A comparative study on idioms containing the word dog in english, chien in french and chó in vietnamese

THESIS A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD DOG IN ENGLISH, CHIEN IN FRENCH AND CHÓ IN VIETNAMESE NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH THÀNH NGỮ CHỨA TỪ CHÓ TRONG TIẾNG ANH, TIẾNG PHÁP VÀ

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD DOG IN ENGLISH, CHIEN IN FRENCH AND CHÓ IN VIETNAMESE

(NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH THÀNH NGỮ CHỨA TỪ CHÓ TRONG TIẾNG

ANH, TIẾNG PHÁP VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

NGUYỄN BÁ TRẠI

Field: English Language Code: 8.22.02.01

Hanoi, 2019

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD DOG IN ENGLISH, CHIEN IN FRENCH AND CHÓ IN VIETNAMESE” submitted in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the process of fulfilling this graduation paper, I have received many necessary assistances, previous ideas and timely encouragement from my teachers, family and friends

First and foremost I would like to send my deep gratitude to Assoc Pro Dr Lê Văn Thanh, the supervisor of this graduation paper His detailed comments and useful advice have helped me shape my ideas and realize my aims He has also provided me with many useful materials as well as encouraged and created favorable conditions for me to fulfill this research Therefore, it is an undeniable fact that this paper would have not been completed without his invaluable support

Secondly, I would like to show my sincere thanks to Assoc Pro Dr Hoàng Tuyết Minh, the Vice - Dean of Faculty of Graduates Studies for giving me great guidelines and

a chance to do the thesis

Also, I would like to express my particular thanks to all the lectures of Faculty of Graduates Studies Faculty of Graduates Studies whose lectures have enriched my academic knowledge of English during the past four years

In addition, I warmly thank all my friends for their encouragement and precious assistance throughout the process of writing the thesis Their material and spiritual support

is a great driving-force for me

Finally, I am greatly indebted to my wife and my two children, who have encouraged and supported me to fulfill this graduation thesis

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 : Idioms expressing good points in English 51

Table 4.2 : Idioms expressing good points in Vietnamese 52

Table 4.3 : Idioms expressing good points in French 52

Table 4.4 : Idioms expressing bad points in English 54

Table 4.5 : Idioms expressing bad points in Vietnamese 55

Table 4.6 : Idioms expressing bad points in French 57

Table 4.7 : Idioms expressing neutral points in English 58

Table 4.8 : Idioms expressing neutral points in Vietnamese 58

Table 4.9 : Idioms expressing neutral points in French 59

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, English has been widely used in Vietnam It is also a compulsory subject

in many schools, colleges and universities It is clear that people who want to master English should grasp its idiomatic expressions among other things Obviously, to master a language, people cannot help studying idioms, one of the most valuable treasures of the language In daily communication, we can see the frequentappearance of idioms Anyone who much concerns idioms owns a very attractive and academic manner of speaking In written texts, as well, writers use many idioms Studying English idioms in comparison with two other language : French and Vietnamese, we can find the similarities and differences, which, therefore, help learners of English to understand and have a better use

of English idioms and French and Vietnamese ones Being interested in idioms for a long time, we choose idioms as my thesis topic Due to the limited time and knowledge, I just focus on a very small part of the huge idiomatic treasure, ‘Idiomatic expressions about

‘dog’ in English, French and Vietnamese’ There are some studies directly relating to idioms and idioms about animals Nguyen Thi Nga (2003), in her thesis with subject” A contrastive analysis on animal-based comparison idioms in English and Vietnamese” focused on the features of English idioms and made a contrastive analysis on animal-based comparison idioms in English and Vietnamese counterparts

Nguyen Thi Bao (2003) in “Ngữ nghĩa của từ ngữ chỉ động vật trong thành ngữ tiếng Việt (so sánh với thành ngữ tiếng Anh)”, presents an overview of idioms with animal elements

in Vietnamese and in English, the reference close to the semantics of the animal words in Vietnamese idioms comparing with those in English

Marie-Sophie Pausé (2017) develops a relatively delicate lexico-syntactic description of French expressions She also identify different structural, syntactic and lexical variations related to formal flexibility of idioms in her thesis :” Structure lexico-syntaxique des locutions du français et incidence sur leur combinatoire”

Theorically, these studies mainly focus on semantic and structural features, but not on cultural features In addition, there is currently no comparative study covering all three languages of English, Vietnamese and French

Practically, as a teacher of French and English, we found that students always face to difficulties in understanding idioms, in translating idioms from English to French and Vietnamese especially idioms about animals With the aim of presenting an overview of

idioms in general and idiomatic expressions concerning the word ‘dog’ in English, French and Vietnamese in particular, we hope it will partly help students and translators avoid difficulties in realizing and translating English idioms into French and Vietnamese and vice versa

1.2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is to help Vietnamese learners of English to master idioms containing the word “dog” in English, “chien” in French and “chó” in Vietnamese in terms

of semantic and cultural features effectively

1.3 Objectives of the study

The study, as entitled, focuses on the idioms containing the word “dog” in three languages : English, French and Vietnamese Therefore, the following objectives would be

1.4 Research questions

During the process of studying English and teaching French as a second language,

we find some difficulties in using idioms containing the word “dog” in three languages : English, French, Vietnamese This study, therefore, would try to answer the following questions:

1 What are semantic and cultural features of idioms containing the word dog in English,

dog in French and dog in Vietnamese?

2 What are the similarities and differences among idioms containing the word dog in English, chien in French and chó in Vietnamese?

3 What are implications for teaching and learning semantic and cultural features of idioms

containing the word dog in English, chien in French and chó in Vietnamese effectively

1.5 Scope of the study

In the framework of the study, this thesis does focus on the semantic and cultural

features of idiomatic expressions containing the word dog in English and two other

languages: French and Vietnamese The author would like to pay attention to the following issues :

- Restricted research of idioms containing words dog in English, French and Vietnamese

- Focus on making a comparative analysis of idioms containing the word dog in English

and those in French and Vienamese in terms of culture and semantic

- Find out idioms containing the word dog in English and their equivalent in French in

Vietnamese

- Express idiomatic meaning of idioms if there are not equivalent idioms

- Comparative analysis of meanings of components

- Difficulties met by students in studying and using idioms related to dog from English and

French into Vietnamese

- Data collecting from many sources as magazines, dictionaries, internet…

1.6 Significance of the Study

The results of the study will be of great benefit to the following:

Teachers of English Data given will provide the teachers with information on how to

teach and use idioms especially idioms which contains the word “dog” more effectively

Students This study will bring for students the background and useful knowledge about

idioms containing the word “dog” in English, the word “chó” in Vietnamese and the word

“chien” in French The content of the thesis will somehow be useful material for those who study English as second language and have certain interest in the idiom and its deep meaning Therefore, they can speak English more naturally and be successful in communication

1.7 Structure of Thesis

This study is divided into five chapters:

Chapter I, Introduction, includes the rationale, aims, scope, methods and design of the study

Chapter II, Literature review, is concerned with previous studies and the theoretical

background for the study It consists of semantics, the relationship between language and culture, and definitions of idioms in three languages

Chapter III, Methodology, is concerned with research methods, data collection, idioms

analysis and statistics

Chapter IV, Findings and discussion, includes literal meaning of the word “dog”, idioms

containing the word “dog” in three languages: English, French and Vietnamese, a comparison of idioms containing the word ‘dog’ in English with those of French and Vietnamese Therefore, we can find out the distinctive features of English and Vietnamese cultures about the ‘dog’ lying behind the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms containing the word ‘dog’

Chapter V, Conclusion, summaries of the issues discussed in the thesis

References comes at the end of the study

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous study

There has been a various collection of studies on idioms in the same field These thesis have rich and various content about idioms and idioms related to animals However,

they have not gone into depth study of idioms concerning dog in terms of semantics and

culture in English, French and Vietnamese Among these, the author choose some the most typical :

A contrastive analysis on animal-based comparison idioms in English and

Vietnamese (Nguyen Thi Nga, 2003, VNU-CFL) In the study, the author focused on the

features of English idioms and made a contrastive analysis on animal-based comparison idioms in English and Vietnamese counterparts The author found that, though the animal-based comparison idioms in both cultures use different animal images to express ideas, they semantically reflect the personal characteristics and status of people in the society during the course of historic development of the two nations According to her, many animals are positive in English but negative or neutral in Vietnamese and vice versa, which

creates a lot of interests for learners in accessing and analyzing them A study on some characteristics of structure, meaning and culture of English idioms about animals

(by Pham Thi To Nhu, 1998) The author provides some theoretical background about

idioms and made some comparison with other concepts such as collocations, proverbs In the main part, the author used the view of ‘new’ traditional grammar to classified English idioms from animals according to their structural forms Therefore, she found the semantic mechanisms, cultural characteristics of these English idioms about animals and contrasted

them with those of Vietnamese idioms Structure lexico-syntaxique des locutions du

français et incidence sur leur combinatoire (Marie-Sophie Pausé, 2017, Doctorat de

l’Universit´e de Lorraine) This thesis deals with French expressions It defines the notion

of phrase succinctly Its research was done in a lexicographic perspective The thesis defends the idea that a description of the phrases combining both the identification of the lexical units that compose them and the identification of the syntactic dependency relationships that unite the constituent units, will make it possible to predict their different possible uses in the sentence Such a description is only possible in a model of the lexicon describing precisely the combinatorics of lexias

The studies mentioned above are helpful to this study in terms of providing the theoretical background for the thesis as they are closely related animals and finding out the

major similarities and differences among idioms concerning animals in English, French and Vietnamese right in the thesis

2.2 Semantics

2.2.1 Definition

According to Lyon (Semantics, 1977) : “Semantics is traditionnally defined as the

study of meaning and this is the definition which we shall initially adopt” Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995) notes that semantics is the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning The two main areas are logical semantics, concerned with matters such as sense and reference and presupposition and implication, and lexical semantics, concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them

In general, Semantics means the meaning and interpretation of words, signs, and sentence structure Semantics largely determine our reading comprehension, how we understand others, and even what decisions we make as a result of our interpretations Semantics can also refer to the branch of study within linguistics that deals with language and how we understand meaning This has been a particularly interesting field for philosophers as they debate the essence of meaning, how we build meaning, how we share meaning with others, and how meaning changes over time

2.2.2 Kinds of meanings

2.2.2.1 Literal meaning

According to the website www.philosophy.hka.hk: “Literal meaning is a property of

linguistic expressions Roughly speaking, the literal meaning of a complex sequence of words is determined by its grammatical properties and the meanings that are conventionally assigned to those words The literal meaning of a statement should be distinguished from its conversational implicatve - the information that is implicitly conveyed in a particular conversational context, distinct from the literal meaning of the statement.”

For example, suppose we ask Anna whether she wants to go to the cinéma and she

replies, "I am very tired." Naturally we would infer that Anna does not want to go to the

cinema But this is not part of the literal meaning of what is said Rather, the information that she does not want to go is conveyed in an implicit manner Similarly, suppose we hear

Kate says, "Peter likes books" We might perhaps take Kate to be saying that Peter likes to

read But this is only the conversational implicature, and not part of the literal meaning of

what is being said It might tura out that Peter hates reading and she likes books only because she regards them as good investment But even if t his is the case, Kate's assertion

is still true

2.2.2.2 Figurative meaning

According to the website wvw.learnoutlive.com : "Figurative” has the same root

as “figure,” which is another word for a diagram, display; an image or illustration A

“figurative” meaning is a meaning that is not literal; the meaning used is not the meaning

of the word or phrase itself, but a different meaning implied by it This meaning is dependent on culture and history This is the “indirect” meaning”

For example, one expression for a bad excuse is “the dog ate my homework” The

reference is not usually to a child literally, that is, in reality, claiming that his homework was eaten by his family dog This excuse is considered representative of all bad excuses, because it is very unlikely a dog actually ate your homework! Far more likely is that you (or the child, rather) was lazy and unmotivated and simply did not work hard enough to finish the homework on time

“The dog ate my homework” therefore has a figurative meaning of “making a ridiculous,

bad excuse for failure.”

Words used in their “figurative” meanings like this are often called metaphors, because they point elsewhere for their true meaning; expressions, because they express an idea without having to be “literal” and therefore slower; and sayings, because they are

“things people say” to express ideas However, a “saying” is usually a complete sentence; metaphors and expressions can be smaller than a sentence

2.2.2.3 Components of meaning

2.2.2.3.1 Denotative meaning

The meaning of the word is very rich It reflects culture and tradition of each nation

in the most reliable way Hence, there are also many concepts of denotation

However, it seems quite difficult to give a clear out definition to them, for it possesses several meaning, which might cause us confusion According to Nguyen Hoa (2004: 98) stated, “Denotation is the ability of a word or expression to identify ail the objects covered by a word". For example, the denotation of the word “dog” corresponds to the set of canine animais that can be called “dog” Accordingly, denotation is the connection between words or expressions and parts of reality This denotative meaning is also called conceptual meaning as it covers the basic and

essential components of meaning which are conveyed by the literal use of the word For instance, the denotative or conceptual meaning of the word “needle” may include such basic components as t thin, sharp, Steel, instrument’ Denotation should be distinguished from reference.

Denotation discussed above is the conceptual component of the lexical meaning of the word So, the denotation of a word is invariant and utterance-independent Reference, on the other hand, is the relationship that holds between a word or an expression and the particular objects it refers to in the real world For instance, the word “computer” in the sentence; “There is something wrong with my computer now” refers to a particular computer in the real world It

is one member of the class or the set of things that the denotation of the word can convey and is understood on a particular occasion Therefore, reference is variable and utterance-dependent The object or thing that a word or expression refers to are called referent of that word or expression

2.2.2.3.2 Connotative meaning

The term 'connotation' is used to refer to the socio-cultural and 'personal' associations (ideological, emotional etc.) of the sign These are typically related to the interpreter's class, age, gender, ethnicity and so on Signs are more 'polysemic' - more open

to interpretation - in their connotations than their denotations Denotation is sometimes regarded as a digital code and connotation as an analogue code (Wilden, 1987:224)

In analysing the realist literary text Barthes came to the conclusion that 'denotation

is not the first meaning, but pretends to be so; under this illusion, it is ultimately no more than the last of the connotations (the one which seems both to establish and close the reading), the superior myth by which the text pretends to return to the nature of language,

to language as nature' (Barthes, 1974: 9) Connotation, in short, produces the illusion of denotation, the illusion of language as transparent and of the signifier and the signified as being identical Thus denotation is just another connotation From such a perspective denotation can be seen as no more of a 'natural' meaning than is connotation but rather as

a process of naturalization Such a process leads to the powerful illusion that denotation is

a purely literal and universal meaning which is not at all ideological, and indeed that those connotations which seem most obvious to individual interpreters are just as 'natural' According to an Althusserian reading, when we first learn denotations, we are also being positioned within ideology by learning dominant connotations at the same time (Silverman, 1983: 30)

Connotations are not purely 'personal' meanings - they are determined by the codes

to which the interpreter has access Cultural codes provide a connotational framework since they are 'organized around key oppositions and equations', each term being 'aligned with a cluster of symbolic attributes' (Silverman, 1983: 36) Certain connotations would be widely recognized within a culture Most adults in Western cultures would know that a car can connote virility or freedom

2.2.2.4 Denotation of the word “dog” and expressions containing the word

“dog”

In Vietnamese, the animal with four legs, long face, sensitive nose, keen ears, long

tail, reared to watch house is called ‘dog’ (chó), with a very popular sentence ‘Nhà bà có

con chó đen, Người lạ nó cắn người quen nó mừng’ (Her family has a black dog which

barks when seeing strangers but feels happy when seeing acquaintances) One of the most typical characters of the dog is his/her voice ‘bow-wow’ (gâu gâu), therefore, she/he is often named ‘con gâu’ (bow-wow animal) Besides, the ways people call their dogs can also become their funny names: ‘tun tun’, ‘lu lu’, ‘lêu lêu’, ‘êu êu’ Many others call the dog ‘mich’ or ‘tuma’

The word ‘dog’ can also be used in some phrases and combined words such as: fennel’ (a kind of chrysanthenum), ‘dog-tooth’ (pyramid architecture), ‘dog-trot’ (amble/pace), ‘dog’s-tooth’ (lily), ‘dog’s-tongue’ (dog’s-tongue tree), ‘dog’s-tail’ (goose grass), ‘dog’s-grass’ (Bermuda grass), ‘dog-salmon’, etc To sum up, the English quite like using the features of parts of the dog’s body to name other objects Like this way, the Vietnamese also say ‘cây cứt chó’ (a kind of plant), ‘rau húng chó’ (common basil)

‘dog-In ancient Vietnamese, there are also other nouns referring to the word ‘dog’ such as

‘cẩu’ (‘hải cẩu’ (seadog, seal), ‘linh cẩu’ (hyena) and ‘khuyển’ (‘khuyen dương’, ‘khuyển mã’ (dog and hose or loyal servant), ‘khuyển ưng’ (dog and bird) In a certain circumstance, reminding the image of the dog, ‘tuất’ is used instead (‘tuổi tuất’ (born in the year of the Dog), ‘năm tuất’ (the year of the dog) Cún con (Puppy) is a word used for

a cute baby or a lover, and sometimes a dog may be treated as a member of the family

‘Dog paddle’ is a swimming style that amateurs use, and a ‘dog circus’ is a performance

of the dogs’ intelligence and cuteness which attracts many audiences

We take an example of the year 2006 It was the year of the dog, an animal closely associated with human life and appearing frequently in Vietnamese culture Of the twelve Asian horoscope animals, the dog appears most frequently in Vietnamese culture, such as

poem, literature, and especially proverbs and idioms, due to its positive characteristics of intelligence, and usefulness

A Vietnamese saying, “chó giữ nhà gà gáy sáng” (Dogs protect homes, roosters show

time) highlights the usefulness of the animal However, the crowing cock usefulness is

negated in another proverb, “vắng chủ nhà gà vọc niêu tôm”(When the householder is not

at home, chickens put the kitchen in disorder)

Only the dog never causes any complaints Owners can trust their dogs to take care

of the home protecting it from thieves when they are away, and as active hunters, dogs also

help their masters and protect them when they are in danger “Chó trong nhà, gà trong

chuồng” (Dogs are in the home, chickens are in the coop) is a saying about the true loyalty

of family Although a master may not come home for several years, the dog will still recognizes its boss and welcome him warmly In addition, with a sharp-nose, dogs help people in matters of security and rescue Dogs are useful in a multitude of ways

In French, the word "dog" is used in various expressions such as: avoir du chien (to have dog) : to have some distinction and charm; entre chien et loup (between dog and wolf)

: It refers to dusk; garder un chien de sa chienne (keep a dog from his female dog) : a familiar expression meaning to promise himself a future revenge; chien écrasé (crushed

dogs) : rubric of insignificant facts in a newspaper; malade comme un chien (sick as a dog)

: to be very sick and suffering; se donner un mal de chien (to give yourself a dog's pains) : to work hard on something; temps de chien (dog weather) : uncomfortable meteorological weather (rain, for example); vie de chien (dog’s life): difficult and complicated life; chien

de mer (dogfish) : small shark

2.2.2.5 Connotation of the word “dog” and expressions containing the word

“dog”

Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which

it describes explicitly Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings, in addition to their literal meanings or denotations

Example : He’s such a dog

This sentence suggested meanings is shaped by cultural and emotional associations:

In this sense, the word dog connotes shamelessness, or ugliness

Although nearly all aspects of “animal culture” may be potential motivation sources

for popular phraseology, the scope of their functional usage prevails In traditional symbolics the sphere of popular spiritual culture - mainly some magic practices, myths, legends, popular superstitions and beliefs — plays a more substantial role

The dog and the spiritual culture nature as a source of inspiration is significant in predominantly agrarian societies for all genres of popular culture, but maybe the concurrent influences of philosophical and religious teachings are the reasons why this source of inspiration is significant in three countries (England, France and Vietnam) for all kinds of spiritual and artistic activities Starting from the very beginning, the primary cosmogonic conceptions (from primeval totemistic imaginings and cultish

The dog is always a typical image for people to make idioms The word dog is favorable in its connotation in the English language because most English-speaking people think dogs are people's faithful friends which stand for bravery, loyalty and cleverness We

often hear idioms like these: a lucky dog; Every dog has its day means every person will some day succeed or become fortunate; To help a lame dog over the stile means to help someone in difficulty; An old dog barks not in vain means the old people are experienced

These dogs refer to lucky people and don't have a derogatory sense However, the images

of dog are not that lucky in Vietnam though Vietnamese people think dogs are man’s faithful friends In most Vietnamese phrases, dog is associated with some derogatory

connotation For example, chó ngáp phải ruồi (good luck or success which come suddenly and makes others unbelievable), chó già giữ xương (old leaders do not want to leave their

post), chó chui gầm chạn (someone does not have job and depend on others to live) etc In

addition, sometimes, the images of dog have to be dropped for translation, as it is hard to

find any animals that have a similar connotation For example, “It is raining cats and dog”;

My dogs are killing me; under the black dog; dog someone's footsteps, etc When we want

to say someone depends on their advantage and aggressively bully people, without any

interpretation, we immediately say: Chó cậy gần nhà" (Dogs near the house : to talk about

cowed person); then when it comes to having wealth to know how to preserve, people just need to say, "Dog with cat", that is to understand Uncle dog is the animal favored by people!

In the treasure of Vietnamese proverbs and idioms, at least 70 sentences appear images of dogs Animals that are close and attached to humans are sometimes appreciated,

compared to humans: “Chó dại có mùa, người dở quanh năm" (Rabies have seasons,

people are foolish all year round That means only those who are foolish are foolish all year round, right? dogs are only rabid), but sometimes they are considered to be nothing In

most of the idioms have taken the image of the dog to refer to the bad people, the gesture

is not beautiful For example, when it comes to the image of a mother who is cruel to her child, the idioms says: "Bite a bitch", or when it comes to aggressors and indiscriminate fighters, we say: "Dogs need to bite their rabbits" And someone else who is poor, extremely badly harmed, exploited more - dishonest people do harm to poor people, one

immediately remembers the image of a dog in: “Chó cắn áo rách" (Dog bites a torn shirt)

These metaphorical expressions have to be translated correctly in order to convey the right information Otherwise they will cause communication barriers

In French language, The dog has been the companion of man for millennia That's why, its valued statuses have been the subject of older expressions His physical appearance has not been the subject of frozen jobs, because the physical aspect of the animal is not remarkable

On the other hand, expressions relating to his behavior is very numerous and varied, because of the familiarity of the animal with the man The dog word can refer to human types, social types, by reference to the role of the guard dog of the house, person exercising supervisory functions under the control of a higher authority:

Chien de caserne, de quartier (adjutant), chien du commissaire (Secretary of the Police

Commissioner), chien de cour (supervisor in a high school)

The word dog, out of its natural use for a domestic canine, can be either an insult to someone despicable, or an adjective with a meaning close to 'rogue' or 'scoundrel' And it

is probably this second meaning that is at the origin of the expression that appeared during the second half of the nineteenth century When French people treat them badly, physically

or emotionally, they have idiom : traiter quelqu’un comme un chien (to treat someone like

a dog) To talk about bad attitude, ill temper : caractère de chien (dog’s personality) To

be in a very bad mood : Être d’une humeur de chien (to be in a dog’s mood) To be in a lot

of pain or to be doing something very difficult : Avoir un mal de chien (à faire quelque

chose) (to have a dog’s pain)

A way of thinking about culture is to contrast it with nature Nature refers to what is born and grows organically (from the Latin nascere "to be born"); culture refers to what has been grown and groomed (from the Latin colere "to cultivate")

(Kramsch, 2000: 4)

According to Goodenough's famous definition (1957: 167), the term "culture" is used

in the sense of whatever a person must know in order to function in a particular society Society's culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate

in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept for any one

of themselves

Culture, therefore, is the "know-how" that a person must possess to get through the task of daily living; only for a few does it require a knowledge of some, or much, music, literature, and the arts

Some scientists also compare the nature of culture to an iceberg, which is mostly hidden under water The part of culture that is exposed is not always that which creates cross-cultural difficulties; but the hidden aspects of culture have significant effects on behavior and on interactions with others

2.3.2 Characteristics of English, Vietnamese and French cultures

Culture has a great influence on the origin and development of language This is the season why content of language is closely linked to culture Besides words and expressions, idioms are considered as special language units because they reflect cultural characteristics of different countries

2.3.2.1 Characteristics of British culture

The United Kingdom, constitutional monarchy in Northwestern Europe, is officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Great Britain is the largest island in the cluster of islands, or archipelago, known as the British Isles England is the largest and most populous division of the island of Great Britain, making the South and East Wales is on the West and Scotland is to the North Northern Ireland is located in the Northeast corner of Ireland, the second largest island in the British Isles Among these four cultural regions, the English culture is considered a representative and often used to refer

to the entire country's culture

To other Europeans, the best known quality of the British, especially of the English

is "reserve" They are people who often keep certain distance to strangers, do not talk much

about themselves, do not show much emotion and seldom get excited This fact tends to give their communicators the impression of coldness

Apart from "reserve", a typical English man is expected to be modest and humorous Any self-praise is felt to be ill-bred and it is ideal to laugh at oneself- at one's own faults, one's own failures and embarrassment He also tends to expect those characters in others and distrusts exaggerated promises and shows of affection, especially if they are expressed

in flowery language

Politeness is a hallmark of British society though their habits of politeness are on the whole very informal There are no complicated greetings, for instance, a simple "good morning" or a cheery wave of the hands across the street is quite satisfactory; handshakes are only exchanged on a first introduction, or on special occasions, or as a token of agreement or congratulation All politeness is based on the elementary rule of showing consideration for others, and fitly acknowledging the consideration they show to you

Moreover, sportsmanship is highly valued in Britain with rules showing generosity

to one's opponent and good temper in defeat It is also an ideal that is applied to life in general This is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech One of the most elementary rules of life is "never hit a man when he's down", in other words, never take advantage of another's misfortune

In short, we can say that although the United Kingdom covers only a small area of the earth surface, the British, on the one hand, represent people of many different origins and cultures; on the other hand, they are very different in some ways from people of other continents

2.3.2.2 Characteristics of Vietnamese culture

The Vietnamese culture is said to be an agricultural one with the most distinguishing products as rice, vegetables and fish Living in an agricultural country created democracy and hierarchy, unity, and collective and independent spirit in Vietnamese people They are also greatly affected by Yin and Yang philosophy, clearly expressed in harmony tendency between people with people and with the nature In their social and communicative relationships, the Vietnamese prefer feelings to reasons, spirit

to material, subtlety and reserve to rough and violence In their spiritual life, they idolize fertility- a belief praises multiply with the genitals as its symbol

Though at any development period, to every Vietnamese person, motherland is the most miraculous and nothing can compare to it They have fought for centuries, against a lot of enemies, to protect and hand it down to their ancestors The second distinguishing feature when talking about Vietnamese cultural identity is the durable relationship between individuals and their family, between families and village, and to a broader term, the motherland Generally speaking, Vietnamese people are those of duty and responsibility Another feature of no less importance is the personalism in Vietnamese culture, which is opposite with individualism in Western culture Vietnamese people are those of various and diversified relationship and strongly controlled by such complicated relationships In the Viet community, to a person's children, he is a father; to his wife, he is a husband; to his grandparents, he is a nephew; to his neighbors, he also a family's child and a member

of a large family

In general, Vietnamese culture is an undetechable part of South-East Asian culture space with typical features of a wet-rice civilization and Vietnamese people are said to be very hard-working, brave and faithful in their living and behaviors

2.3.2.3 Characteristics of French culture

France, and more specifically its capital city of Paris, has been a high culture center dating back to the 1600s in most of Europe In the 1900s the French culture and its high society appeal spread to be known throughout most of the world France has also played

an important role in cuisine, fashion and cinema, beginning in the late 1800s There are several different regional languages throughout France including Breton and Alsatian, Occitan and the Basque language which is in no way related to French Because France maintains freedom of thought and religion, as established in the Declaration of the Rights

of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, there are several different religions practiced in their country French cuisine is world famous and plays a strong role in the country's reputation for high culture, as is the strong connection to high style fashion

Most people associate French culture with Paris, which is a center of fashion, cuisine, art and architecture, but life outside of the City of Lights is very different and varies by region

In France the word "culture" actually comes from France "'Culture' derives from

the same French term, which in turn derives from the Latin colere, meaning to tend to the

earth and grow, cultivation and nurture," Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London, told Live Science

Historically, French culture was influenced by Celtic and Gallo-Roman cultures as well as the Franks, a Germanic tribe France was initially defined as the western area of Germany known as Rhineland but it later came to refer to a territory that was known as Gaul during the Iron Age and Roman era

2.4 An overview of idioms

2.4.1 Definition

Words have their own meanings They, however, do not just come individually; they also come in expressions or in groups Idioms are among the most common of these expressions And it is impossible to master a language without learning idioms – a very important part of the language What is an idiom? The question may have many answers

Many linguists such as Robins (1989), Palmer (1981), Jackson and Amvela (1998) and others consider idioms as a special kind of collocation The meaning of an idiom, however, can not be deduced from the meaning of its constituents An idiom is distinguished from a collocation, for a collocation is a sequence of lexical items which habitually co-occur and each lexical constituent of a collocation is a semantic component Hornby (1995) argued in his Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, an idiom is “a phrase

or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit” Sharing the same point of view, Seidl and Mordie (1988) defined “an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean something different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone” For instance, the

collocation of kick and the bucket forms an idiom meaning die, which is not systematically determinable from the meanings of kick and the bucket This idiom or phrasal lexeme is formally identical with the phrase kick the bucket whose meaning is systematically determinable on the basis of the meaning of the lexemes of which it is composed – hit a

certain type of container for liquids with their foot

Here are some more definitions of idioms:

- “An expression which functions as a single unit and whose meaning cannot be worked out from its separate parts”

(Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 1992)

- “An idiom is a fixed group of words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used in daily speaking”

(Hoang Van Hanh, 1994: 21)

- “An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning of several words”

(Dictionary of English Idioms, 1979)

As can be seen from the above definitions, there are different ways of defining an idiom In general, most of the linguists share the same point that an idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning can not be worked out by looking at the meaning of its individual words As a result, learners often get stuck or confused when guessing the meaning if a certain idiom They should consider the idiom as a whole to find out the meaning but separating each element of the idiom

2.4.2 Semantic features of idioms

Technically, an idiom is a kind of lexical unit in which the whole meaning of the expression is not apparent from the meanings of its components It is undoubted that meaning

is the most important factor when talking about semantic feature of idioms Figurative meaning is the basic characteristic of idioms which helps to decide whether a fixed expression is an idiom or not.

In terms of semantics, Kramsch (2000, p.63) indicates “The meaning of an idiom

was the special chemical mixture of the meaning of all components, which is completely new in quality” This means that it is important to understand idioms metaphorically We

cannot often discover the meanings by looking up the individual words in a dictionary when translating idioms Most of the idioms are of metaphorical meanings rather than literal ones

Let’s see following examples:

A bolt from the blue means some unexpected bad news

To take one’s medicine is to accept the consequences or the bad fortune that one

deserves (alludes to having to take unpleasant-tasting medicine)

The above examples reflect the meaning of idioms cannot be understood via the components and they are far from the same as that of the set phrase

According to A.V Kunin (2006, p.76), however, “The meaning of an idiom is either partly (motivated idioms) or completely different from the meaning of all components (non-motivated idioms)” In case of any partial difference, their figurative meaning is not

different from the literal one, for instance, let sleeping dog lie, work like a dog, to be like

a dog with a bone, a dogs breakfast, etc The meanings of these idioms can be guessed from the meaning of their components

Semantic features of idioms containing the word dog is that they can convey positive,

neutral or negative meanings

Some idioms have positive meaning, namely, Be like a dog with two tails (To be very happy, or to show great pleasure), Run with the big dogs (To say that you are capable

of running alongside the top performers), Puppy dog eyes (A way of describing someone

who is using their eyes or an appealing cute expression to try and appeal to your better nature), Dogbody (to describe someone who does all the work) etc

Idioms with neutral meaning include Doggy bag ( to ask for a bag in which to take home the remains of your food in a restaurant) Dog and bone (to describe a telephone), In

a dog's age (A way to say a very long time), etc

Examples of idioms with negative meaning are A hang-dog air (to describe someone

who has a shame-faced expression), To lead a dog's life (To say that someone has had, or

is having a very miserable time), Done up like a dogs dinner (Usually too fussy or silly for

the occasion), etc

2.4.3 Classification of idioms

As far as types of idioms are concerned, according to Fernando (1996: 35), they can

be classified into three sub-classes: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms

- A pure idiom is ‘a type of conventionalized non-literal multiword expression’ e.g

‘kick the bucket’ having nothing to do with ‘kick’ and ‘bucket’

- A semi-idiom (or partial idiom, in Palmer’s term) has one or more literal constituents and at least on with a non-literal sub-sense, usually special to that co-occurrence relation and no other, e.g ‘rain cats and dogs’ (meaning ‘rain heavily’)

- Literal idioms, such as ‘on foot’, ‘on the contrary’ and others, meet the salient criterion for idioms: invariance and restricted variation, but their meanings can be deducible from the literal meanings of their constituents

According to Cowie, Mackin and McCaig (1993) in Oxford Dictionary of English idioms, Oxford University Express, English idioms have the enormous structural variety The majority of entries can be classified under two general headings: phrase idioms and clause idioms They consist of several dominant sub-categories:

The most common clause patterns spanned by idioms are:

- Verb + complement: ‘go berserk’

- Verb + Direct object: ‘ease somebody’s mind’

- Verb + Direct object + complement: ‘pain the town red’

- Verb + indirect object + direct object: ‘do somebody credit’

- Verb + direct object + adjunct: "keep the wolf from the door’

The idioms may be a noun phrase, an adjective phrase, a verb phrase, a prepositional phrase, an adverbial phrase, and an interjection:

- Idioms as a noun phrase: ‘Dog’s dinner (over dressed in a showy way)

- Idioms as an adjective phrase: 'As good as gold’ (generous, helpful, well- behaved)

- Idioms as a verb phrase: ‘Get to the bottom of things' (find the true explanation or the state of affair)

- Idioms as a prepositional phrase: ‘ On cloud nine’ (extremely happy)

- Idioms as an adverbial phrase: ‘At a nail’s pace ’ (very slowly)

- Idiom as an interjection : “Take your time” (to use as much time as one needs or desires)

2.4.4 Idioms and culture

Idiomatic expressions are curious in their function within language as they mean more than what each word denotes Even if idioms are metaphorical and figurative, once understood they serve as a palpable and distinct feature of any language They allow the speaker to express themselves, articulating certain sentiments without explicitly saying so Furthermore, they offer cultural understandings into societal standards, principles, and beliefs Idioms allow us insight into the thoughts, emotions, and views of the speaker’s background Language and culture are inextricably connected

It can be said that culture has a great influence on the origin and development of language Content of language is closely linked to culture Besides words and expressions, idioms are considered as special language units because they reflect cultural characteristics

of different countries

In general, idioms in both English and Vietnamese are fixed groups of words which have settled forms and figurative meanings and reflect their own nation's culture values, including material and spiritual values

2.5 Summary

In this chapter, we have concerned with the literal meanings, figurative meaning in

English as well as the denotation and the connotation of the word “dog” and expressions containing the word “dog” Therefore, we can have a general view about the semantics in languages Furthermore, we take an overview of characteristics of culture as characteristics

of English, Vietnamese and French cultures

There have been a lot of authors whose studies generally relate to idioms However,

no studies directly relating to idioms containing the word “dog” in three languages : English, French and Vietnamese are known to us This is the reason why we carry a study

on this research topic Although English, French and Vietnamese idioms have some different features about structures, meanings, functions as well as origins, they all have some similarities

In three languages : English, French and Vietnamese idioms can be classified due to parts of speech, topics or origins However, idiom categories basing on their grammatical functions are quite common Each group of idioms has its own semantic feature and can form sentences This is the reason why idioms can function as words Idioms in three languages are quite multiform and flexible Therefore, we can not understand idioms clearly without understanding the culture of each country

CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES

3.1 Research Design

With the aim of reaching the goal of the study, quantitative and qualitative approaches will be carried out

According to John W Creswell : “Qualitative research is an approach for exploring and

understanding the meaning individuals or groins ascribe to a social or human problem The process of research involves emerging questions and procédures, data typically collected in the participant’s setting data analysis inductively building from particulars to général themes, and the researcher making interprétations of the meaning of the data The final written report has a flexible structure Those who engage in this form of inquiry support a way of looking at research that honors an inductive style, a focus on individual

meaning and the importance of rendering the complexity of a situation” and “Quantitative research

is an approach for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables These variables, in tum, can be measured, typically on instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procédures The final written report has

a set structure consisting of introduction, literature and theory, methods, results, and discussion Like qualitative researchers, those who engage in this form of inquiry have assumptions about testing theories deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for alternative explanations, and being able to generalize and replicate the findings

Then, the collected data will be qualitatively analyzed, compared and generalized

to highlight their characteristics

3.2 Research Methods

This study is to be conducted as a descriptive study that utilizes both quantitative

and qualitative approaches The quantitative analysis is employed through the process of

data collected from various sources as thesis, books, magazines, website sources and aloud reports to examine the differences and the similitaries of idioms especially idioms containing the word “dog” in three languages The meanings of idioms, in accordance with their syntactic and semantic features, are described and interpreted with means of

think-descriptive method and a powerful source of dictionaries and document In addition, the

qualitative one is used to deal with the data collected from interviews with a lot of

professors The combination of these data collection methods will help the author achieve

the aims of the study

What’s more, the contrastive method is applied to draw out the similarities as well

as differences of English, French and Vietnamese idioms according to their syntactic and semantic features Statistical and observational methods are also used to find out essential

findings The descriptive method examines with a particular focus on knowledge of idioms

and translation The researcher’s goal is to collect factual evidence and information that

give reader a comprehensive perception of idioms The comparative method will be used

to indicate the similarities and differences of idioms containing the word “dog” between

English, French and Vietnamese in order to transfer them correctly Statistics technique is

also used to find out essential findings

The sources for the analysis are from materials and references written by linguists in English and in Vietnamese; in French and in Vietnamese as well as some bilingual reference books available in Vietnam

3.3 Research Procedures

- Compiling English, French and Vietnamese idioms which contain words “dog” from the sources of books, dictionaries and internet At the same time, collecting examples in which they are used

- Analyzing and categorizing English, French and Vietnamese idioms according to their semantic features and cultural features

- Figuring out the similarities and the differences in terms of the cultural and semantic features of English, French and Vietnamese idioms

- Putting forward some implications for teaching and learning idioms as well as making some suggestions for further research

- Showing study limitations

- Closing the study with References

3.4 Data Collection

The number of samples being investigated in the research is 30 in English, 33 in French and 34 in Vietnamese based on the criteria in the Section 3.4 The idioms are collected from books, dictionaries, internet, document; synthesize and analyze and compare All the collected idioms will be classified and put together in categories of different features of syntactic and semantic

3.5 Reliability and Validity

With regard to reliability, the material for this study, as mentioned above, is carefully compiled from a powerful source ofbooks, dictionaries, and popular websites In addition, all informationis quoted in this thesis without any differences or changes from the original materials Therefore, both the material and the background for the study are surelyworthy of reliance The results and findings in this thesis areobviously summed up from the material analysis without any prejudices or preconceptions As regards validity, the whole collected English and Vietnamese idioms meet all required criteria The samples

of the study are made from English and Vietnamese idioms which are taken from books, dictionaries, and in the internet What‟s more, in order to make sure idioms‟ origin and avoid the translated idioms, after being extracted from bilingual dictionaries, they will be carefully checked up in the monolingual dictionaries

CHAPTER IV FEATURES OF IDIOMS CONTAINING THE WORD DOG IN

ENGLISH, IN FRENCH AND IN VIETNAMESE

4.1 Semantic and cultural features of idioms containing the words Dog in English,

Chien in French and Chó in VIETNAMESE

4.1.1 Influences of culture on idiomatic meaning of idioms containing the word

Dog

To study the idiomatic expressions containing the word Dog, we should have a brief

view about the image of dog in English cultures Culture is the beliefs and practices governing the life of a society where a particular language is used as the vehicle of expression Therefore, everyone’s views about languages are different from each other because they have been influenced by their culture The knowledge of the language can help them improve the understanding of the culture From the role of the culture, we can see that learning a new language and a new culture have the close relationship with each other Therefore, we can say that the teacher of the language is also considered as the teacher of a culture Besides, words which we use help us reflect our attitudes and beliefs, their points of view that are also those of others, so language can express cultural reality

As far as we know, each country has its own language and language is a system of signs which let us know where the speaker comes from In short, language always accompanies with culture and they also consolidate each other

Dogs and Death

Dogs often bark at night, which is the symbol of night, darkness and afterworld - the world of the dead In many mythologies, dogs or dog-like beings guard the underworld from unwelcome guests such as the still-living, and they also keep the dead where they belong Examples are Cerberus, multi-headed guardian of the Greeks, his two-headed brother, Orthrus, and the Norse dog Garm, at Hel's door There are many others

In Welsh mythology, white hounds with red ears are denizens of Annwn, the Otherworld that is ruled by Arawn, lord of death In the tale of the hostel of Da Derga, there are nine hounds, and also many dog skeletons have been found buried in Celtic graves either having been sacrificed to accompany their masters or as offerings

In Aboriginal America

At the time of the Walking of Creation, Gitchi-manitou sent Wolf to keep Original

Man company, but after that, he ordered Original Man and Wolf to go their separate ways (The wolf and the Anishnabe (Ojibway or ‘Western Cree’) are considered similar since both mate for life, have a clan and tribal system, have had their land taken, been hunted for their hair, been pushed almost to destruction and are now experiencing a time of recovery [at least in Canada]) The dog was given as a substitute, but since it is a relative of the wolf,

it should be kept separate from contemporary people and away from sacred objects or rituals To do otherwise would endanger people's lives

We will see that dogs are associated with death, often in the role of the guardian of

the Underworld or Land of the Dead, e.g Cerberus, the many-headed hound of classical

mythology This association is an actual one As scavengers, packs of them performed an essential function on fields of battle Yet, perhaps by a kind of hermeneutic transformation, they are equally associated with life, fertility and longevity

The image of the dog in the spiritual and cultural life of the English above is, somehow, related to the English idiomatic expressions containing the word ‘dog’ Therefore, we can find all the positive meanings, the negative meanings and neutral meanings in these ones In term of positive meanings, there are some idiomatic expressions

containing the word dog

4.1.2 Semantic and cultural features of idioms containing the word Dog in English

English idioms from animals are idioms, which have factors denoting animals The interesting thing is that the number of English idioms from animals is quite large In this study, however, we only focus on idiomatic expressions containing the word ‘dog’ in daily communication and written texts

4.1.2.1 Expressing good points

Most idioms that contain the word dog are expressed by personal characters and

status of people The English often use the noun phrase ‘top dog’ to talk about the most important or powerful person in an organization or country :

top dog

The idiomatic meaning of this idiom is the most important or powerful person/ country

Example : Yes, I am worried Mr White has been our top dog for 25 years, but he is

retiring Three of our senior executives are fighting for his job, and nobody knows who

will end up as new top dog

Also, to appreciate the importance of a person or an important position in a company,

people often use the noun phrase ‘big dog’ in the sentence

.big dog

Idiomatic meaning: important person

Example : He is a big dog in his company

In the two above examples, the English use the word dog but not other animals in this situation because they see dog as the family member as mentioned in the part of literal meaning

The dog often gives a wag of its tail to express its happy state when it gets food or love from its owner To show someone’s happy, delighted or proud mood (especially because she/he now owns or has achieved something), people also use this image of the dog:

like a dog with two tails

Idiomatic meaning: delighted, very happy or proud

Example : She was like a dog with two tails when she had been chosen for the

award

If you want to mention the action of helping others who is in difficulty or trouble, there is

an English phrase verb containing the word dog:

help a lame dog over a stile

Idiomatic meaning: give help to someone who is in difficulty

Example : The charitable precept always to help a lame dog over a stile is shared by the

world’s major religions

Furthermore, the positive point also expresses convenient conditions and good luck Most dogs in the United States seem to have an easy life They sleep a lot and get fed often People take their dogs for a walk two times a day and also let them play outside Dogs get medical care when they are sick or injured What a great life! Right? Well, we say people

with a similar, carefree existence enjoy a dog’s life (for example, ‘It’s a dog’s life here on

vacation - all this sunshine and good food) They have no troubles or responsibilities They

can come and go as they please, sleep all day, and never have to work

To express the good luck, people often say a phrase a dog’s chance Besides, a dog’s chance is also used with the meaning of a slight chance of achieving something (often

in the negative sentence)

a dog’s chance

Idiomatic meaning: a good luck / a slight chance

Examples :

- He has a dog’s chance of getting that job

- She has entered her name for the 100 meters, but she has not a dog’s chance of

winning The competition is very strong this year

every dog has his day

Idiomatic meaning: everyone will have his chance or turn, everyone will get what he deserves

Example : Don`t worry about him Every dog has his day and he will eventually suffer for

all the bad things that he is doing

With these positive meanings, the word dog is used to refer to many good things

as: the best man, the best nation; the most important thing; the good luck; good quality, goodcare However, as metioned above, there are many other idiomatic expressions containing the word ‘dog’ conveying the negative meanings such as: humble men, doing many bad things, hunger, misery, declination, guilty, etc

4.1.2.2 Expressing bad points

4.1.2.2.1 The personal characters and status of people

Although dogs are pets, the image of dogs in idioms mostly expresses negative aspects of humans as bad characters, bad behaviours…

To say someone who has behaved badly, meanly or selfishly, people also use the

word dog in the noun phrase:

a dirty dog

Idiomatic meaning: badly-behaved and mean person

Example : His friends called him a dirty dog because he never treated them to a

Example : It has always been accepted that the Emperor Theodore was a mad dog let

loose, a sort of black reincarnation of Ivan, the Terrible

The noun phrase a gay dog imply a pleasure-loving, perhaps irresponsible or

licentious, fellow; someone who is fond of social life

a gay dog

Idiomatic meaning: a pleasure-loving, perhaps irresponsible or licentious, fellow

Example : The man who is very fond of the lifestyle of Công Tử Bạc Liêu (Bac lieu

mandarin’s son) is himself a gay dog

To talk about meeting with misfortune, sloping down both materials and character, the English often uses the verb phrase

(to) go to the dogs

Idiomatic meaning: to deteriorate, to become bad

Example : Her dad has really gone to the dogs since he lost his job at the auto plant All

he does now is hanging around the house, watching TV and drinking beer,

People can also use this idiom in the bad situation:

Example : Many things in our city have gone to the dogs during the last ten years

To say someone who keeps something that they are not able to use or do not really want in order to prevent anyone else from having it, there is an English idiom:

(to be) a dog in the manger

Idiomatic meaning: selfish (person)

Example My friend always acts like a dog in the manger and often tries to prevent us

from enjoying ourselves

Or : They seem to have a dog in the manger attitude and won’t let us have any

input in the project

4.1.2.2.2 Inconvenient condition and bad luck

The word ‘dog’ appears in the kind of idiom having human relationship implication

As talking about the miserable life, there is an English noun phrase:

(lead) a cat -and-dog life

Idiomatic meaning: a life of frequent or constant quarreling

Example: You miss a woman when she has been living with you in the same house for six

years, no matter what sort of cat-and-dog life you led together

There is another idiom having human life implication It is a noun phrase containing only ‘dog’, not ‘cat’ It shows a pattern of life in which there is not much pleasure or freedom, in which one has to take orders from the others

a dog’s life

Idiomatic meaning: an unpleasant or miserable life

Example : The man is leading a dog’s life in that store, fetching and carrying from morning

till night

Besides, to mention a mess, a situation, undertaking, piece of work, room, etc., that

is mismanaged, untidy, they use the noun phrase:

a dog’s breakfast/dinner

Idiomatic meaning: a mess, a mismanaged or untidy work

Example : You should have seen the ceiling after he hadfinished painting it It was

completely a dog’s breakfast’

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other For

example, a woman might get angry with her husband for coming home late or forgetting

their wedding anniversary She might tell him that he is in the doghouse She may not

treat him nicely until he apologizes However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie. Therefore, whenever someone accidentally forgets to buy his wife the birthday present, and as a result,

he is in disgraced or disfavour situation or in trouble with his wife, it is like

in the doghouse

Idiomatic meaning: in disgraced or disfavour situation or in trouble

Example : The man is in the doghouse with his wife because he came home late last night

If we are ‘in the doghouse’, someone is angry with us because we did something to

upset them For example,

A: I hear your wife is angry with you because you came home late last night

B: She sure is I will be in the doghouse for the next week

We are usually ‘in the doghouse’ with somebody until they are no longer angry with

us For example, a man is talking about an unfortunate situation at work with a friend

A: I missed that important meeting yesterday

B: Yeah, the boss was not too happy with you

A: I know I am in the doghouse at work now

B: How do you know ?

A: Well, I rode down the elevator with the boss today and he didn't say one word to

me

B: Oh, yeah You are in the doghouse

To diescribe a world in which people fight for themselves only and will hurt other people; ruthless competition or self-interest

dog-eat-dog

Idiomatic meaning: ruthlessly competitive

Example : I needed a change from the weather, the city and the dog-eat-dog way of life

Dog-eat-dog means that a person is like a dog that will eat another dog If something

is ‘dog-eat-dog’, it is a situation where people have to take care of themselves and look after their own interests If something is ‘dog-eat-dog’, survival is the main thing to worry

about For example,

A: It is really difficult to start your own business

B: Yeah, it is Starting a business is a dog-eat-dog experience

This idiom is commonly used together with the word ‘world’ Sometimes people say

‘It's a dog-eat-dog world’ as an excuse when they have hurt another person Example: “I

can't believe you sold him your motorcycle for so much money !” Reply: “Hey, it's a dog- eat-dog world” It's a

dog-eat-dog world means that you must first watch out for your own interests, because other people

will be watching out for theirs There is no letter s at the end of any of the words in

dog-eat-dog For example: ‘That school is dog-dog-eat-dog The students cheat and even destroy each other's work to get better grades

However, not everyone has it so easy In fact, some people say we live in a dog-

eat-dog world That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs

They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog This means they have to work very, very hard Such hard work can make people dog-tired And, the situation would

be even worse if they became sick as a dog