Idioms and Irony

Idiom

Idiom (n) – 1. any commonly used word or expression that has a figurative meaning beyond the literal meaning

For example, some common idioms that figuratively refer to death are…

Kicked the Bucket!

Pushing up Daisies!

Bite the Dust!

Idioms that Mean “It’s Easy”

a piece of cakeeasy as pieit was a breezecan do it with my eyes closedit’s not rocket sciencechild’s play

Idioms from Baseballbatting a thousandswing for the fencesstriking outin the ballpark of…big leagues / bush leaguescovering your basesout of left fieldgetting to first base

100% perfectgive maximum effortfailingapproximately…pro! / amateur!ready for anythingcompletely unexpectedearning a kiss

Some Idioms People Still Usefrom Hamlet’s Soliloquy

there’s the rub

to shuffle off this mortal coil

what dreams may come

slings and arrows

there’s the problem

to die

the afterlife

to endure the problems of life

Some Idioms from Shakespeareto your heart’s contenthaven’t slept a winkin a picklein my mind’s eyeit’s high time…rhyme nor reasonsend him packinglaying it on thickthe long and short of it

into thin air

the green-eyed monster

a foregone conclusion

well read

forever and a day

good riddance

Idioms from Macbetha sorry sight

as pure as snow

screw your courage to the sticking place

at one fell swoop

fair play / foul play

an unwelcome aspect or feature

untouched and innocent

be steadfast

suddenly, in a single action

just and equal / dishonest and treacherous

Irony

What we expect to happenvs.

What actually happens

Situational Irony

When we expect one thing to happen, but something unexpected happens instead

Situational Irony

Umm…shouldn’t a guy in a toothpaste advertisement… you know, have teeth?

←

Verbal Irony

When somebody says one thing,but they mean something different

Verbal Irony

Sure, she says she’s not ← alone…

…but come on, she ← really means that she is alone

Dramatic Irony

When the reader/audience knows somethingthat the characters don’t know

Dramatic Irony

He expects a pleasant ← distraction from life on a desert island…

…but we know he’s ← going to be disappointed

VerbalIrony

Which Kind? I want to compliment you

on your work, Dobbs. Tell me when you do

some.

Which Kind?We’re lucky we found this piece of wood floating by.”

DramaticIrony

Which Kind? SituationalIrony

Which Kind?

In “The Most Dangerous Game,” Sanger Rainsford is a famous hunter,but now he is the one being hunted.

SituationalIrony

Which Kind?

When Romeo finds what he believes to be Juliet’s dead body, he ends his own life, even though the audience knows that Juliet was just faking her death.

DramaticIrony

Which Kind?

In Animal Farm, after Snowball gets run off the farm, Napoleon says that even though he pretended to hate the windmill, he was really in favor of building it all along.

VerbalIrony

Which Kind?

When Tom Benecke, after rescuing his yellow paper, after narrowly surviving a ten minute foray on a narrow ledge, opens the door to go join his wife at the movies, the yellow paper flies out the window again.

SituationalIrony