1. Idioms and Irony

2. Idiom
Idiom (n) –
1. any commonly used word or expression that has a figurative meaning beyond the literal meaning
For example, some common idioms that figuratively refer to death are…

3. Kicked the Bucket!

4. Pushing up Daisies!

5. Bite the Dust!

6. Idioms that Mean “It’s Easy”
a piece of cake easy as pie it was a breeze can do it with my eyes closed it’s not rocket science child’s play

7. Idioms from Baseball
batting a thousand swing for the fences striking out in the ballpark of… big leagues / bush leagues covering your bases out of left field getting to first base
100% perfect
give maximum effort
failing
approximately…
pro! / amateur!
ready for anything
completely unexpected
earning a kiss

8. Some Idioms People Still Use from Hamlet’s Soliloquy
there’s the rub to shuffle off this mortal coil what dreams may come slings and arrows
there’s the problem
to die
the afterlife
to endure the problems of life

9. Some Idioms from Shakespeare
to your heart’s content
haven’t slept a wink
in a pickle
in my mind’s eye
it’s high time…
rhyme nor reason
send him packing
laying it on thick
the long and short of it
into thin air
the green-eyed monster
a foregone conclusion
well read
forever and a day
good riddance

10. Idioms from Macbeth
a sorry sight as pure as snow screw your courage to the sticking place at one fell swoop fair play / foul play
an unwelcome aspect or feature
untouched and innocent
be steadfast
suddenly, in a single action
just and equal / dishonest and treacherous

11. What we expect to happen vs. What actually happens
Irony
What we expect to happen vs. What actually happens

12. Situational Irony
When we expect one thing to happen, but something unexpected happens instead

13. Situational Irony Umm…
shouldn’t a guy in a toothpaste advertisement… you know,
have teeth? ←

14. Verbal Irony
When somebody says one thing, but they mean something different

15. Verbal Irony Sure, she says she’s not ← alone… …but come on, she
← really means that she
is alone

16. Dramatic Irony
When the reader/audience knows something that the characters don’t know

17. Dramatic Irony He expects a pleasant ← distraction from life on a
desert island…
…but we know he’s
← going to be disappointed

18. Which Kind? Verbal Irony
I want to compliment you on your work, Dobbs. Tell me when you do some.
Verbal
Irony

19. Dramatic Irony Which Kind? We’re lucky we found this
piece of wood floating by.”
Which Kind?

20. Situational
Irony
Which Kind?

21. Which Kind? Situational Irony In “The Most Dangerous Game,”
Sanger Rainsford is a famous hunter,
but now he is the one being hunted.
Situational
Irony

22. Which Kind? Dramatic Irony
When Romeo finds what he believes to be Juliet’s dead body, he ends his own life, even though the audience knows that Juliet was just faking her death.
Dramatic
Irony

23. Which Kind? Verbal Irony
In Animal Farm, after Snowball gets run off the farm, Napoleon says that even though he pretended to hate the windmill, he was really in favor of building it all along.
Verbal
Irony

24. Which Kind? Situational Irony
When Tom Benecke, after rescuing his yellow paper, after narrowly surviving a ten minute foray on a narrow ledge, opens the door to go join his wife at the movies, the yellow paper flies out the window again.
Situational
Irony