Collocation, Idioms and Proverbs are the language usage related to the culture of the native language people. They are accepted by people in the same culture. For instance, an English idiom “black sheep” is the same as the Thai idiom “Nok Kok” which means an outsider or outside the stable. The reason is that countries in the western world, like the United Kingdom or the United States, are situated in the temperate area. Most people raise sheep for their consumption. Sheep wool is used to make clothing to protect from the cold climate. The majority of sheep has white color but small amount of sheep has black color. Thus, the British compare the black sheep to people having different beliefs of ideas from others in their society.

Thais use the idiom “Mok KoK” for children who are different from their family members. The reason is that the Thai society is mainly in agriculture. People raise cattles to use in the fields. The owners put them in the corral or “KoK” in order to keep them in the limited area. Therefore, those who stray out are called “NoK KoK”.

Both idioms mentioned may not have exactly the same meaning but they are similar. The translation or matching of Thai and English idioms is an art to find the closest pair for both meanings and deep understandings. The image used for communication may be different, depending on the culture and sociolinguistic factors of the language users.

Read through to review for studying the language pattern, meaning and the objectives of idiom and proverb that were translated from English into Thai language stress on the analysis of word selection, techniques of using meaning, kind and objective of idioms, proverbs and collocations. The details will be mentioned as follows:

2.1 Learning English Via Collocations

Collocations are the linking of words, including idioms ; necessary used together in the sentence that the native language people prefer to use. Collocations are Semantic feature but not Syntactic feature. Collocations are the group of words using together, for instance: “go to school”, “go home”, “Happy birthday to you!”, “pass by”, “pass away”.

These followings are groups of Collocations in various reading passages. If you always review, it will promote understanding, memory and the ability to use suitably in the language context. It will be very useful for you.

2.2 Learning English Via Slangs & Idioms

Slangs and Idioms in English play important roles in communication. Both slangs and idioms are widespread in daily life and media of entertainment, ie. dialogue, movie script, etc. They are informal language of native speakers. Some idioms belong to the specific group/colleague who shares common interest, ie. teenagers, athletes, housewives, etc. Therefore, some English communication are difficult to understand ; especially for the outsiders or persons who do not use English as their mother – tongue or the non – native speakers. However, in the era of borderless communication, learning and remembering of Idioms and Slangs are more beneficial to the users of English language.

In this unit, interesting Slangs and Idioms, valuable in terms of language, are brought to be the learning context for the development of student's capability in English. Students should understand, study and review by doing activities as follows:

1. Popular American Slangs

American English has an interesting idiom that you should learn to increase understanding in communication, especially for speaking, listening and reading as well as viewing various media. These idioms are as the followings :

ace / to succeed or to do well ประสบความสำเร็จ hit the road / to leave ออกจากสถานที่ใดสถานที่หนึ่ง blow or bomb / to fail ล้มเหลว hit the books / study ศึกษา hold your horses / be calm! สงบสติอารมณ์ ท้าใจให้สงบ have the blues / to feel sad รู้สึกเศร้าใจ jock / an athlete นักกีฬา buck / one dollar เงิน 1 ดอลล่าร์ the ' late '+ name / a term used when the person is dead บุคคล/ผู้ที่ล่วงลับไปแล้ว chill out or chill / relax or calm down รู้สึกผ่อนคลาย ท้าใจให้สบาย lemon / bad buy or purchase เสียเงินซื้อในสิ่งที่ไม่มีประโยชน์/ใช้งานไม่ได้ cool / great, well-done เยี่ยม once in a blue moon / infrequent นานๆ ครั้ง cop / police officer เจ้าหน้าที่ต้ารวจ Oops! / said after a small mistake ค้าอุทานเมื่อเกิดข้อผิดพลาดขึ้น A couch potato / a lazy person; one who sits and watches TV คนขี้เกียจที่วันๆ เอาแต่นอนดูทีวีและรับประทาน ขนมขบเคี้ยว A piece of cake / easy or effortless ง่ายมาก cram / to study feverishly before an exam ทุ่มเทอ่านหนังสือก่อนสอบ pig out / to overeat กินจุ pop quiz / an exam that is not announced การสอบที่ไม่แจ้ง/นัดหมายล่วงหน้า crash / to go to sleep; or to show up without invitation นอน / ปรากฎตัวโดยไม่ได้รับเชิญ rip off / overcharge or steal ขโมย down to earth / practical, simple ด้ารงชีวิตอยู่อย่างเรียบง่าย ติดดิน R.S.V.P / the formal reply to an invitation by phone or mail ข้อความตอบรับค้าเชิญ บัตรเชิญ Drive up the wall / to irritate ท้าให้ร้าคาญ Dutch or go Dutch / each person pays for his/her own meal ช้าระเงินค่าอาหารของตนเองเท่านั้น shoot the breeze / talk พูด คุย freak out / to be very anxious take a rain check / do at another time; postpone เลื่อนก้าหนด

2. Idioms

A Phrase of a group of word comes from linking words together, creating special meaning different from the old words. Idioms follow the grammatical principles of mixing words together, ie. verbs plus prepositions, nouns plus nouns, adjectives plus verb plus “ing”. These new phrases will have different meanings. These followings are examples of Idioms:

crocodile tears / a show of sorrow that is not really felt ไม่จริงใจ

easy - going / tolerant and relaxed เข้ากับคนอื่นได้ง่าย ท้าตัวเรียบง่าย

fed up with / disgusted or bored with someone or something รู้สึกหงุดหงิด

eat like a horse / eat a lot กินจุ

These are idioms usually found in dialogues, articles, news, story, movie scripts or play, novels and short stories. You should review and understand meanings for the usefulness and effective communication.

3. Common Idioms

Common Idioms which are used in general are as follows:

absent – minded : forgetful

My grandfather is very absent-minded and often forgets his key.

all ears : eager to listen to someone

Okay, I'm all ears, please tell me about the party.

all of a sudden : suddenly, without advance warning

All of a sudden it became cloudy and began to rain.

beat around the bush : speak indirectly or evasively

Stop beating around the bush and give us your final decision.

behind the times : old fashioned

My aunt is a little behind the times.

blow one's own horn : praise oneself

He is always blowing his own horn and is very annoying at times.

brand new : absolutely new

He was finally able to buy a brand - new car.

catch one's eye : attract one's attention

I tried to catch her eye but she didn`t notice me.

catch (someone) red-handed : find someone in the middle of doing something wrong

The policeman caught the boy red-handed when he was stealing the candy.

change horses in midstream : make new plans or choose a new leader in the middle of an important activity

They decided to change horses in midstream and that is probably why they lost the election.

change (one's) mind : change one`s decision.

He changed his mind and said that he would not go to the movie tonight.

come across : find something or meet someone by chance I came across an interesting story in the newspaper the other day.

come into fashion : become fashionable She says that although bell-bottom pants have come into fashion again, she will never wear them.

crocodile tears : a show of sorrow that is not really felt

He said that he was very sorry but his tears were just crocodile tears.

cry over spilt milk : cry or complain about something that has already happened

Don't cry over spilt milk. You can never change the past.

die out : die or disappear slowly until all gone

Dinosaurs died out millions of years ago.

doll up : dress in fancy clothes

She was all dolled up for the party at the downtown hotel.

do without : manage without something

If there is no sugar, we'll have to do without.

dressed to the nines (teeth) : dressed elegantly

The stars were all dressed to the nines (teeth) during the Academy Awards ceremony.

2.3 Learning English Via Proverbs

Proverbs are phrases or sentences with moral, doctrine, advice, comparison or facts accepted in general. Proverbs are part of spoken language, mostly found in the local literatures. Proverbs are short and easy to remember. The contents are related to the important facts of human experience recognized by people. They are valuable in terms of meaning ; hidden by virtue, ethics, culture and tradition, reflecting way of life, beliefs of people within community and local of various eras. Furthermore, proverbs have language value. There have interesting characteristics of language, such as : Sentence Forms, Types of Sentence and Types of Clauses, language for Comparison, language for the virtue, and the characteristics of art in written language used in proverbs, etc. Review these following proverbs to develop reading skills for the interpretation. Also, review the interesting grammar : Sentence Forms, Types of Sentence and Types of Clauses.

Lists of Common Proverbs

1. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Something that one already has is better than going after something seemingly more worthwhile that one may not be able to get. จงพอใจในสิ่งที่ตนเองมีอยู่

2. Birds of a feather flock together. People of the same sort of character or belief always go together. คบคนเช่นใดย่อมเป็นเช่นนั้น

3. Every cloud has a silver lining. If you say that every cloud has a silver lining, you mean that every sad or unpleasant situation has a positive side to it. If you talk about silver lining, you are talking about something positive that comes out of a sad or unpleasant situation. ชั่วเจ็ดทีดีเจ็ดหน

4. All that glitters is not gold. Do not be deceived by things or offers that appear to be attractive. ไก่งามเพราะขน คนงามเพราะแต่ง

5. Eat to live, but do not live to eat. Man was created for a divine purpose and he has a destiny with his Creator - he was not born just to enjoy food. กินเพื่ออยู่

6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. One should not risk everything he has in a single venture. อย่าฝากความหวังไว้กับคนๆเดียว

7. It's no use crying over spilt milk. It is pointless to feel remorseful over a thing lost that can never be found or a mistake done that can never be corrected or rectified. อย่าเสียใจในสิ่งที่แก้ไขอะไรไม่ได้

8. Still water runs deep. One who is usually silent and goes about his business quietly may be a very wise person. น้้านิ่งไหลลึก

9. Jack of all trades and master of none. a person who can do almost anything, but he rarely excels in any of them. คนที่มีความสามารถหลายด้านแต่ไม่เป็นเลิศด้านใดด้านหนึ่ง

10. Let bygones be bygones. One should consider forgiving one's and forget all the bad deeds done by others. ให้อภัยและลืมเรื่องร้ายที่ผ่านมา

11. Honesty is the best policy. Being honest is believed to be the best route to take. ความซื่อสัตย์เป็นสิ่งประเสริฐ

12. One man's meat is another man's poison. No two persons are alike - everyone has his own preferences, likes and dislikes. ลางเนื้อชอบลางยา

13. Practice makes perfect. It is believed that if one practices a certain skill often, he will excel in it. การได้ฝึกฝนน้ามาซึ่งสิ่งที่ดีเลิศ

14. Prevention is better than cure. It is better to be careful beforehand than to try to solve a problem after it has arisen. กันไว้ดีกว่าแก้ 15. Rome was not built in a day. Any great plan or big dream cannot be achieved overnight or easily. กรุงโรมไม่ได้สร้างเสร็จภายในวันเดียว

16. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. taking from one to give another. (This is quoted when one takes another loan to pay off an earlier loan.) ดินพอกหางหมู

17. Spare the rod and spoil the child. A child who is not punished and showed the error of his ways will become unruly. รักวัวให้ผูกรักลูกให้ตี

18. Speech is silver, silence is golden. Talk may be beneficial, but sometimes acquiescence may be the best option to take. พูดไปสองไพเบี้ย นิ่งเสียต้าลึงทอง

19. It takes two to make a quarrel. Both parties in a quarrel should share the blame or take responsibility for it; no one can start a quarrel all by himself. ตบมือข้างเดียวไม่ดัง

20. Strike while the iron is hot. Seize a good opportunity as quickly as possible. ตีเหล็กเมื่อยังร้อนอยู่