Speak Idiomatic English

Words often acquire a special meaning when they are used in a particular order in a particular situation. Such groups of words are called idioms. According to Oxford Advanced Learner''s Dictionary (OALD) an idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words. For instance when someone is on cloud nine it means s/he is very happy. This meaning has nothing to do with being on a cloud. Similarly when someone is down in the dumps it means s/he is unhappy. Both the examples show that it is often difficult or impossible to guess the meanings of idioms. Moreover idioms are usually fixed chunks of language. Of course there may be some changes according to the time and the things or people involved.