CONTRASTIVE NOTES ON SOME ENGLISH IDIOMS

The contrastive and didactic analysis conducted by the author of the present paper concentrates on idiomaticity, comparing meaning, expression, usage and degree of awareness. In the paper, contrastivity was intended to offer some individual notes and clues meant to benefit both EFL teachers and translators in this country. The idioms are analysed from the angle of both their literality, referentiality, specific “scenario”, and expressive power. A modest final proposal is made to the effect that a contrastive methodical database should be compiled by Romanian teachers in order to sort out the content and expression sides of English idioms, while comparing them to their (relative) counterparts in Romanian. Reference to the main issues concerning the comparative expressiveness of the idioms will be part of a future research.