to

have good judgement skills (http://www.symbolic-meanings.com). As a result, it is rather

difficult to reason the Lithuanians’ choice to employ the heron in idiomatic expression denoting

death.

Parrot

As sick as a parrot Very sick; on one’s deathbed.

The parrot in modern understanding denotes the inability to think for oneself as this bird

repeats only what others say. Dr. F. W. A. Johnson states that as sick as a parrot is a corruption

of sick as a pierrot and refers to the typically pale and miserable face of the French pantomime

character (http://www.guardian.co.uk).

Tilvikas

(Plikas) kaip tilvikas Apie neturtingą. The animal idiom (plikas) kaip tilvikas could not be logically grounded – the snipe is not

a hairless bird and symbolically it is not associated with financial issues. Here the euphony

(rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration) plays an important role; the idiomatic expression sounds good

and is easy to remember. The Russian language has absolutely the same expression but employs a

different bird - falcon (гoл как coкoл) because it creates rhythm in this language (Kalinauskas,

1974).

Zylė

Zyle pelėda verstis Labai vargti. The tit is a small bird; even its name denotes smallness. Tits winter in Lithuania,

therefore, they need care and food. Probably it is the reason why tits are associated with

tribulation.

Žvirblis

Šventas žvirblis Beturtis.

The sparrow in the Christian tradition symbolizes poorness. It represents the concern of

God for the most insignificant living things.

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DOMESTIC BIRDS: Chicken

The chickens come home to roost

You have to face the consequences of your mistakes or bad deeds.

If it ain't chicken, it's feathers There is always a problem. Have a chicken to pick with someone

To have something to argue about with someone.

Throughout the mythology, it is always the chicken which represents the break of day.

Chickens are the early worshippers of the enduring cycle of life (http://psychobabel.net).

Duck Happy like ducks in Arizona Very unhappy. Lame duck If something or someone is a lame duck, they are in trouble. A dead duck A failure.

Ducks represent sensitivity, as they are very sensitive to their surroundings. Also ducks

are viewed as graceful and agile – particularly in the water. Thus, no reasonable explanation

could be proposed why this bird in the English is used to express unhappiness, trouble or failure.

Gaidys

Ant gaidžio byzdos Nepavykti. Raudonas gaidys Gaisras (padegant). Raudoną gaidį pakelti/patupdyti ant stogo

Padegti.

Raudonas gaidys užgiedos/sugiedos (ant stogo)

Bus padegta.

Gaidukai gieda galvoje Darosi pusprotis. Nė už gaidį Visai neturėti sveikatos. Kaip gaidžių nukapotas Nusiminęs.

In many cultures the rooster symbolizes pride, courage, vigilance, and arrogance

(Biedermann, 2002). In Christianity the rooster is noted for crowing three times after Peter denied

Christ. As such, it became a symbol for Christ’s passion.

Similarly to dog, when applied to human beings, rooster is usually loaded with negative

denotations.

Goose

Cook someone's goose If you cook someone's goose, you ruin their plans. Wild goose chase A wild goose chase is a waste of time- time spent trying to

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do something unsuccessfully. Kill the goose that lays the golden egg

If you kill the goose that lays the golden egg, you ruin something that is very profitable.

Žąsis Žąsis ginti ant Dievo Mirti.

In mythology the goose often represents silly attitudes or lazy dispositions. On the

contrary, the symbolism of the goose is quite inspiring as this bird symbolizes communication,

determination, fellowship, and loyalty. All idiomatic expressions connected with ‘the goose’ have

nothing in common with the traits presented in mythology and symbolism. For example, kill the

goose that lays the golden egg is derived from one of the fables attributed to Aesop.

Turkey Poor as Job's turkey Very poor.

Native American Indians view the turkey as both a symbol of abundance and fertility.

Unaccountably, the turkey is employed in the English idiomatic expression denoting penury.

Višta

Vištas gano pas Dievą Miręs. Žemiau už vištą nutūpti Nusigyventi. Kaip perminta višta Prastai jaučiasi. Kaip sušlapusi višta Apie suvargusį.

The hen is a symbol of motherhood because they are diligent in seeing the needs of their

newborns. Furthermore, they are excellent teachers to their offspring. However, the Lithuanian

animal idioms with ‘the hen’ denote death, poorness, ill health, and tiredness.

Žąsinas

Žąsiną matyti per tvorą Būti netoli mirties.

The gander in the Lithuanian folklore usually denotes people having low intelligence or

being arrogant. The question why the gander is associated with death in the Lithuanian animal

idioms remains unanswered.

REPTILES: Snake

Snake in the grass There is trouble/someone who is a snake in the grass betrays you even though you have trusted them.

Gyvatė

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Gyvatė šnypščia kišenėje Nėra pinigų.

Symbolically the snake is most often connected with danger as it is always skulking

around and then attacks. The English animal idiom (snake in the grass) proves this idea.

Lithuanian idiomatic expression (gyvatė šnypščia kišenėje) may be explained by the fact

that the snake hisses when it wants to make someone feel afraid. When people do not have

money, they do not feel secure; thus, in a way, they feel some kind of trepidation.

AMPHIBIAN: Frog

Frog in one’s throat

If you have a frog in your throat, you can‘t speak or you are losing your voice because you have a problem with your throat.

The frog undergoes incredible transformations to reach the destination of full adulthood;

as a result it symbolizes rebirth, renewal, and metamorphosis (Biedermann, 2002). However, the

meaning of frog in one’s throat has nothing in common with symbolism. Surprisingly, the

meaning is not inspired by the croaking sound of a cold-sufferer's voice as well but by a weird

medical practice. In the Middle Ages infections such as thrush were sometimes treated by putting

a live frog head first into the patient's mouth; by inhaling, the frog was believed to draw the

patient's infection into its own body. The treatment is happily obsolete, but its memory survives

in the 19th century term frog in one's throat (Ammer, 1989).

1.2. Marine Fish

Kettle of fish

A pretty or fine kettle of fish is a difficult problem or situation.

Like a fish out of water If someone feels like a fish out of water, they are very uncomfortable in the situation they are in.

Swim with the fishes If someone is swimming with the fishes, they are dead, especially if they have been murdered.

Neither fish nor fowl Something or someone that is neither fish nor fowl doesn't really fit into any one group.

Žuvis Su žuvelėmis pašnekėti Nuskęsti.

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There are numerous species of fish, but the creature in general holds some prime

symbolic meanings: fertility, eternity, creativity, good luck, happiness, and knowledge

(Biedermann, 2002).

Three idiomatic expressions like a fish out of water, swim with the fishes, and su

žuvelėmis pašnekėti are directly connected with the natural surroundings and the qualities of the

fish.

2. INVERTEBRATE:

1.1. INSECTS: Bitė

Vargo bitė Varguolis. The bee is a symbol of nurturing and hard work. Lithuanian animal idiom vargo bitė may

be explained by the fact that although bees are working really hard in the beehive, the results of

their arduous work are never visible.

Blusa

Tik blusa pašonėje Nieko neturi. Blusa perbėgo Nepasisekė atlikti sumanymų. The flea is associated with squalor and slovenliness. It is a mean insect; as a result the flea

is used to denote poorness and failure.

Fly

Dropping like flies Dying. Musė

Muses pančioti Būti be darbo. (Miršta) kaip musės Masiškai (mirė). Kaip musė išrūgose Sunkiai verčiasi. It musę kandęs/krimtęs Nieko negavęs. Kaip musė į barščius/batvinius Apie kieno varganą, sudėtingą padėtį.

The fly is a small and irksome insect and people always spray repellents to get rid of

them. The life of flies is never easy; hypothetically, this is the reason why this insect is associated

with death, unemployment, poorness, and troubles.

Svirplys

Kaip svirplys Apie neturintį sveikatos.

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The sound emitted by crickets is commonly referred to as chirping. Chirping and the

cricket itself in many cultures are treated as a symbol of good luck. Unaccountably, in the

Lithuanian tradition, the cricket is used to denote poor health.

Utėlė

Utėles papenėti/pašerti Sunkiai gyventi/vargti. Kaip utėlė po šašu Apie vargstantį. Similarly to the flea, the louse is associated with slovenliness and dirtiness. Therefore, it

is employed to express tribulations.

2.2. VERMES:

Sliekas Sliekų karalystė Kapai.

Worm Opening a can of worms If you open a can of worms, you do something that will

cause a lot of problems and is, on balance, probably going to cause more trouble than it's worth.

Kirmėlė/kirminas Kaip kirmėlė bačkoje Sunkiai verčiasi. Kirmino plikumu Neturtingas. Kirminas šnypščia kišenėje Nėra pinigų.

The worm is one more animal symbolizing death. However, from the list of the English

and Lithuanian idiomatic expressions connected with ‘the worm’, only the earthworm (sliekų

karalystė) expresses this aspect of human unhappiness.

The analysis revealed that 19 animals denoting unhappiness coincide in both languages,

namely: bear, bird, bull, cat, cow, crow, dog, fish, fly, fox, goat, goose, hare, horse, mouse,

sheep, snake, wolf, and worm. Thus, the first general conclusion that prompts itself is that the

English and Lithuanian languages do not differ substantially in the choice of animals expressing

the concept of unhappiness. There are several animals which are found in idioms of one language

but are not in the other language. It may be explained by the fact that exotic animals, such as

canary, camel, lion or monkey are not found in Lithuania and they are not related to the

Lithuanian’s mentality. As a result, people have never used them for expressing their emotions

and feelings metaphorically. These animals do not live in the United Kingdom as well, but the

fact that the English language is widely used in the former British colonies and countries, such as

United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and various islands of the

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Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, may account for idiomatic expressions including

animals that are not typical of Europe.

Some animal species denote several aspects of human unhappiness, e.g. she-dog in the

Lithuanian language is associated with failure, debt, and unpleasant situation. By contrast, some

animals are used to express only one aspect; here the crow and the magpie serve as good

examples since these birds are associated only with death.

The analysis of English and Lithuanian animal idioms expressing unhappiness reveals that

idioms connected with ‘the dog’ comprise the biggest part: there are 20 idioms (they make 25%

of all the idioms) in the English and 36 (they make 30% of all the idioms) in the Lithuanian

language. The fact that the dog was the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most

widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in human history can account for that.

Similarly to dogs, cats have been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years; as a

result, this animal is quite frequent in the English and Lithuanian animal idioms. There are eight

idiomatic expressions (10%) connected with the cat in the English language while in the

Lithuanian language seven idioms (5.7%) were found. The rooster is as frequent as the cat in the

Lithuanian language (5.7%). This domestic bird is found in seven idiomatic expressions denoting

unhappiness. The fact that roosters for at least five thousand years are kept for meat and in some

countries for show can account for the frequency. Appendix No. 1 shows animal names

according to the frequency in the English language whereas animal names according to the

frequency in the Lithuanian language are presented in Appendix No 2.

Having analysed the data, it is obvious that sometimes the same kinds of animals indicate

the same phraseological meanings in different languages. It may be explained by the fact that

animals have the same characteristics and people use them to produce the same psychological

associations. Nevertheless many idioms in the English and Lithuanian languages contain the

same animals, their meanings are different; for instance, both languages have idiomatic

expressions with ‘the bear’. English idioms are connected with problems that make people feel

unhappy or with hungriness while 2 of 3 Lithuanian idioms mean the exile to Siberia. Certainly

Siberia can not be mentioned in English animal idioms as this nation has never gone through such

historical conditions.

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3.2. Constituent parts of human unhappiness expressed by English and

Lithuanian animal idioms

English and Lithuanian animal idioms have been juxtaposed according to the relations of

equivalence in meaning which exist among them. In establishing the system of those relations,

we have relied heavily on the notion and three types of lexical equivalence which were advocated

by Gläser (1984) and modified by Paszenda (1998). We adopted Paszenda’s classification (i.e.

complete equivalence, partial equivalence, and zero equivalence) but in the study zero

equivalence was defined in a different way. Paszenda suggests to attribute phraseological units,

whose counterparts in the other language are idiomatic but do not refer to animal life, to zero

equivalence. Since our aim is to analyze animal idioms, modifications to this term were required.

1. Complete equivalence. Idioms show complete equivalence if they have identical or

very similar syntactic structures and meaning, i.e. if they employ the same metaphors and images

and if they refer to the same animal. In the work, this type of equivalence will be marked with the

plus sign ( + ).

2. Partial equivalence. Idioms are partially equivalent if:

they have the same (or similar) meaning, are based on the same image, refer to the same

animal, but have different syntactic structures, or

they exhibit a similar structure, employ similar images to convey the same (or similar)

meaning, but dwell on different animal names.

Partial equivalence will be signaled by plus-minus sign ( ┴ ).

3. Zero equivalence holds for those animal idioms that do not have their counterparts in

the other language, i.e. the meaning, syntactic structure, and animal is different. Zero equivalence

will be indicated with a dash ( — ).

The classification of idioms into complete, partial, and zero equivalence will further be

presented with the reference to the concept of unhappiness. As it was revealed in the section

‘Unhappiness in folklore and modern understanding’, the notion of unhappiness consists of

several aspects, such as: tiredness, quarrels, financial mess, death, problems, etc. Thus, the

following semantic groups were distinguished:

1. Poor health;

2. Death/extinction;

3. Hard work/tiredness;

4. Poorness;

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5. Problem/difficulty/danger;

6. To lie/deceive/betray/be dishonest;

7. Quarrels;

8. To be unhappy/upset/sad/nervous or to make other people unhappy;

9. Hungriness;

10. Negative experience/failure.

Within the ten semantic aspects of unhappiness, the English animal idioms (in the left

column of the chart) have been arranged in alphabetical order according to the name of the

animal that appears in them. Lithuanian equivalents for each of the English ones appear in the

same line in the right column.

1. Poor health

As blind as a bat —

Frog in one’s throat —

Sick as a dog —

My dogs are barking —

A charley horse —

Weak like a kitten —

As sick as a parrot —

— Nė už gaidį

— Gaidukai gieda galvoje

— Svirplių katė

— Į kiaulę sutraukti

— Kaip svirplys

— Į šarkų bažnyčią daboti/žiūrėti

— Kaip perminta višta

— Žąsiną matyti per tvorą

Animal idioms in the first semantic group ‘Poor health’ comprise zero equivalence group.

Ill health in the English language is associated with bat (1), frog (1), dog (2), horse (1), kitten (1),

and parrot (1) while Lithuanian phraseological units refer to rooster (2), cat (1), pig (1), cricket

(1), magpie (1), hen (1), and gander (1). It is evident that the comparable languages employ

different animals to denote fragile health.

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In the English language only the physical aspect of poor health is emphasized – poor

eyesight, problems with throat and feet, weakness, and serious illness which is not named.

Alongside these aspects, mental disorder (gaidukai gieda galvoje) is stressed in the Lithuanian

language as well. The crowing of the rooster is a loud high sound which awakes people from

sleep, i.e. it changes the state of a human being. Hypothetically, this is the reason why the rooster

is used to denote mental illness in the Lithuanian language.

2. Death/extinction

To die like a dog —

Swim with the fishes ┴ Su žuvelėmis pašnekėti

Dropping like flies ┴ (Miršta) kaip musės

— Avelių ganyti pas Abraomą nuėjo

— Garnį išriesti

— Gegutės balso nesulaukti

— Sliekų karalystė

— Į šarkų bažnyčią eiti

— Į šarkos bažnyčią išvežti

— Varnoms kristi

— Varnas dera

— Vištas gano pas Dievą

— Žąsis ginti ant Dievo

— Šunys išlojo

In the English language, only 3 idioms denoting death were found whereas in the

Lithuanian language there are 13. Lithuanian national character and deep funeral traditions may

account for this fact. As it was mentioned above, in the Lithuanian folklore, even the separate

genre (i.e. laments/raudos) is found.

In the list of the Lithuanian animal idioms denoting death, five expressions are related to

Christianity (avelių ganyti pas Abraomą nuėjo, į šarkų bažnyčią eiti, į šarkos bažnyčią išvežti,

vištas gano pas Dievą, and žąsis ginti ant Dievo). The fact that 79% of Lithuanians belong to the

Roman Catholic Church may account for it. Furthermore, the sheep (avelių ganyti pas Abraomą

nuėjo) is treated as a symbol of Christians - people are the sheep and Jesus is the Good Shepherd

who takes care of us all.

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Despite the fact that the English language has only three idiomatic expressions denoting

death, two of them have partial equivalents in the Lithuanian language, i.e. swim with the fishes -

su žuvelėmis pašnekėti and dropping like flies - (miršta) kaip musės. Although both idioms

express the same meaning and employ the same animals, different verbs are used, such as: swim -

pašnekėti and dropping - miršta. The question why both nations have two partially equal animal

idioms may be reasoned in a simple way. In the first case, the action of sinking is equated with

swimming/talking with the fishes; it is an analogy between two phenomena. The saying dropping

like flies/(miršta) kaip musės may be the simple allusion to the transitory and fragile nature of an

insect's life.

3. Hard work/tiredness

Get the bird —

Look like something the cat dragged in —

Dog tired ┴ Pavargęs kaip šuva

Work like a dog ┴ (Dirbu) kaip juodas arklys

Lead a dog’s life —

Donkey work —

— Už juodą arklį

— Katės mūka

— (Gauti) katino knatą

— Muses pančioti

— Šunų melnyčia

— Kaip sušlapusi višta

The third semantic group ‘Hard work/tiredness’ contains two idiomatic expressions (dog

tired – pavargęs kaip šuva and work like a dog – (dirbu) kaip juodas arklys) that shares partial

equivalence in the comparable languages. In the first case, the same animal is employed to denote

tiredness but the syntactic structures are different. In contrast to the previous example, idiomatic

expressions work like a dog and (dirbu) kaip juodas arklys have identical syntactic structures but

the animal is dissimilar.

In the list of the Lithuanian idioms, the black colour may be observed ((dirbu) kaip

juodas arklys and už juodą arklį). The fact that black is the absence of all colours and that it

absorbs all aspects of light, may explain why it is employed in the idiomatic expressions denoting

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‘hard work/tiredness’. Arduous work exhausts human being or in a figurative sense, ‘absorbs

power’. Lithuanian idiomatic expressions connected with the horse and denoting backbreaking

work are probably related to the Lithuanians’ national feature. Lithuanians are considered hard-

working people from ancient times.

According to Kalinauskas (1974), some idiomatic expressions may contain one or two

equally pejorative components which determine negative meaning of an idiom. In the list of

Lithuanian animal idioms denoting ‘Hard work/tiredness’ several examples were found: katės

mūka (i.e. kančia), šunų melnyčia (i.e. malūnas), and kaip sušlapusi višta.

4. Poorness

Poor as a church mouse ┴ Bažnyčios pelė

Poor as Job’s turkey —

— Vargo bitė

— Tik blusa pašonėje

— Gegute pakukuoti

— Gyvatė šnypščia kišenėje

— Kalei bežiūrint į trūnę

— Kaip kirmėlė bačkoje

— Kirmino plikumu

— Kirminas šnypščia kišenėje

— Kaip musė išrūgose

— Ožkų pieno nueiti

— Prie ožkos būti

— Kaip ubago paršelis

— Vargo paukštis

— Blakstienas kapoti/karpyti šunims

— Blauzdas karpyti šunims

— Šuns balso klausyti

— Iš šuns dalies

— Šuns dienos

— Šuns duona

— Šuns garas

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— Šuns alga

— Šuniškas gyvenimas

— Šunų pyragai

— Šuns plikumu

— Šuns giesmes giedoti

— Šuns kaina

— Šlapią šunį šukuoti

— Šunis ganyti

— Šuniui rėžti per kudlas

— Trumpas šuo prie uodegos

— Šunis kaustyti

— Šunis lodyti

— Kaip šuo šulinyje

— (Plikas) kaip tilvikas

— Utėles papenėti/pašerti

— Kaip utėlė po šašu

— Žemiau už vištą nutūpti

— Kaip žuvis į ledą

— Šventas žvirblis

In the English language, poorness is associated with mouse (1) and turkey (1) whereas in

the Lithuanian language bee (1), bird (1), cuckoo (1), dog (20), fish (1), flea (1), fly (1), goat (2),

hen (1), louse (2), mouse (1), pig (1), she-dog (1), snake (1), snipe (1), sparrow (1), and worm (3)

are employed.

In the English language, there are only two idioms expressing ‘poorness’ while the

Lithuanian language comprises 40. This large discrepancy between two languages may be

explained by the different economic situations. Historically, Lithuanians are the nation of tillers

of the soil and agriculture has never meant a lot of money. By contrast, England has always been

a rich country - it still has a strong monarchy.

In the English language there is only one animal idiom denoting ‘poorness’ (poor as a

church mouse) that have partial equivalent in the Lithuanian language (bažnyčios pelė). Both of

them have the same meaning and refer to the same animal but have different syntactic structures.

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This idiomatic expression is related to Christianity (church/bažnyčia) as well as the Lithuanian

idiom šventas žvirblis. The idea that pious human beings usually do not need large sums of

money since they lead ascetic life, may account for the ties between ‘church’ and ‘poorness’.

The reason why in the Lithuanian animal idioms the snake (gyvatė šnypščia kišenėje) and

the worm (kirminas šnypščia kišenėje) are employed in the same syntactic structures and denote

the same meanings is that in the Lithuanian folklore snake was called a worm because of the

existing superficial resemblance between them.

The goat was never as much appreciated as cow in Lithuania. Mostly poor people kept

goats since this domestic animal does not require so much forage. Idiomatic expressions ožkų

pieno nueiti and prie ožkos būti definitely prove that.

5. Problem/difficulty/danger

Albatross around your neck —

Have a bear by the tail —

Take the bull by the horns —

Straw that broke the camel's back —

Canary in a coal mine —

Not a cat in hell's chance —

Herding cats —

Cat among the pigeons —

If it ain’t chicken, it’s feathers —

The chickens come home to roost —

Give a dog a bad name —

It’s a dog eat dog world —

In the dog house —

Gone to the dogs —

If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with

fleas

—

Dog’s breakfast —

Lame duck —

Kettle of fish —

Wild goose chase —

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Walk into the lion's den —

A monkey on one’s back —

Throw someone to the wolves —

Opening a can of worms —

— Šyvu arkliu važiuoti

— Ant šyvo arklio joti

— Devyni avinai po galvą daužosi/mušasi

— Keptais balandžiais nesninga

— Raudonas gaidys

— Raudoną gaidį pakelti/patupdyti ant stogo

— Raudonas gaidys užgiedos/sugiedos ant stogo

— Karvė užtrūko

— Kaip kalė kanapėse

— Juoda katė perbėgo taką

— Kiškio vietoje

— Tarp meškos ir vilko

— Kaip musė į barščius/batvinius

— Į ožio ragą riesti/užvesti

— Šuns skuduryje būti

— Kaip vilko nagė

— Vilko popieriai

— Zyle pelėda verstis

23 English and 18 Lithuanian animal idioms in the semantic group

‘Problem/difficulty/danger’ comprise zero equivalence group.

English idiomatic expressions mainly denote problem, danger, difficult situation, and

trouble while Lithuanian animal idioms, alongside these aspects, also denote misfortunes and fire.

Fire in the Lithuanian animal idioms is connected only with the rooster as this domestic bird has

red crest and red wattle that make it look similar to the flames. Fire has always been one of the

most serious dangers that human beings might face as it destroys everything in a moment.

Lithuanians were always afraid of it because the Baltic people were known as fire worshipers.

‘People were not to spit into fire, nor was it permitted to kick it or to stomp upon it. All that was

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considered sinful, and any such actions were sure to invite punishment, either while the person

was still alive or after their death’ (Balys, 1951: 39).

Colors symbolize emotions, thus, they influence our thoughts and make us perceive things

differently. Through ages, colors have been given varying connotations, driven sometimes by

their natural occurrences, while some others by their distinct associations with certain elements.

In this semantic group, 3 colours are found in the Lithuanian idiomatic expressions:

Black: juoda katė perbėgo taką. Since black is the color of the night, evil, and bad luck, it

is reasonably chosen to denote misfortune in the Lithuanian animal idiom.

Grey: šyvu arkliu važiuoti, ant šyvo arklio joti. Grey color is a mix of two colors with

exactly opposite properties and therefore, carries the qualities of both. Grey is linked with

sadness and despondency. This interpretation is derived from grey clouds in the sky that

prevent sunlight from reaching the Earth, thereby creating a depressing atmosphere.

Red: raudonas gaidys, raudoną gaidį pakelti/patupdyti ant stogo, raudonas gaidys

užgiedos/sugiedos ant stogo. In the given examples, red colour is directly linked with fire.

6. To lie/deceive/betray/be dishonest

Dog-faced liar —

Crooked as a dog's hind leg —

Sly as a fox —

Sneaky as a fox in the hen-house —

Horse feathers —

Snake in the grass —

Wolf in sheep's clothing —

— Sena lapė

— Prie ožio lazdos nuvesti

Animal idioms in the semantic group ‘To lie/deceive/betray/be dishonest’ comprise zero

equivalence group. This aspect of unhappiness, in the English language is associated with dog

(2), fox (2), horse (1), snake (1), and wolf (1) while in the Lithuanian language - with fox (1) and

goat (1).

As it was mentioned previously, foxes are generally viewed as sly, cunning and quick-

thinking beings. Both languages contain idiomatic expressions with the fox denoting deceit (sly

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as a fox, sneaky as a fox in the hen-house, and sena lapė). In addition, the snake is also treated as

a treacherous animal; however, there are no idiomatic expressions connected with the snake in

the Lithuanian language whereas the English language has snake in the grass.

Despite the fact that the goat does not symbolize deception, the Lithuanian animal idiom

prie ožio lazdos nuvesti denotes deceit. Probably it may be interconnected with the fact that long

time ago the goat was related with sins and devil. According to God’s 10 Commandments,

falsehood is treated as one of 10 biggest sins. Thus, hypothetically, goat carries the meaning that

is imposed on it from ancient times.

Wolf in sheep's clothing is an idiom of Biblical origin. Wolf and sheep are contrasting

symbols of ‘evil’ and ‘good’. Thus, when the wolf appears in the sheep’s clothing, it hides

malicious intent under the guise of kindliness.

7. Quarrels

(To lead) cat and dog life ┴ Kaip katė su šunim

Have a chicken to pick with someone —

— Juoda katė perbėgo (skersai kelią)

— Kaip kiaulė su žąsinu

In the semantic group ‘Quarrels’, one animal idiom (cat and dog life - kaip katė su šunim)

shares partial equivalence in the comparable languages. Cats and dogs are renowned for their

supposed enmity. The problem is that cats and dogs do not always understand each other's body

language or behaviour. Cats are sometimes seen as a woman's pet while dogs are a man's hunting

companion. (To lead) cat and dog life or kaip katė su šunim allude to the ongoing enmity

between the two species, and by extension to men and women arguing. Furthermore, dogs love to

chase after cats and people often thought that dogs and cats do not get along.

Lithuanian animal idiom kaip kiaulė su žąsinu may be interpreted as an impossible

friendship between two absolutely divergent specie; pig and gander are too different to get along

with each other. As a result, their ‘relationship’ implies quarrels.

Have a chicken to pick with someone could be reasoned in a simple way: when people

have to share something out, one can always expect quarrels.

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8. To be unhappy/upset/sad/nervous or to make other people unhappy

Like a bear with a sore head —

Give (someone) the bird —

Bull in a China town —

Like a red flag to a bull —

Strain at gnats and swallow camels —

Nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking

chairs

—

Play cat and mouse —

Have a cow —

Stone the crows —

Sad as a hound dog's eye —

Dog’s life —

Dog eat dog —

Happy like ducks in Arizona —

Like a fish out of water —

Make a hare of (someone) —

Make a monkey out of (someone) —

— Kaip gaidžių nukapotas

— Juodų jaučių numindžiotas

— Šuns kaklą apsikabinęs

— Šuns balsu kaukti/šaukti

— Šuns vietoje

— Šuns takus parodyti

— Išmetė kaip šunį iš kepyklos

— Nuo gero žirgo kristi

Unhappiness, upset, sadness, nerves, or the action of making other people unhappy in the

English language is related to bear (1), bird (1), bull (2), camel (1), cat (2), cow (1), crow (1), dog

(3), duck (1), fish (1), hare (1), and monkey (1). In the Lithuanian tradition this aspect is

associated with bull (1), dog (5), horse (1), and rooster (1). It is evident that only bull and dog

coincide in the comparable languages.

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Despite the fact that ‘bull’ is employed in both languages, idiomatic expressions with this

animal express different meanings. In the English language ‘bull’ carries the meaning of

upsetting other people while in the Lithuanian language ‘black bull’ denotes the negative state of

mind. Idiomatic expressions with ‘dog’ in the English language stand for sadness and unfortunate

life whereas the aspects as cry, contempt, slough, and neglecting a person are highlighted in the

Lithuanian language.

9. Hungriness

Hungry as a bear ┴ Alkanas kaip vilkas

So hungry I could eat a horse —

— Bado gegutė

— Šuns kąsnis

The semantic group ‘Hungriness’ contains one animal idiom (hungry as a bear –

alkanas kaip vilkas) that shares partial equivalence in the two comparable languages. The English

and Lithuanian languages employ different animal to express the same feeling. In alkanas kaip

vilkas we can assume that the given animal constituent corresponds to its symbolic, i.e. culturally

based, conceptualization. The conceptualization of the wolf as a greedy, always hungry animal

emerges in many languages – the wolf is to be understood as a perfect example of a hungry

being. Hungry as a bear, however, is a little bit controversial. ‘The bear’ appears neither in

cultural codes, nor in nature as a ‘devouring demon’ (as in the case with ‘wolf’). Accordingly,

there is no correspondence between conventional figurative language and culture in the English

animal idiom (Dobrovol'skij & Piirainen, 2005).

10. Negative experience/failure

Hair of the dog —

A dead duck —

Cook someone’s goose —

Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs —

Throw a monkey wrench into the works —

— Blusa perbėgo

— Ežės pėdomis išeiti

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— Ant gaidžio byzdos

— Po kalės uodegai nueiti

— Nei karvei ant ragų, nei arkliui ant stimburio

— Katė pagavo knygas

— Kiškį pagauti

— Baltas meškas ganyti

— Pas Baltąsias meškas

— It musę kandęs/krimtęs

— Šuo nunešė ant uodegos

— Už šunį prapulti

— Šėko šunims pjauti

— Ant šuns karnos nueiti

— Šuns maltuvė

— Šunų nugaras skusti

— Vilkais nueiti

— Zuikis perbėgo kelią

In the semantic group ‘Negative experience/failure’, all idiomatic expressions share zero

equivalence. 4 animals (i.e. dog, duck, goose, and monkey) are used in the English language

whereas the Lithuanian language employs 11 species of animals (i.e. bear, cat, cow, dog, flea, fly,

hare, hedgehog, rooster, she-dog, and wolf) to denote this aspect of unhappiness.

Hangover, failure, and ruination of plans or project are emphasized in the English

idiomatic expressions. In the list of the Lithuanian animal idioms denoting ‘bad

experience/failure’, the biggest part of phraseological units express failure. Also, the aspects such

as imprisonment and exile to Siberia were observed in the Lithuanian tradition.

Definitely, the polar bear is not typical of Lithuania. This animal became familiar to

Lithuanians after joining Russia when Siberia at once became a principle location for

imprisonment. Probably the origin of the idiomatic expressions baltas meškas ganyti and pas

baltąsias meškas could be traced back to the beginning of 20th century.

In summary, language is not a direct analogy of the objective reality but a reflection of the

way the reality is perceived, segmented and labeled by human beings. Through the array of its

idiomatic expressions, each language reveals differences in culture, traditions, history, and

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thinking pattern. Glowinski (1980) said: When I speak, I am not alone. Traditions consolidated in

language are with me. They immediately turn each person using a given language into a member

of a certain community; someone with whose lips others speak. Thus, the small amount of the

adequate animal idioms means that two nations representing distant cultures vary considerably in

their perception of the world and idiomatic expressions are usually language-specific. The

common-sense knowledge often clashes with the scientific one which speakers of different

languages share.

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CONCLUSIONS

Having analyzed 79 English and 122 Lithuanian idiomatic expressions, 10 semantic groups of

idioms expressing different shades of unhappiness were distinguished in the English and

Lithuanian languages:

1) poor health;

2) death/extinction;

3) hard work/tiredness;

4) poorness;

5) problem/difficulty/danger;

6) to lie/deceive/betray/be dishonest;

7) quarrels;

8) to be unhappy/upset/sad/nervous or to make other people unhappy;

9) hungriness;

10) negative experience/failure.

Despite the fact that both languages comprise the same 10 semantic groups, no animal

idioms share complete equivalence. Only 5 out of 10 semantic groups (i.e. death/extinction, hard

work/tiredness, poorness, quarrels, and hungriness) contain idiomatic expressions having partial

equivalents. The small amount of the adequate animal idioms means that nations representing

distant cultures vary considerably in their perception of the world. Both nations have the same

constituent parts of the concept of unhappiness but employ different animals, images, and

linguistic structures to express the same psychological aspect.

Both languages have the similar number of idiomatic expressions denoting hard

work/tiredness (English – 6; Lithuanian – 8), problem/difficulty/danger (English – 23; Lithuanian

– 18), quarrels (English – 2; Lithuanian – 3), and hungriness (English – 2, Lithuanian – 3). The

largest discrepancy between two languages is observed in the list of idiomatic expressions

denoting ‘poorness’. In the English language, there are only 2 animal idioms expressing this

aspect while the Lithuanian language comprises 40. It may be explained by the different

historical and economical situations of the compared nations. Historically, Lithuanians are the

nation of tillers of the soil, and agriculture has never meant a lot of money. By contrast, England

has always been a rich country. It still has a strong monarchy. One more discrepancy is obvious

in idioms of poor health. Only the physical aspect of fragile health (i.e. poor eyesight, problems

with throat and feet, weakness, and serious illness which is not named) is emphasized in the list

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of English idiomatic expressions denoting poor health. Alongside these aspects, mental disorder

is stressed in the Lithuanian language as well. Furthermore, it is obvious that in the English

language, only 3 idioms denoting death are found whereas in the Lithuanian language there are

13. Lithuanian national character and deep funeral traditions may account for this divergence.

The analysis of animal idioms revealed that 31 species of animals are employed to depict

unhappiness in the English language whereas 38 major species of animals expressing

unhappiness are found in the Lithuanian language. In order to analyze idioms in a more

conventional way, animal names were classified into 2 big classes: vertebrates and invertebrates.

These classes were further subdivided into the smaller subclasses: domestic and wild mammals,

domestic and wild birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, and vermes. 19 animal names

denoting unhappiness coincide in the comparable languages, among them: bear, bird, bull, cat,

cow, crow, dog, fish, fly, fox, goat, goose, hare, horse, mouse, sheep, snake, wolf, and worm.

There are several animals which are found in idioms of one language but are not in the other

language. This may be explained by the fact that exotic animals (canary, lion, parrot, etc.) are not

found in Lithuania and, therefore, they are not related to the Lithuanians’ mentality. These

animals do not live in the United Kingdom as well, but the fact that the English language is

widely used in the former British colonies and countries, such as United States, Australia, New

Zealand, etc. may account for idiomatic expressions including animals that are atypical of

Europe.

Despite the fact that many animal idioms in the English and Lithuanian languages contain

the same animal names, they usually represent different aspects of unhappiness. Some animal

species denote several aspects of human unhappiness, e.g. she-dog in the Lithuanian language is

associated with failure, debt, and unpleasant situation. On the contrary, some animals are used to

express only one aspect; here the crow and the magpie serve as good examples since these birds

are associated only with death.

Idioms connected with ‘dog’ comprise the biggest part in both languages; in the English

language they make 25% while in the Lithuanian – 30% of the overall figure. Other animal

names are not so conspicuous: the analysis revealed that in the English language the cat (10%) is

second animal according to the frequency while in the Lithuanian language the cat and the rooster

(5.7%) are the second most frequent animals. There are no idiomatic expressions connected with

‘pig’ denoting unhappiness in the English language. By contrast, there are three idioms

containing ‘pig’ that denote illness, poorness, and quarrels in the Lithuanian language. When

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applied to human beings the phrases with ‘the dog’, ‘the rooster’, and ‘the gander’ are usually

loaded with negative connotations.

The meanings of many idiomatic expressions are based on universally accepted animal

symbolism, for example, foxes are treated as cunning, sly, and intelligent animals due to their

ability to blend into their surroundings. The examples taken from the English and the Lithuanian

languages are based upon the traits of the fox. However, there are several animal names that have

different meanings presented in the symbolism; for instance, ducks represent sensitivity, as they

are very sensitive to their surroundings. Also, ducks are viewed as graceful and agile –

particularly in the water. Thus, no reasonable explanation could be proposed why this bird in the

English is used to express unhappiness, trouble or failure.

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SANTRAUKA

Šio darbo tikslas – ištirti, kaip atsiskleidžia tam tikri nelaimės aspektai anglų ir lietuvių kalbų

frazeologizmuose, kuriuose minimas gyvūnas; nustatyti tokių frazeologizmų panašumus ir

skirtumus ir pamėginti juos paaiškinti.

Tyrimui atlikti buvo naudojamasi kiekybine ir kokybine analize bei teorine medžiaga,

susijusia su frazeologizmais ir nelaimės samprata. Šiame darbe aptariami tokie teoriniai aspektai:

frazeologizmų struktūra, semantika, funkcijos, vartojimas, klasifikacija, frazeologizmų ir kultūros

ryšiai. Nelaimės sąvoka interpretuojama iš tradicinės (tautosakinės) ir moderniosios

perspektyvos. Pagrindiniams dviejų kalbų panašumams ir skirtumams pagrįsti buvo surinkti 79

anglų ir 122 lietuvių kalbų frazeologizmai. Buvo išskirta dešimt semantinių frazeologizmų

grupių: silpna sveikata, mirtis, sunkus darbas/nuovargis, skurdas, problemos/sunkumai/pavojai,

melas/išdavystė/nesąžiningumas, pykčiai, buvimas nelaimingam/nusiminusiam/nervingam ar kitų

padarymas nelaimingu, alkis ir nesėkmė. Remiantis šiuo kriterijumi frazeologizmai buvo

klasifikuojami, lyginami ir analizuojami.

Angliški ir lietuviški gyvūnų frazeologizmai buvo gretinami pagal atitikimo sąvoką ir

ryšius, kuriuos sukūrė R. Gläser (1984), o modifikavo J. Paszenda (1998). Tyrimas parodė, kad

tik septyni frazeologizmai turi atitikmenis abiejose kalbose (dog tired – pavargęs kaip šuva, swim

with the fishes – su žuvelėmis pašnekėti, dropping like flies – (miršta) kaip musės, work like a

dog – (dirbu) kaip juodas arklys, poor like a church mouse – bažnyčios pelė, cat and dog life –

kaip katė su šunim, hungry as a bear – alkanas kaip vilkas). Šis faktas rodo, kad tautos,

atstovaujančios skirtingoms kultūroms, turi nedaug panašumų. Tiesa, abi tautos nelaimės sąvoką

supranta panašiai, tačiau renkasi skirtingus gyvūnus ir skirtingas sintaksines struktūras tiems

patiems psichologiniams aspektams išreikšti. Analizė atskleidė, kad abiejose kalbose sutampa net

19 gyvūnų: arklys, avis, gyvatė, jautis, karvė, katė/katinas, kirmėlė/kirminas, kiškis, lapė, meška,

musė, ožka/ožys, paukštis, pelė, šuo, varna, vilkas, žąsis ir žuvis. Nors daugelis anglų ir lietuvių

kalbų frazeologizmų turi tą patį gyvūną, vis dėlto tie gyvūnai pažymi skirtingus dalykus, pvz.,

frazeologizmai su paukščiu anglų kalboje reiškia kažkokį praradimą (pavyzdžiui, atleidimas iš

darbo, išvarymas iš namų ir pan.), o lietuvių kalboje – neturtą. Išvados rodo, kad gausiausia

grupė tokių frazeologizmų, kuriuose minimas šuo: tai sudaro 25% anglų kalbos frazeologizmų ir

30% lietuvių kalbos frazeologizmų. Šį reiškinį galėtume paaiškinti taip: šuo buvo pirmasis

prijaukintas gyvūnas, puikus žmogaus draugas bei pagalbininkas medžiojant. Kad ir keista,

frazeologizmai, susiję su šiuo gyvūnu, dažniausiai išreiškia kažką negatyvaus. Kiti gyvūnai

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nesudaro tokių aiškių didelių grupių. Atrodytų, kad su nelaime galėtų sietis ir kiaulė, nes jos

gyvenimas yra apgailėtinas ir purvinas; tačiau anglų kalboje visiškai nėra nelaimę reiškiančių

frazeologizmų su kiaule, o lietuvių kalboje taip pat yra tik trys tokio tipo frazeologizmai,

išreiškiantys ligą, skurdą ir pyktį.

68

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APPENDICES

Appendix No. 1 The most frequent animals in the English language

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Appendix No. 2 The most frequent animals in the Lithuanian language