Could anyone help me out here please? =).............?

Question

I want a book of some sort on all the common American idioms, expressions whatever because I want to increase my knowledge. I'm a native American(meaning I was born in the USA).

Because some people in california use phrases like "shine it on" or "Hollywood's a fishbowl". I know what they mean now but still.

Suggestions?

Answer 1

Here's the problem. Dictionaries like the one above are great if you want to know idiomatic phrases from 10 years ago (the one listed by Merlin2000666 above was published in 1997). But the English language is constantly evolving and idiomatic phrases pop up from pop culture all the time. Alot come from movies and television, while others will be regional. Any sort of book you would find would be out of date before it was finished printing. While I wouldn't feel right suggesting you watch TV and movies all day and night in order to pick up the lingo, it is a good place to start.

Answer 2

I will start by saying that I have never read any of these books but here are some that seem to meet what you want.

Common American Phrases in Everyday Context (Paperback)
by Richard A. Spears
Speak English Like an American by Amy Gillett
NTC's Dictionary of Everyday American English Expressions by Richard A. Spears
Speak American: A Survival Guide to the Language and Culture of the U.S.A. by Dileri Borunda Johnston
101 American English Idioms: Understanding and Speaking English Like an American by Harry Collis
These are all listed on Amazon.com

There is also this site of Common American Slang Expressions http://www.manythings.org/slang/

Hope this was useful.

Answer 3

Sounds to me like what you need is the online Urban Dictionary.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/

Books won't help you that much because informal language changes too fast for books to keep up. I found the UD to be a great help when reading blogs written by my young friends who are into popular music.

Answer 4

You could always use a slang dictionary. There is one on the net that is quite good. I included the link below.

Answer 5

there is a book here about it http://www.textbookx.com/product_detail.php?detail_isbn=039572774X

Answer 6

Duh.... you search in Google then:

http://books.google.com/books?q=American+idioms+book&ots=6C_a_Dofgc&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title

Answer 7

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