Dictionary of Idioms by Mahesh Sharma

“It rained cats and dogs”, “I know where his shoe pinches”, “Yes, it was really a blessing in disguise”… These idioms are often used in common language in our day to day talk or even correspondence. Their usage makes the communication and message to be conveyed quite effective.
Dictionary defines idiom as “a group of words whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual words.” Idiom is a combination of words with figurative meanings. It often creates a picturesque image and that image conveys the meaning. For e.g. ‘where the shoe pinches’ the image automatically creates the image of pain and trouble and the place where there is trouble. Similarly, ‘add fuel to the fire’—it creates the image of fire blazing more and the meaning of aggravation comes out. The following example is widely employed to illustrate the point.