Comparison idioms 1

Running head: COMPARISON IDIOMS

Comparison Idioms Between English And Vietnamese

inh Lan Khnh
Class 4B07
University of Pedagogy

Comparison idioms 2
Abstract
As a foreign student learning English, comparison idioms are really a big problem for me as well
as other learners. There are over 3000 idioms in the dictionary, so understanding and memorizing
all of them are a hard issue. Some students, even though, live in America or England for such a
long time, they are still unable to understand what the native people are saying. In a circle of
students, native English speakers speak to other native speakers differently from the foreign
students. And the foreign students here is unable to follow what they are saying to each other.
More than that, comparison idioms are one of major aspects that can easily discourage a person
in conversation with each other if he/she does not know what to imply. If somebody ask me: Is it
necessary to study an idiom like rain like cats and dogs?, I will asnwer Yes because idioms are
part of daily speech. It makes our utterances smoothly and transmit the information to listeners in
a smart way. As a matter of fact, in this essay, we will firstly find a clear view of the definition of
idioms and some structures to recognize a comparison idiom, then will be a part related to
contrastive analysis; that is similarities and differences between english and Vietnamese
comparison idioms; lastly, some problems and solutions of studying idioms may be important to
learners.

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Definition of idioms
1. Definition
Idioms have become very popular with the linguistic learners; however; not everyone
can find the complete definition for this term. Each professor has his or her own
assumption and we, the learners, have to consider much when we want to apply those
idioms into study. For example, the Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics, idioms were defined as: an expression which function as a
single unit and whose meaning cannot be worked out from its separate parts..
Moreover, with the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the writer defines idioms
differently: 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.
As we have seen, definition of idioms is quite different between the Longman
Dictionary and Oxford one and maybe different from other books as well, but on
reflection, they do not have much conflict, all of those share the basic idea: they are
words, phrases or expressions that cannot be taken literally; when used in everyday
language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the
dictionary..
Learning them make understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun.
2. Structure used for comparing
Although we have worked out some definitions of idioms above, most of learners are
still confused with the question: How can we identify an idiom of comparison?.
Consequently, identification should be taken into consideration so as to have an
insight into different types of idioms of comparison. There are various ways of

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identifying based on different criteria because the exploration is quite hard and
unfeasible. Here are just two main ways that have been considered most:
Identification based on component words or phrases
Identification based on grammatical structure
a. By word and phrase
With this aspect, idioms of comparison can be divided into three groups:
Comparison with adjectives
This kind of comparison can be constructed as the following structure:
As + adjective + as + (a/an/the) Noun
It is used to describe the similarities between people, things or places. However, in this
structure, the similarities are exposed in a clear way, explicitly rather than other
structure. The meaning as well as the characteristics of the adjectives are conveyed
symbolically through some related things in our lives so that people can easily think of
when they come across those adjectives. For example: as sharp as razor, as innocent as
love, as unchangeable as the past, as jolly as a sandboy. In Vietnamese idioms, typical
examples of comparison are: nht nh th , en nh than, p nh tin
Comparison with verbs
Unlike adjectives, comparison with verbs has a different structure
Verbs + like + a/the + Noun
This structure is used with some certain verbs that have simple meanings, but when
taking part in forming an idiom, it can make the action mentioned clearer and more
explicable, emphasize the behaviours of the goals in each utterance, and give the reader
a deep understanding, easier to comprehend thanks to its simplicity. We can find some

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instances such as: crawl like a snail, fight like cat and dog, live like theres no
tomorrow.. Vietnamese idioms utilise: b nh sn, nh nhau nh ch vi mo, sng
nh khng c ngy mai
Miscellaneous comparison
Although many idioms follow a certain rule as being mentioned above with adjectives
and verbs as well, some kinds of comparison do not follow any regular patterns.
Consequently, the number of those kinds are just small; they are mostly used by the
native speakers in everyday spoken language to make their verbal communication more
and more vivid. Some structures that we may come across:
(Verb) + like/as + a clause
(Verb) + like/as + a verb phrase
(Verb) + like/as + a noun phrase
Like + noun + like + noun
Here are the idioms to exemplify: (to be) like a bull in a china shop, (to have) a memory
like an elephant, to look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards.
Vietnamese idioms utilise: nh hn gp ma ro, tin vo nh kh nh gi vo nh
trng.
b. By grammatical structure.
Despite lots of idioms of comparison based on grammatical feature, it can be divided
into three main popular kinds that have a comparative meaning with Vietnamese one.
Here is the table between English and Vietnamese idioms:
Table 1

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English and Vietnamese comparison idiom equivalents
English idioms
as A as B
as good as gold
as warm as sunbeam
Like/ as B
Like two peas in a pod
A like/as B

Vietnamese idioms
A nh B
Qu nh vng
Nng nh la
Nh B
Nh hai git nc
A nh B

Feel like a fish out of water

Nh c mc cn

To follow like a shadow

Theo nh hnh vi bng

Similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms of comparison

through culture.
1. Similarities
Each country has its own culture and tradition; as a matter of fact, idioms follow those
rules because as we have discussed above, the metaphor of idioms derived from the real
life, the real image. However, there are still some coincidences between English and
Vietnamese idioms of comparison. We can find the similarities in the way people think,
observe and express ideas through different cultures. To be more specific, here are some
English idioms that have exact Vietnamese equivalents:
English idioms

Vietnamese idioms

1.As black as coal

en nh than

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2.As black as ink

Ti en nh mc

3.As black as midnight

Ti nh m

4.As bright as day

Sng nh ban ngy

5. As big as an elephant

To nh voi

6. As blind as a bat

m nh di

7. As bold as brass

Mt dy my dn

8. As brave as a lion

Can m nh s t

9. As busy as a bee

Bn nh ong

10. As clear as day

Sng nh ban ngy

11. As clean as a whistle

Sch nh chi

12. As cold as ice

Lnh nh bng

13. As cunning as a fox

Gian nh co

14. As dead as a doornail

Cht ng nh tng

15. As dry as a bone

Tr nh xng

16. As fresh as a daisy

Ti nh hoa

17. As good as gold

Qu nh vng

18. As hard as nails

Rn nh anh

19. As light as a feather

Nh nh lng

20. As light as air

Nh nh khng kh

21. As pure as snow

Trong trng nh tuyt

22. As quick as lightning

Nhanh nh chp

23. As sharp as a razor

Bn nh dao co

24. As silent as the dead

Im nh cht

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25. As slow as a snail

Chm nh sn

26. As slow as a tortoise

Chm nh ra

27. As solid as a rock

Cng nh

28. As strong as an ox

Khe nh tru

29. As timid as a rabbit

Nht nh th

30. As white as snow

Trng nh tuyt

31. To stick like glue

Dnh nh keo

32. To cry like a baby

Khc nh a tr

33. Blood is thicker than water

Mt git mu o

hn ao nc l.
34. Be water off a ducks back

Nc u vt

35. Live from hand to mouth

Tay lm hm nhai

36. Out of sight, out of mind

Xa mt cch lng

2. Differences
Although we have lots of idioms of comparison that have share the same equivalence
between English and Vietnamese, linguistists have found some differences that are
originated from the differences among cultures as we have mentioned above. As a result
of that, it is better to have a look at some cultural factors. Referring culture, we cannot
deny its origin from history and geography of a country. Culture does not naturally
appear in peoples lives, but exist in a good interaction with people. It is rooted from
some important events in history or a milestone that has changed a generation. Moreover,
topography or terrain has affected much the modification of culture through culture, for
example, the idiom: as strong as an ox is more popular in the agricultural country

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where some strong animals like ox or bull are used for agriculture. Below is the table that
tells the difference between two different culture that we are discussing:
Table 2
Differences between English and Vietnamese cultures
Features
Climate

Vietnamese

English

Has two basic seasons: a

Changeable and

cold, humid winter and a

unpredictable

warm, wet summer.

Diverse range of latitude
and altitude
Topology

A verdant tapestry of

There are not many high

mountains, fertile deltas,

mountains, rivers, plains

forests, rivers,

or forests.

mysterious caves,
waterfalls and beaches
Terrain

Economics

Dessert terrain with

Highland zone in the north

jungles and tropical rain

and west, lowland zone in

forests

the south and east

Agriculture: the main

Industry instead of

economy of Vietnam.

agriculture is the main part

Some products are rice,

in economy

trees, fruits. It is related

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to aquaculture.
Husbandry

Food and drink

Pigs, buffaloes, poultry

Cow, cattle, sheep, horse,

and etc

poultry, etc

Rice is the main food in

Mostly, English people

Vietnamese meals. They

serve cereal and meat.

use chopsticks for eating.

They use knife and fork.

Tea is the traditional

Coffee is more popular.

drink.
Population

Religion

About 75 million people

Approximately

in Vietnam. 80% are

51,807,053. Over 90%

ethnics.

live in town

Buddhism

Christianism

a. Through lifestyles and living conditions

It can be seen very clearly that the Vietnamese idioms of comparison are strongly
influenced by the agricultural culture and two of the most popular symbols in most
comparison are rice and buffalo. Where as, English equivalents are based on farming
and its industry. Vietnamese people live mainly on the wet rice production. They
spend most of their lives in the field, in the sun as well as in the rain; work with some
simple tools and animals. Consequently, when making comparison by using similes
and metaphor, they certainly think of many things in their daily lives, the things that
are familiar and friendly with them and take those as the images in number of idioms.

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It can be taken from the example above: as strong as an ox (khe nh tru), live from
hand to mouth (tay lm hm nhai).
When mentioning agriculture, we cannot forget the contribution of buffalo in our
economics. Although nowadays we have lots of modern equipments that can replace
the buffalo in producing rice for people, buffalo is still an unforgettable symbol in our
economics. He is sometimes described as farmers friend and it is the truth that in
many proverbs and folk songs of Vietnam, we have:
Tru i ta bo tru ny
Tru ra ngoi rung tru cy vi ta
Cy cy vn nghip nng gia
Ta y tru y ai m qun cng
Bao gi cy la cn bng
Th cn ngn c ngoi ng tru n.
This song is very popular, from a child to an old person, all can sing this song at any
time. This song gives us quite a beautiful and vivid picture of the relationship between
human and buffalo. The farmer conveys the closeness and sentiment to his beloved
animal. Not only he is a friend but also a primary factor in production: Con tru l
u c nghip. Truly, in the past, without him, our country cound not exist until
now. He is like a precious thing that each farmer has to own because he can take over
from the lightest to the strongest work, which has helped the farmers a lot. For them,
buffalo is very strong and hardworking. That is also the reason why people often image
of a buffalo when referring to peoples strength.

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However, in England with nomadic culture, buffalo is not important to them, but horse.
Horse can carry heavy load, pull cart, plough, transport especially horse is much
faster than buffalo, which is very suitable for nomadic people to serve for their moving
lifestyles. As a matter of fact, strength in English culture is compared with horse: as
strong as a horse. The difference is not because the English people think that buffalo is
not as strong as horse, but it is the difference in the peoples concept, the way they
think or in another way: the cultural view. The culture of each country has made
people have distinguishable thinking about their lives. Moreover, those are also
revealed through many other idioms:
As dumb as a statue

Cm nh hn

As gentle as a lamb

hin nh cc bt

As fat as butter

Mp nh ln

Obviously, Vietnamese people do not know or are not familiar with those things such
as statue, lamb, butter. They are farmers, so they are much familiar with hn
(corbicular), ln (pig); meanwhile English get on well with butter or lamb, which are
suitable with their nomadic culture. One more example is that
As tough as leather/ old boots

dai nh a

In England, they often move from one place to another in cold weather. As a result of
that, leather and boots are very necessary for them to protect them the getting cold.
Furthermore, those things must be made as thick as possible so as to bring the best.
However, in a tropical country like Vietnam, we rarely use boots or leather but simple
shoes or thin clothes. Vietnamese people are mostly farmers, so working in the field is
unavoidable, especially wet rice production needs farmers to work in water during too

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many hours the environment has a lot of kinds of animal like a. The feature of
this animal is that it sticks absolutely strongly.
Some typical examples above has clearly shown the influence of natural and living
condition on the way of using idioms of comparison.
b. Differences with the same components
When making comparison using some idioms, it is not only just different in the way or
the image people use to compare through cross-culture view but the difference in the
meaning or the implication in each idiom based on the culture as well. Sometimes, with
the same borrowed idea, the same phrase but according to English people, it has
positive meaning, while Vietnamese consider it as negative meaning, or vice versa:
Same word, different meaning. Just take an example:
English

Vietnamese

As bright as day

R nh ban ngy

If we say this idiom in England, it just has the content: light, not dark; on the other
hand in Vietnam, it is not that, when a person saying this, he/ she means that there is
no suspicion here, everything is clear
Another example:
English

Vietnamese

As good as gold

Tt nh vng

English people use this idiom as a compliment on a well-behaved child, where as

Vietnamese ones take this instance as a saying about the quality of a product, a thing in
general.

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In conclusion, with some examples above, everyone can now have a good view of
another difference between English and Vietnamese idioms of comparison: in spite of
the same components, they still have quite different implication inside.
c. Differences with human components
Last but not least, lets have a look at the last component in idioms of comparison:
human component. It is not just borrowed from the animals or things in daily life but
also the human image. Certainly those are mostly the famous characters or people in
history, literature or even real life. They are so common with some special
characteristics that everyone can remember them when mention. For instance, as
describing a person who is very jealous, we often see the image of a woman named
Hon Th a character in Thuy Kieu story who had extreme and terrible jealousy,
sometimes cruel. So in Vietnamese idioms we have; ghen nh Hon Th. On the
other hand, to English, jealousy is compared with Othello a character in
Shakespeares play: As jealous as Othello.
Moreover, on depicting the state of being happy, English people say As happy as a
king because to them King is the one who can enjoy all the best thing in the world,
from a needle to an elephant. While in Vietnam, happiness is compared with the fairy:
As happy as a fairy. Although fairy is not real, she is just a product of imagination in
some fairy tales which is used to teach children and to bring happiness to everyone
with her magic, people also trust that a fairy can help them, evade the povertyetc. In
this comparison, English people are quite more concrete than Vietnamese ones.
Furthermore, it is true that the main religion in Vietnam is Buddhism. As a matter of
fact, some idioms of comparison are affected by some image heritage in Buddhism.

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For examples: As fat as Di Lac (Bo nh ng Di Lc), as untidy as La Han (by nh
ng La Hn), as gentle as Buddha (hin nh Bt)
In short, comparison using human components is easier to express or describe
something or somebody. The listeners will easily catch the ideas from the speakers in
an effective way. However, sometimes it is strange and difficult for foreigners due to
different cultures. Those images are typical in each country.

Problems faced by learners and suggested solutions

Idioms are now common in English speaking. We can find them easily on newspaper, in
magazines, on televisions, on radios or on some window shoppings. Consequently, if
we want to be Engling native-like and does not sound awkward, mastering idioms is
quite necessary. English people tend to speak differently to each other and to the others
from foreign countries. Sometimes it may be difficult for foreign people like us to
understand what an English wants to convey or imply. In this part, there will be some
discussions about the problems that Vietnamese people may encounter when studying
idioms. Moreover, it is essential to deal with some suggested solutions to improve the
teaching and learning idioms. To make it easier, we have divided them into two
commonplace problems: in understanding and in memorizing.
1. Learners and idioms understanding
a. Problems
Dealing with various grammatical structures
As being mentioned above, idioms of comparison have may kinds, maybe the
borrowed image is a word, or a phrase, or a sentence.so to understand all of them is

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quite a challenge. Learners should remember that there are a lot of different structures
for that. We might have regular structure, irregular structure or ingrammatical
structure.
First of all, with regular-structure idioms, they get the simple form so we do not have
much confusion when viewing those idioms; however, the meaning of each single
component in it has no relation with the meaning of the whole idiom, which may make
us misunderstand the implications inside. This kind is possibly the most chanllenging
to foreign learners. For instance, not many people can draw out the meaning of red
tape as bureaucratic method. Next, the irregular-structure idioms does not have any
difficulties because the meaning can be figured out comprehensively through the
meaning of components. Lastly is the case of ingrammatical-structure idioms, the
structure is not in the order as we have learnt, it does not follow the grammatical rules
and does not express the true significance by combining the meaning of each word.
Just take an example: with the idiom: be in on the ground floor, it is not reliable for
us to get the meaning basing on the the structure; it is exactly explained as: to be
involved from the beginning in something that is likely to be successful
Dealing with distinctive cultural features
Cultural gap is always the big obstacle for most foreign learners. To be more
specific, the culture of Vietnam and England are quite distinguishing as we have done
research in the previous part. If we do not get the tradition or the cultural value of the
other country, we surely find it a big problem to catch the meaning conveyed through
some idioms. Or else, if we can understand the meaning from that idiom, we are still
confused when looking for an equivalent in our mother tongue. For example, as cool

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as cucumber, we can grasp the meaning of this is to describe a calm person especially
in a tough situation; but translating it into Vietnamese is quite a hard work and it will
be a mistake if we translate word by word. Be aware of those things, the right answer
will be: bnh chn nh vi. Another instance, as alike as two peas, it is a big
mistake if we translate it ging nhau nh hai qu mn, in Vietnam we just have the
idiom ging nhau nh hai git nc (as alike as two drops of water).
b. Solutions
From the reasons that caused difficulties in understanding, we would like to suggest
some solutions that may be effective for certain people:
Firstly, surely that dealing with idioms needs the careful study in all situations.
Next, idioms of comparison should be learnt in a specific situation, a real context in real
life rather than learn them by heart. It will be the best if we often practice and use them
in the our communicative daily life so that the meaning will become more efficient.
Furthermore, it is crucial to try to guess the meaning of idiom before looking it up in
the dictionary. This is also a way of learning new words that many experts have advised
to to follow. Guessing gives us an overview of the idiom by basing on the meaning of
the word or using our general knowledge and then dictionary is just the last step to
confirm it.
Last but not least, knowledge of cultural values is a must, that consists of customs,
belief, concepts, behaviours, etc This was certainly the most hard work to do, for it
will take much of our time, culture learning is a long process, but applying this will
help us benefit a lot in grasping the implications when communicating with foreigners.

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2. Learners and idioms memorizing
If understanding is a problem to learners, memorizing is also another big problem. How
can we memorize those things that are not of our own country? How can we use it as a tip
of tongue when communicating with foreigners? In this part, three problems have been
conducted and along with it are some suggested solutions
a. Problems
A large quantity of English idioms
Every country has their large number of idioms which often make the foreigners scared
to study all, and so does English. We can take the evidence from the two most popular
dictionaries nowadays: Oxford (5000 entries) and Cambridge Idioms Dictionary (7000
entries) with lots of idioms divided into alphabet or sometimes to the topic (animals,
flowers, comparison). It is the large number of idioms that discourage learners to try
to memorize all of these things. In addition, idioms have changed according to the
change of life and society so as to be more effective for the users. As a result of that,
the number is about to increase days by days. In conclusion, such large number is one
of the causes that stop the people from learning them.
Infrequent use
It is unavoidable that Vietnamese students have a chance to study idioms at school and
in their lessons; however, they rarely apply what they have learnt in their daily lives. To
the people who are not English-speaking ones, learning idioms is a hard work and using
it is much harder, so most of them intend to use the ordinary expression instead of
idiomatic expression, which will take a lot of time for them to communicate. It is the

Comparison idioms 19
lack of enviroment practicing English idioms that leads to the consequence that not
many students can use idioms efficiently.
A shortage of learning methods
Method is always the key to completing anything, it is important to know how to go
rather than the finish end. Contrarily, Vietnamese learners as well as many other nonEnglish-speaking learners do not have a perfect method to grasp those difficult idioms.
Some choose to learn them as learning new words by writing them on paper with some
examples and learn by heart; others try to listen everyday with the hope that they can
remember easily. But those methods are not considered effectively because idioms are
related to real lives. The best way is that put those idioms in daily life. Idioms cannot be
separated from the contexts.
b. Solutions
First, there should not be any worry for the number of idioms. Even a native speakers
cannot remember all of them. The advice here is that try to memorize some useful ones
that is common in dialy communication. To be more efficient, the learners should
divide idioms into some sections as we have divided above: comparison with nouns,
verbs, adjectives so that it is easier for learners to make connection. Furthermore,
trying to use those idioms when communicating in daily life is a must. The more we
practice them, the more quickly we become a master of English idioms! Last but not
least, it is quite essential for Vietnamese learners to find Vietnamese equivalents if
possible. Despite the differences between two cultures, we still have some idioms that
can be easily changed into Vietnamese without changing meaning. For example: As

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light as feather (Nh ta lng hng), As fierce as tiger (D nh cp) thus those
translation can give the learners long time memory.

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Conclusion
Idioms are present in all languages, so studying them is in need. A person who does not know
how to use an idiom and just use individual word will not become confused when
communicating. That is one of the reasons that make non-native learners cannot get on well with
the native ones. Especially, using comparison idioms effectively can add flavour to your writing
and speaking as well as make you become a brilliant communicator, you can understand the
underlying meaning you want to convey. Through this essay, we hope that you can get a good
overview of all kinds of comparison idioms in English so that they can be used smartly and
flexibly. As mentioned above, ther are still some differences between English and Vietnamese
culture and people, which sometimes plays a role as a boundary in learning idioms. Some
Vietnamese students may find it unecessary to grasp those comparison idioms, and so do some
teachers. Therefore, based on some certain problems that we have found out of learning idioms,
there will be profound changes in the way of teaching and learning English idioms in order to
help Vietnamese students quickly integrate with other friends the world over.

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