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What is a literal idiom?

Updated: 4/27/2024
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Wiki User

12y ago

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There is no literal idiom -- an idiom is a phrase that seems to mean one thing but actually means something else. The word "literal" means to take the words exactly as they seem to be.
An idiom is a phrase particular to a language that is accepted for its figurative meaning, as in "That amazing shot blew me away." Everyone understands that this person means he was amazed. A literal idiom would be the usually humorous thing that happens when you take the idiom for its word for word, not accepted, meaning. That would mean that somehow the amazing shot actually created the air mass necessary to blow this guy away.

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12y ago
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2mo ago

A literal idiom is a phrase or expression that has a straightforward, concrete meaning that is different from its intended or idiomatic meaning. For example, "kick the bucket" is a literal idiom that means to physically kick a bucket, but its idiomatic meaning is to die.

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Q: What is a literal idiom?
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