1st semester 2011-2012

Why do we use the past tense?

Did you know that the conference has started?
Could you open the door for me?
I wish you would stop smoking.
I would rather you didnt talk in class.
If I were you, I would not do that.
I wish I were rich.
What is
an
idiom?
What is an idiom?
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
(Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary.
1995)
Can you predict the meaning of
this?

Loin des yeux, loin

du coeur
Other cases
To be at the crossroad
To run out of steam
The right hand man
The head of the company
Look up/ Feel up/ Feel down
 Questions
Why do we use past forms
in present time?
How do we predict the
meaning of idioms?
Conceptual metaphor
Defined as understanding one conceptual
domain in terms of another conceptual
domain.
Source domain: the conceptual domain from
which we draw metaphorical expressions.
Target domain: the conceptual domain that
we try to understand.
ARGUMENT IS WAR
defend defend
attack attack
demolish demolish
win win
lose lose
Shoot down Shoot down
Right on Right on
target target

Source domain: War Target domain: Argument

Structural metaphor
a conventional metaphor in which one concept is
understood and expressed in terms of another
structured concept.
Examples:
They are at a crossroads in their relationship.
This relationship isn't going anywhere.
They're in a dead-end relationship.
This marriage is on the rocks.
This relationship has been spinning its wheels for years.
Their marriage has really gone off the track.
Orientational metaphor
An orientational metaphor is a metaphor in which
concepts are spatially related to each other, as in the
following ways:
Up or down
In or out
Front or back
On or off
Deep or shallow
Central or peripheral
Orientational metaphor
Ex: HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN
I'm feeling up.
That boosted my spirits.
Thinking about her always gives me a
lift.
I'm feeling down.
I fell into a depression.
Ontological metaphor
An abstraction, such as an activity, emotion, or
idea, is represented as something concrete, such as
an object, substance, container, or person
Ex: THE MIND IS A MACHINE
He has a screw loose.
He slipped a cog.
I could see the wheels turning.
He churns out ideas.
MORE IS UP; LESS IS DOWN
They put up the price on that model by five dollars.
They brought their children up in the countryside.
Production went up at the plant by 15 percent.
The car sped up and passed the slow driver.
It's really heated up these past few days.
Can you turn the sound up?
The local economy has really picked up since the new factory was built.
The quarterly profits went down from the second to the third quarter.
Turn down that horrible music!
Please keep the noise down in this room!
It's really cooled down these past few days.
Computer prices have really come down recently.
POWER IS OVER/UP; WEAKNESS IS UNDER/DOWN

He was lording it over me.

The Emperor ruled over a vast area.
They have come up in the world.
She's been moved up to a more responsible job.
The police clamped down on drinking in the streets.
The rebellion was swiftly put down.
Prisoners are kept under constant surveillance.
We had to knuckle under and do what we were told.
THE PAST IS FAR; THE PRESENT IS NEAR
Could you open the door for me?
Its high time you stopped smoking.
Would you mind my staying here?
Did you know that Tom has arrived?
If I were you, I would take the job.
Coke versus Pepsi; Nike versus Reebok; Nintendo versus Sega -
the battle is on amongst the worlds top brands.
Aggressive competitive advertising has now reached fever
pitch; extra millions are pouring into R & D, and the market
leaders are under constant pressure to slash their prices in
a cut-throat struggle for market domination. When Philip
Morris knocked 40c off a packet of Marlboro, $ 47-and-a-
half billion was instantly wiped off the market. Value of
Americas top twenty cigarette manufacturers lesser brands
went to the wall. And thats just one example of how fair
competition within a free market has rapidly escalated
into all-out brand war..
Implications for teaching
Conventional knowledge plus conceptual
metaphor motivate meanings of idioms.
Explicit teaching of conceptual
metaphors help improve language
learning
Ts should try to get their Ss guess
meanings of idioms rather than do rote
learning.