Idiom: 1. A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)
Idiom: 1. a group of words which, when used together, have a different meaning from the one suggested by the individual words, eg it was raining cats and dogs
2. linguistic usage that is grammatical and natural to native speakers (Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006)
Looking at these definitions, it is clear to me why I resist making the often-requested video of English idioms in ASL. The only way to approach one is meaning-for-meaning. There are a few English idioms that have ASL idiomatic equivalences (TRAIN-GONE is a decent substitute for you missed the boat). Unfortunately, most of the time, the color is lost and only the menaing can be saved.
This intermittant series will explore English idioms and see if by determining meaning we can come up with options for how to sign them. I will use glosses as set forth in American Sign Language by Cokely and Baker-Schenk (known affectionately as "the Green Books").
If it turns out during this exploration I change my mind and video some options, watch this blog for youtube annoucements.
That's all for now! Happy SPring Break!
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