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Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 67
Explanation and Analysis—Confusing Idioms:
Throughout The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher repeatedly voices his distaste for most figurative language, claiming that all but similes appear as lies to him. Idioms appear to particularly irk Christopher, as he communicates through the following excerpt from Chapter 67:
[S]ometimes Mrs. Shears stayed over at our house and I liked it when she did because she made things tidy [...]. But she smoked cigarettes and she said lots of things I didn't understand, e.g., "I'm going to hit the hay," and "It's brass monkeys out there," and "Let's rustle up some tucker." And I didn't like when she said things like that because I didn't know what she meant.
Christopher includes these common idioms as examples of indirect human speech, which he finds frustrating to parse and understand. When people like Mrs. Shears use idioms, whether intentionally or not, they end up excluding Christopher from participating in conversation. This process is not only alienating for Christopher: engaging with indirect human speech drains his mental faculties, making him tired and more emotionally volatile.
Christopher's distaste for idiom translates into his own writing style. He uses figurative language sparsely. On the rare occasion he does, it is almost always simile—the one form of figuration, he claims, that is not lying.
Related Themes:
