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ComparisonbetweenChineseandEnglishIdiomsAbstract:IdiomsexistinbothChineseandEnglish,andtheyhavebeenusedfrequentlyforalongtime.Furthermore,idiomsarefixedphrasesextractedfromlanguageoverlongtimeofusage.Althoughtheyareformedinshortphrases,forexampleidiomsknownas“成语”inChinese,whichhasonlyfouroreightletters,theirmeaningsareexuberantandconnotative.Therefore,theanalysisoftheidiom’susageandtheculturaldifferencesitreflectsissignificanttoeverylanguagelearnerandtranslator.Keywords:idiom;culture;comparison;differences1TheoreticalFoundationoftheIdiom1.1DefinitionsofChineseIdiomsAccordingto“ModernChineseDictionary”,“Chengyu”isfixedphrasesorshortsentenceswhichareconcise,havingbeenacceptedbycommonpeoplethroughyearsofusage.Accordingto“Cihai”,“Shuyu”(Idiom)isfixedphrasesorsentencesofalanguage,whichcannotbemodifiedarbitrarily.Itmustbeinterpretedasasemanticunit.Itincludessetphrases,proverbs,maxims,locutionsandtwo-partallegoricalsayings,etc.1.2DefinitionsofEnglishIdioms“LongmanDictionaryofEnglishLanguageandCulture”hastwodefinitionsofidiom:(1)aphrasewhichmeanssomethingdifferentfromthemeaningoftheseparatewordsfromwhichitisformed;(2)thewayofexpressiontypicalofapersonoragroupintheiruseoflanguage(SummersP.,1998:657).“TheNewOxfordEnglishDictionary”definesthatidiomis:(1)agroupofwordsestablishedbyusageashavingameaningnotdeduciblefromthoseoftheindividualwords;(2)aformofexpressionnaturaltoalanguage,person,oragroupofpeople(PearsallJ,2001:908).1.3TheRhetoricofIdiomsIdiomisthedistillateofthenationlanguageabstractedbypeopleduringalongpractice.Therearethreemainfeaturesofidiomrhetoric:abundantcomparisons,vividwordsandlivelycontrasts.First,simileisadirectcomparison,inwhichsubject,referenceandindicatorofresemblanceareallpresent.SuchastheChineseidiom“轻如鸿毛”andtheEnglishidiom“aslightasafeather”.Second,metaphor—useofawordorphrasetoindicatesomethingdifferentfromtheliteralmeaning.Forexample,theChineseidiom“口若悬河”，itdoesn’tmeantheriverhangonthemouth,butmeanssomeonewhospeakseloquentlyandvolubly.Third,metonymy—meanscorrespondenceorpartialsimilaritybetweentwothingsthatarecompared.Forinstance,“犬马之劳”meanstoseversomebodyfaithfullylikethedogorthehorse.“beinthepipeline”meansthatifaplanisinthepipeline,itisbeingdevelopedandwillhappeninthefuture.Fourth,analogyistocomparetwothingsorpeoplesothatdifferencesaremadeclear.“口蜜腹剑”literallymeanssomeoneishoney-mouthedbutdagger-hearted.Thatistosaythepersonistreacherousandhypocritical.“Tobitethehandthatfeedsone”alsousesthecontrast.Itmeanstotreatsomeonebadlywhohashelpedyouinsomeway.Fifth,exaggerationsuchas“垂涎三尺”exaggeratedmeansadroolwithgreatenvy.“Astreamoftears”meanssomeoneisreallyheart-broken.1.4ComprehensionofIdioms1.4.1TheComprehensiveDifficultiestotheLanguageLearnersIdiomshavethestrongidiomaticity,thatistosay,theidiomisaphraseorsentencewhosemeaningisnotclearfromthemeaningofitsindividualwordsandmustbelearntasawholeunit.(NidaEugene,2000:105)Therefore,sometimesidiomishardtounderstandbylanguagelearners,especiallyforthosesecondlanguagelearners.It’snotverydifficultforlanguagelearnerstounderstandtheidiomwhichiscomposedbysimile.SuchastheChineseidiom“轻如鸿毛”andtheEnglishidiom“aslightasafeather”,theyarecomposedbysimile.It’seasyforustoassociatethefeatherwiththelightthing.Butiftheidiomiscomposedbymetaphororotherkindsofrhetoric,therewillbesomedifficultiesforustolearn.SuchastheChineseidiom“青梅竹马”,theliteralmeaningisgreenplumsandbamboohorse,anditseemsthattheyhavenonerelations.Actually,thisidiomisusedtodescribethemostmatchingcouple.Thegreenplumsstandfortheperiodwhenboysandgirlsplaytogetherandthebamboohorsestandsforthechildhoodgamestheyplayed.Soasthesecondlanguagelearners,iftheydon’tknowthedeepmeaningofthisidiom,theymustbehardtoimagewhattheidiomstandsfor.AsanEnglishpoet,AlfredLordTennysonsaid,“Words,likenature,halfrevealandhalfconcealthesoulwithin.”(AlfredLordTennyson,2001:569)The“halfconcealed”isjusttheconnotativemeaningofwordsmaybemoreimportantthanwhatisrevealed,likethedenotativemeaningofwords,especiallyforthoseculturally-loadedwordslikeidioms.Idiomshaveacloserelationshipwiththeculturetowhichitisattachedthattheytrulyreflectthevaluesandphilosophyoflifeofthepeopleinthatcultureandarerichinculturalconnotations.1.4.2TheComprehensionoftheExoticIdiomsTherearesomeexoticidiomsintheChineseidioms.Suchas“以眼还眼”comesfromtheEnglishidiom“aneyeforaneye”.ThisidiomwhichcomesfromtheBiblemeansthatifsomeonedoessomethingwrong,theyshouldbepunishedbyhavingthesamethingdonetothem.AndanotherChineseidiom“诺亚方舟”,“Noah’sark”alsocomesfromtheBible.TheEnglishidiom“AnAchilles’heel”meansasmallfaultinapersonorsystemwhichmightcausethemtofail.ThisidiomisfromGreekmythology.Achilleswasamanwhowaskilledwhenhewasinjuredonhisheel,becausethiswastheonlypartofhisbodywherehecouldbeharmed.Therefore,idiomscanbeaneffectivetooloflearningculture.Andlearningcultureitemslikeidiomscanbeoneofthegoodexamplestolearnbothlanguageandculturesimultaneously.Learningidiomscanalsomakeuslearnmoreabouttheknowledgeofculturalbackground.2CompareChineseIdiomswithEnglishIdioms2.1SimilaritiesbetweenChineseandEnglis