Every language, whether primitive, ancient, medieval, pre-modern or modern possesses its own collection of wise, short, pithy and apt sayings accumulated from the nascent stage of its growth and development. These wise sayings, emerging as a group of words in current usage, are known as "Idioms" or "adages" and if they become longer ones as "proverbs." Thus, all the idioms may be regarded as words, phrases or expressions which are commonly used in everyday conversation by the native speakers of English. It is found that idioms are very often seem metaphorical thus making the language more colourful and attractive facilitating people to utilize them to express their ideas, opinions and sentiments more vividly as well as more briefly and with clarity. All these idiomatic pithy and apt sayings seem to offer advice to people about how to live in society and also have become successful in transferring some underlying ideas, principles and accepted values of a given culture or a society. Because of the fact that idioms serve as an image or mental picture, they become more appealing and vociferous. By learning English idiomatic expressions in the proper perspective will, in no uncertain terms, quintessentially as well as invariably help English-speaking people the world over to enhance and improve their knowledge and skills in their everyday conversational English. Particularly, in times such as the present day, where the flawless and flowery English Language and Communication evidently seems to fast deteriorating in its quality and versatility the world over, it should be the profound duty and conscientious responsibility, if not, the onerous task of the erudite scholars as well as educationists to make their appearance and endeavour to contribute their mite towards the propagation of all the spheres encompassing English Language and Communication in no mean magnitude. Thus, what you could see hereunder is a compendium of such idiomatic expressions in English with their simple meanings. However, it is reiterated that by no means this collection is comprehensive and exhaustive.
About the Author: Professor Vidanage P. Karunaratne is Research Professor of the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England and Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Parapsychology and Transcendental Anthropology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. His Ph.D. Thesis dwells on Parapsychology and Vampirology, first-ever in Sri Lankan Universities. He has taken time to pen down more than two dozens of books including Research Papers, Novels, True-Crime and Translations in English and also half a dozen books in Sinhalese.