LanGeek’s Idioms section stands as the most comprehensive online library of English idioms, featuring a collection that exceeds 3,800 idiomatic expressions. This extensive database is carefully organized into 23 thematic categories, each with multiple wordlists tailored to specific topics. The resource is designed to exclude other forms of expressions such as proverbs, phrasal verbs, and collocations, focusing solely on idioms.
Each idiom is accompanied by a wealth of supplementary material, including visual representations, real-world examples, and detailed descriptions that shed light on its historical origins and the nuanced contexts in which it can be applied.
The 23 categories of idioms available on LanGeek are as follows:
- Describing People
- Relationship
- Success
- Failure
- Work & Money
- Personality
- Feelings
- Perseverance
- Society, Law & Politics
- Time
- Decision & Control
- Interactions
- Knowledge & Understanding
- Amounts
- Behavior & Approach
- Difficulty
- Certainty & Possibility
- Danger
- Everyday Life
- Influence & Involvement
- Opinion
- Truth, Secrecy, & Deception
- Describing Qualities
This structured approach not only facilitates the learning process but also provides an in-depth exploration of the English language’s colorful idiomatic landscape.
What do we consider an idiom?
At LanGeek, we see an idiom as a special kind of phrase where you can’t guess the meaning just by looking at the words it’s made of. Idioms are like riddles; they have hidden meanings that might remind you of a picture or an idea, not the actual words. They come from all sorts of places: old stories, important events from the past, or even everyday sayings that have been around for ages. This makes language interesting and always changing.
Idioms are all about saying things in a creative way. They use language to paint pictures in your mind, like comparing something to something else or making you think of one thing when you’re really talking about another. This special way of using words is what makes idioms stand out. They’re tied to the places and people that use them, and sometimes, if you try to translate them into another language, they lose their magic. Knowing when and how to use idioms can be tricky because they don’t fit every situation.
When it comes to their structure, idioms are set in stone. You can’t mix up the words or change them without messing up the whole meaning. This is different from regular grammar, where you can play around with words more freely. Idioms stick to their own rules.
If you compare idioms to sayings like proverbs or word pairs called collocations, you’ll notice some differences. Proverbs usually give you a clear message or a bit of wisdom, and they’re easy to understand. Collocations are just words that like to hang out together and sound good in a sentence. But idioms? They’re in a league of their own. They use words to express something deeper, something that’s not just about the words themselves but about the ideas they represent.