Men Are Superior to Women Essay

Men are Superior to Women for the Appellation of ChineseThe cultures in china, Men are stereotyped as a muscular, tough, and strong figure. Until now, the positions of men are still the same. In the traditional Chinese point of view, they deem that men are better. I don’t deny this opinion because I am a man. As a result, my assumptions for the man culture in china in the following aspects, parental training, education and social expectations. First of all, in my country, parents or grandparents used to treat sons better than daughters. According to my culture, â€Å"men should take care of the outside (means earn money), and women should take care of the business inside (means domestic). † My assumption is in the poor area, when a lady is young; she is not got the best from her parent. They used physical punishments when she was misbehaved; she can not allowed to sleep on the bed or couch, instead, she had to sleep on the ground; while she can not allowed to receive education. Besides parental training, education is another area that I think being a man is better in china. My assumption is there are more choices for men in either high school or college most of the time. It is because in china, the educational system in high schools is divided to two major which is art and science. There are no such requirements that woman couldn’t take the science streams. As well as the education and parental training, there are conscious different in social expectations between males and females in china. It is always true that there are more social expectations of males than females. My assumption is â€Å"A male without a job is seen as somebody who is simply not fulfilling his or her major social role, whereas a woman without a job is more acceptable. † The responsibilities for men are taking care of their soul mate and their family. After leaving school, men just work. All the entire life is about work. However, there are no such things for woman. No one will blame a woman who does not have a job. Even so, once I born as a male, I deserve the challenge. Is it become a men are easier than women? There is no certain answer for this question. I strongly believe that men cultures make their life easier in the following aspects, parental training, education and social expectations. As a result, my assumptions for the men culture in china in the following aspects, parental training, education and social expectations. I am proud of being a man and I know my assumption is negative for the women. Indeed, I do not deny that most of the Asian’ nations limit the female’s opportunities. Thus, encouragement needs to be given to girls to help them get past the societies limits on girls. Today, woman power going up and a lot of people talk about men and woman should be more equal. My positive assumption for the future is Chinese culture will start change due to china opens the door to accept new thing form the west. It should be good for women and I hope women’s life will be better. Now they start trust that men and women are equal in importance, either one side has a heavier proportion.

Effective Approaches to Leadership Essay

There is talk that the nursing shortage is over, but the facts show that there is a substantial nursing shortage which is projected to intensify over the next several years. This fact alone will increase the demand on the remaining nurses leading to nurse burn out and increased turnover rates. Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals in America, but the majority of the nurses are close to retirement age (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010). This paper will address the issue of nursing shortage, nurse turnover and how nurse leaders and managers are approaching these issues, along with the personal and professional philosophy of nursing of the author of this paper. There are many reasons why a nursing shortage exists, and why it is only going to get worse over the next several years. The median age of the nursing workforce is 46 years of age and almost 50 percent of all nurses are close to retirement, which will substantially impact the nursing shortage (American Nurses Association, 2013). The Affordable Care Act of 2010 ensures that every American have access to affordable health care (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2013). This places an additional demand for nurses, and further increases the shortage. The results of the advances in medicine has increased the average life span, increasing the number of people living with chronic illness, and also increasing patient acuity levels which in turn increases the demand for advanced educated practioners. Nursing colleges and universities across the county are struggling to expand their enrollment levels in order to meet the rising demand for nursing care (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012). Reductions in nursing budgets together with the growing nursing shortage has resulted in nurses working more, taking care of sicker patients and at risk for making mistakes. This further complicates the nursing shortage as this type of environment only drives the current nursing force away from the bedside. The current Registered Nurse turnover rate is 14% (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012). One incentive that management and leadership nurses should be aspiring to is Magnet Status. The American Nurses Association in 1990 developed the Magnet status in an effort to reward hospitals that attract and retain nurses who demonstrate excellence in nursing practice (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2013).

Analysis of The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay -- Nathaniel Ha

Although â€Å"The Birthmark† by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in the mid-1800s, its themes and ideas are still a part of society today. The 19th century was a time of change, just as this, the millennium, is a time of great change. Hawthorne’s ideas about science, beauty, and life still play a major part in our lives, despite many improvements. Even today, people try to play â€Å"God† and change things that nature has put in place. It’s human curiosity; how much can be changed, how many things can be perfected? The themes in this short story-- religion, gender, and science--were relevant in Hawthorne’s day, and still are many years later. The theme of religion is hidden in the desire to erase the birthmark. In trying to â€Å"perfect† Georgiana, Aylmer is testing God’s creation. He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s servant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas on Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science. Even so, science has no part in creation, according to Hawthorne, and Georgiana’s death after the removal of the birthmark signifies that theory. Her death is Hawthorne’s way of showing that judgment and perfection are God’s duti...

How has globalisation affected the forms of entertainment in Essay

How has globalisation affected the forms of entertainment in contemporary societies Provide examples from a country of your cho - Essay Example This term is most commonly used to describe the effects of international trade but applies to trade of all sorts of industries. Global village is a terminology used to describe a new kind of globalization presenting us with an interconnected world and a global collected culture. Globalization affects world economies and cultural identities. There are several reasons for this increasing global competition. Free trade agreements and economic unions have reduced protection for industries. Consumers can now purchase goods and services from other countries with no import controls. Improved travel links and communications between all parts of the world have made it easier to compare prices and qualities of goods from many countries. This has further developed as the internet has become more widely available worldwide. Business in every sector of the economy are now striving to enter the global market be it science, manufacturing or entertainment industry. Globalization has led to more choi ce and lower price for consumers. It has forced firms to look for ways of increasing efficiency. Inefficient producers have gone out of business. Many firms have merged with foreign businesses to make it easier to sell in foreign markets. This is one of the reasons behind the growth of entertainment industry (Stimpson, 2006). ... When we talk about the effects of globalization on all forms of entertainment in contemporary societies, it is important to realize that it is the global mass culture that we are dealing with. It comprises of new and modern ways of cultural exchange in the entertainment sector which may include movies, music, television and internet to name a few. Accumulated forms of communication create images that cross different linguistic boundaries more quickly and conveniently than many goods and services. This global mass culture has entered, influenced and revolutionized the lives of people in modern societies and this culture of imagery and graphic arts has altered the forms of entertainment, leisure and fashions of advertising. Mainly the Western culture has a strong manipulative influence on cultural values (Robertson, 2008). Globalization especially in the entertainment industry is mainly criticized for affirming other country’s cultures and traditions onto another. People of ethn ic beliefs do not easily accept the interference of different and modern cultures and traditions for it alters their own cultural identity and personality. This can be observed when people’s decade old lifestyles start transforming and with a change in their culture and norms change with foreign influences. With globalization or entrance of different cultures in the world economy, humans try more than ever to preserve their cultural identities and traditions. This diversion of culture comes as a threat to them. But the point is to realize, accept and acknowledge cultural differences and diversity across the world. This is called cultural pluralism. This occurs with

Cultural Diversity in Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Diversity in Nursing - Research Paper Example This report approves that for several years, cultural diversity among patients has been recognized by nurses taking care of them. These have also led the nursing practices to determine ways to respond to the varying needs of the patients. This includes the nurses having proper knowledge of the different demands that people from different cultures have and expect from the nurses. In order to treat them well, the nurses need to respect such differences. The proper knowledge of the different cultures and values and the effects of different behaviors is an essential factor in nursing practices. Also, cross cultural practices that include the complex knowledge and solutions that are used worldwide are necessary to be known and applied by nurses to treat diverse people. Thus the basic differences in physical, psychological and cultural factors are considered. This improves the communication skills of the nurses as well. The assistance of the healthcare departments is also necessary whereby proper infrastructure may be built up allowing the nurses to deliver the appropriate treatments. When nurses are culturally competent, they realize the harmful effects of ignorance or hatred if they treat their patients in biased manner depending on their cultures. This essay makes a conclusion that from the above study it could be concluded that it is essential for nursing practices in different health departments to consider effective measures such that culturally diverse patients may be treated with appropriate care. Such treatment and care needs to be unbiased with nurses having proper knowledge of the differences in cultures and values among different people.

Who Moved My Cheese by Johnson Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Who Moved My Cheese by Johnson Spencer - Essay Example This prevents the change from getting an individual by surprise. Quick adaption to the change is necessary. This calls for the release of the old cheese to enjoy a new one. It is advisable to move before the change. As in the case of the mice in the book, the move fast in search of new food supply and have quick instincts to adapt upon depletion of the existing supply. It is also very significant to accept a change in order to move ahead. In case someone faces change, do not waste precious time blaming others. Quickly move with the cheese. It is also advisable to enjoy a new cheese but does not create a comfort zone in the new cheese. Try to take the positive bit of a change and seize the opportunity to learn new ideas. To keep up with the pace some changes are of need. This calls the rearrangement of the staffs to face a new change for managers. People can also stay at one point for a long time since most of them are not ready to change for another cheese. Management purposes that i f one does not change become extinct. Most people wait until the environment presents no any other option but only a change. This is the worst management practice. People should practice counteracting the fear of the new cheese. People should also practice movement in the right direction. The application of the lesson learned in this book can help in both personal profession and management. This would prompt an individual to be keen to details and welcome a reason for a change. Always have the confidence of unknown to bury the fear.

How Does Interface Design on social networking website Impact on Dissertation

How Does Interface Design on social networking website Impact on today's Youth - Dissertation Example edly taken over by the Digital Revolution. The Internet has changed the face of our world. Web based and Social Networking Websites and Soft wares have broadened our horizons and now we have plenty of new opportunities to choose from. First of all, online learning and Web based teaching have become synonymous with Face-to-Face learning. Secondly, each day new aspects of web based solutions are made available for the ease of online students. The only issue that must not be neglected is the protection of one’s privacy and safety. The young users are vulnerable and prone to many a web based menaces and exposed to a whole new world of Internet crimes. Proper coaching and counseling are required on part of the parents and teachers both, to make them beware of the criminal activities and privacy invasions taking place by mere use of the online social networking applications. 48 3.1 Objectives: 49 3.2 Data Analysis and Methods of Data Collection: 50 Limitations & Ethics Issue: 52 53 3.3Research Methodology – Case studies 54 a)Case Study 1: PINTEREST: A security Issue: 54 b)Case Study 2: Face book the case of Privacy: 55 3.4 Research Methodology: Conclusion of Online Surveys: 56 QUESTIONNAIRE 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY 68 TABLE OF FIGURES 73 CHAPTER 4 74 INTRODUCTION 74 4.1 FINDINGS AND NEW APPROACH: 75 4.2) FINDINGS: 76 5) Uploading music, movies, widgets and related information. 77 6) Downloading games and applications. 77 7) Authoring and showing creativity by uploading your own content such as: Personal blogs videos, music, poetry etc. 77 8) Sharing third party content e.g. liking someone else’s preference or work as hosting a YouTube video or a blog page. 77 9) Posting Public and Private Messages such as: Through Face book and MySpace. 77 10) Collaborating and interacting with other people, as it is the best way for people who are not very social and are introvert and shy. 78 WEBSITES DESIGNED SPECIALLY FOR YOUNGSTERS: 78 Many conventional social network ing services are intended and designed for teens and young people according to their interests and preferences such as: 78 1)Teen Second Life. 78 2) Habbo Hotel. 78 3) Imbee. Com. 78 4) Disney. 78 5)Nick.com 78 6) ClubPenguin. Etc 78 These websites are specifically designed for TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS, according to their age, maturity levels and basic security requirements as well as profile modifications and identity security as they have a required age limit for signup (National School Boards Association, 200

There should be laws against bullying in elementary school Annotated Bibliography

There should be laws against bullying in elementary school - Annotated Bibliography Example ing has extended even to internet bullying also known as cyber bullying where people are harassed via the internet on social sites (Kalman,(2011): 3). Elementary school is the first stage of schooling for children in the United States. In this stage, the children are still very young and, fragile, and they shape their behavior in this stage. The children here are aged between 5 and 14. Bullying may have adverse effects on individuals depending on how they each react to bullying and the setting in which the bullying occurs. Bullying may be a result of envy. Other people bully because they too are being bullied as a way of getting revenge. This shows that different people deal with bullying in different ways. Some individuals ignore the bullying advances and, as a result, focus more on their jobs or at school while others end up taking drastic measures such as suicide or mass murders (Vettese, (2012): 5). Bullying starts as early as in elementary school where kids harass and insults fellow students. When kids are not reprimanded as early as in elementary school when they start picking on each other, they are likely to make bullying a constant behavior (Trump, (2011): 55). Since the kids in elementary school are still very young, they make bullying a habit and continue picking on their victims as they grow up and continue on with their education at different levels. It is important to take necessary measures to reduce bullying at this stage of the children’s life; as it forms a basis on which they pursue the next events of their life. Bullying is, in fact, a serious issue in schools and it even assumed to be a key risk to the security and safety in schools for students. Planning and enforcing bullying preventive measures reduces the cases of violence in schools. Elementary schools without these measures only encourage bullies to continue with their actions and thus pushing the victims of bullying to extreme measures (Kalman,(2011): 3). Anti-bullying laws are a

Historic accuracy of the movie 300 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Historic accuracy of the movie 300 - Essay Example The third correct historical accurate aspect of the movie concerns the words Spartan mothers tell their sons as they go to war: â€Å"Come back carrying your shield, or being carried upon it.† In the movie, Spartan Queen Gorgo {played by Lena Headey} says these words to her husband King Leonidas {played by Gerard Butler} as he prepares to lead his 300 Spartans to war against the Persians (Borza) The first historical inaccuracy in the movie concerns the size of the Persian army lined up against the Spartans in the epic battle of Thermopylae. The movie trailer mentions: â€Å"They {the Spartans} were 300 men against a Million.† The movie relies on the classical historian Herodotus, who estimated the Persian army at 1,700,000 soldiers collected from 46 nations. However, keeping in mind the population structure of the Achaemenid Persian Empire of that era, modern European scholars like Ernst Obst, William Woodthorpe Tarn and Robert von Fischer are in total agreement that the acceptable number was between 100,000 to 200,000. Even if 1,700,000 troops were somehow collected, it would be a monumentally huge logistical miracle to coordinate, put into position and effectively control the massive number of troops from so many nations given that computers and communication technology did not exist at that time. Secondly, if a 1,700,000 strong army had traveled the long distance from Asia to Greece in the absence of the railway and telegraph, the prevalent logistics and supply would be unable to provide sustenance for them (Farrokh). The second historical inaccuracy relates to weapons and armory. Firstly, the swords of both Greeks and Persians are depicted as traditional in size. In historical records, the Persian swords during that time were shorter and resembled daggers, while the swords of the Greeks were longer than traditional swords. The short size of

Biomedical Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biomedical Ethics - Essay Example According to Starson, taking the medication would disrupt him from pursuing his research; being a gifted theoretical physicist, he believed that this research was the only reason he felt his life carried a meaning. In this sense, being unable to carry on with it would simply render his life â€Å"useless† and â€Å"meaningless.† However, the physician felt that Starson's refusal was informed by his inability to appreciate the value of treatment. Consequently, the physicians petitioned to have Starson's treatment decision transferred to a surrogate. Though the petition was granted, Starson would later appeal, and the petition was reversed at the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court held that a patient, in this case Starson, was not required to make a decision that is in their â€Å"best interest† as determined by the physician, and thence they are permitted to disagree with a treatment recommendation. The Court also reasoned that Starson was a competent pati ent capable of making his own medical decisions. This case has both legal and ethical implications; firstly, this study delves into examining the ethicalness in a physician imposing treatment, and secondly, the study also looks at physicians’ position in determining a patient’s â€Å"best interest†: whether they are entitled to make this decision on behalf of the patient and how far can they go with this. The study will also look at the concept of informed consent and the idea of competence. Argument 1 The above case represents a conflict of these two rather ethical considerations. On the one hand, the physician feels compelled to do what he believes is in the best interest of the patient. On the other hand, the patient feels that it is his right to refuse medication based on his own grounds. Under these circumstances, how far is the physician expected to go with his persistence? Most legal cases, not only in Starson’s case, often uphold the position of t he patient. This is referred to as patient autonomy. The principle of patient autonomy states that competent patients have the opportunity to choose among medically indicated treatment and to refuse any unwanted treatment. Under these circumstances, the physician must respect the patient’s decision. It is necessary to understand that treatment decisions are not only based on objective medical considerations but also involve a considerable level of personal value judgments and preferences (Meier, Isaacs, and Hughes 95). Therefore, to some extent, the physician may compel a patient to take a certain medication not only because it is the right and objective medical step but also because he feels, based on his values and preferences, it is the right thing. For the latter, he is imposing his personal feelings, not professional mandate, to the patient. In these cases, a physician may be ethically driven to compel a patient to take medication because he feels it is the right thing t o do. However, it is essential to note that a physician demonstrates respect for human dignity, a biomedical ethical consideration, when he acknowledges the freedom and right of the patient to make choices based on their own beliefs and values (Kluge 7). Perhaps another consideration arising from Starson’s case is the idea of sound medical treatment. Starson, for some reason, felt that the medication offered was disruptive and would interfere with his ability to complete his physics research. Indeed, physicians are ethically forbidden to

Lower Levels of Convictions of Woman for Criminal Offences Essay Example for Free

Lower Levels of Convictions of Woman for Criminal Offences Essay Assess explanations that sociologists have offered for lower levels of convictions of woman for criminal offences Sociologists have offered explanations for lower levels of convictions for woman for criminal offences. For example women are treated more leniently and woman are socialised to commit less crime in the first place. Most crime appears to be committed by men. According to recent national statistics men are four times more likely to commit a crime than woman. For example official statistics suggests there are gender differences in the types of crimes committed such as men committee violent crime and woman committee shoplifting. One explanation for the lower levels of convictions of women is that they are treated more leniently. One explanation that has been put forward is that the agents of criminal justice such as police officers, magistrates and judges are men and men are socialised to act in a chivalrous manner towards women. In the 1950s Pollack argued that men felt they had to protect women, so the criminal justice system is more lenient towards them. So there are some crimes that are less likely to turn into official statistics. This then does not give an accurate understanding in rates of offending and official statistics will show the extent of gender differences. Women are also more likely than men to be cautioned rather than prosecuted. For example, the Ministry of justice figures for 2009, show that 49% of female offenders were cautioned compared to only 30% of men. Similarly Hood’s study of over 3,000 defendants found that woman were about one-third less likely to be jailed in similar cases. However, there is evidence against the chivalry thesis. Box argues women who commit serious offences are not treated more favourably than men. He argues women show remorse which may be why they get cautioned rather than going to court. Heidensohn argues that in fact when women commit more serious crimes and deviate from expected norms of behaviour they are punished more harshly. For example stereotypical gender roles influence judges decisions. Heidensohn accepts there has been an increase in female crime but it’s due to poverty and being socially marginalised. Walklate argues that in rape case it is often not the defendant who is on trial but the victim. Steffensmeier argues that women are treated more leniently in court because judges are reluctant to separate woman from their children. Another reason that could explain lower conviction rates for women is that they are socialised to commit less crime in the first place. Functionalists argue that lower levels of females crime can be explained by gender role socialisation and the expressive role that Parsons argues is the one that women take on within the home. While men go out to work and take the instrumental role as provider, women are socialised to be gentle and nurturing. Parsons argues that boys reject feminine role models they engage in what Parson calls compensatory compulsory masculinity and become aggressive and anti-social behaviour which can slip over into an act of delinquency. Cohen argues that boys that are more likely to join gangs to gain stats and identity. Whereas the girls have their mothers as role models which means they are less likely to behave in anti-social ways. However, critics of the sex role theory are that this view is dated and boys and girls have different role models and influences in their life to the ones illustrated by Parsons. Walklate criticises sex role theory for its biological assumptions. Parson assumes that women are best suited to the expressive role as women gave birth to children. Feminists are interested in how patriarchal society controls women, and this control might explain lower levels of criminality and therefore lower conviction rates. Heidensohn argues the most different thing about women’s behaviour is how conformist it is as women commit fewer crimes than men. Heidensohn notes that women are controlled in a number of ways. For example women are controlled by the amount of time they have to spend looking aft er home and children. Also in the public domain women are controlled by the threat of male violence especially sexual violence. The Islington Crime Survey found that 54% of women avoided going out alone. This therefore reduces their opportunity to offend. However Carlen explains how some women commit crime when they are let down by patriarchal society. It is the failure of patriarchal society to deliver the promised deals that removes the controls. Cohen argues that working class women are led to conform by what she calls the class deal which is being offered rewards at work that allow a good standard of living. Also the gender deal where women have rewards from family life by living a normal domestic gender role. Critics argue that this underplays the importance of free will and choice in offending. Adler argues that as society changes so women may turn to crime. He uses the liberation thesis to argue that as women become liberated from patriarchy female crime rates will rise. As society changes so too have women’s roles within it. There is evidence to support this for example female offending rates have risen. However, critics argue that female crime rates started growing in the 1950s before the women’s liberation movement. In conclusion, the main reason why there are lower levels of convictions of women is because the criminal justice system is more lenient towards women. This is due to men protecting the women and official statistics show that men are more likely to commit crime than women.

The nature and nurture debate Essay Example for Free

The nature and nurture debate Essay Development in children: At meantime, Nurture refers to the environment that we are surrounded by. We also have evidence shown a significant impact on the influence to a child from its parents or other family members. For instance, a child who is grow up in an emotional sensitivity family is more likely to accept the same values than who was grow up in a suppress family environment. For all these reasons, we cannot disaffirm that nurture also play an important role in humans emotional development. Children need to be nurtured: they need love and support from parents, siblings, extended family, teachers, peers, and other people important in their lives. Children can be greatly affected by how these important people nurture them. Other elements of nurture include a childs economic and sociocultural environments. Poverty, malnutrition, and a lack of adequate medical care can alter a childs developmental path. Cultural heritage and diversity can enrich a childs life, and the neighbourhood where the child lives can determine the schools and peer groups that a child will have.Nature relates to biological and chemical properties of the human being. Sometimes, the short of or high levels of some specific hormone can markedly affect our emotional development. For instance, we have lots of studies shown that a high level of testosterone can let someones character become more courageous and aggressive, where else extreme amounts of estrogen will lead to a sensitivity and emotional character. All of these are an approach to nature affect the development of emotion. Relationships are the way babies come to know the world and their place in it. They provide the loving context necessary to comfort, protect, encourage, and offer a buffer against stressful times. It is through relationships that young children develop social emotional wellness, which includes the ability to form satisfying relationships with others, play, communicate, learn, face challenges, and experience emotions. In addition, nurturing relationships are crucial for the development of trust, empathy, compassion, generosity, and conscience. Parents are the keys to intellectual development for almost all children in the care and education they provide and arrange. â€Å"Many research studies underscore the links between parental involvement and young childrens intelligence† (nature vs. nurture, 19/11/2014). By the time a child turns two, many of the intellectual foundations will have been laid to support a lifetime of learning. A childs intelligence is being shaped, challenged, and expressed every day by experiences with people, objects, and events, especially when they are an active participant. These experiences are the raw ingredients of intelligence. In traditional society most parents encourage their kids to take part in extracurricular activities like learning music, dance or sports in accordance with the child’s talents and interests. The talents have been given by nature but they can only be developed into skills through the hard work of nurture. Development in adulthood: Their development is affected to make social skills as well as meet new people to socialize with this will affect them later on in life, getting into relationships as well as socializing with individuals at work places etc. Nurture Effects Physical development there are several of physical effects of nurture on adolescence. A number of them tend to follow their friends for instance, if they see their friends taking drugs they get influenced and end up doing the same. The physical effects of drugs, smoking, alcohol etc. are; respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, coronary heart diseases, dry skin etc. Intellectual development a consequence on adolescence through nature reduces their thinking level. Their capability to reflect logically reduces. Smoking as well as drinking throughout adolescent years does tend to have an effect on the brain which does affect their understanding enormously. For instance, smoking decreases mental ability as oxygen supply also decreases. Therefore they do also tend to have lack of concentration this is caused by their attention span it goes lower and all this is caused by smoking. Some smokers that are addicted to the substances end up having a slow brain and this affects their thinking, speech as well as communication speed, as the brain is still developing at this stage smoking as well as taking other drugs can easily cause mental  health issues for instance, poor decision-making skills, Environmental factors involve many dimensions. They include both physical environments and social environments (such as the neighbourhood, media and peer pressure.) Also, environmental factors have different levels of impact on human development as they involve multiple layers of action, ranging from most immediate families, friends, and neighbourhoods) to bigger societal contexts (school systems and local governments) as well as macro factors such as politics on the international level or say global warming. These layers are also impacted by other factors outside them. Exposed to not just peer pressure from their peers but also to parental ideals, community standards or ethnic views. Nature is responsible for the growth of a person from the foetus level until development into a normal adult. The genetic makeup of a human being is responsible for their sex, skin colour, colour of their eyes and hair as well as distinguishing features which are inherited. Nature can only assist in the growth of a foetus into a normal well-develope d adult who may have inherited some special talents. Thus it can be concluded that nature uses the genetic coding to help in physical development and does impart some positive or negative traits to an individual However, it is nurture which can be utilized to improve positive traits and diminish the effect of negative traits in a child.† Several recent studies carried out on infant and child behaviour have shown that there is significant evidence to support the fact that nurture strongly influences human development especially in the early years.†(how does nature and nurture influence human development, 19/11/2014) â€Å"Young adults score higher on tests of fluid intelligence†(23/11/2014), which is the ability to think abstractly and deal with novel situations, while middle adults improve over time on tests of crystallized intelligence, which involves using learned information collected throughout a life span. In summary, the results of traditional IQ tests imply that intelligence continues at approximately the same level at least into middle adulthood, and probably beyond. Middle†age adult thinking differs significantly from that of adolescents and young adults. Adults are typically more focused in specific directions, having gained insight and understanding from life events that adolescents and young adults have not yet experienced. No longer viewing the world from an absolute and fixed perspective, middle adults have learned how to make compromises, question  the establishment, and work through disputes. Younger people, on the hand, may still look for definitive answers. Many middle†age adults have attained Piagets stage of formal operations, which is characterized by the ability to think abstractly, reason logically, and solve theoretical problems. Many of the situations facing adults today require something more than formal operations. That is, the uncertain areas of life may pose problems too ambiguous and inconsistent for such straightforward thinking styles. Instead, middle adults may develop and employ post formal thinking, which is characterized by the objective use of practical common sense to deal with unclear problems. An example of post formal thinking is the middle adult who knows from experience how to manoeuvre through rules and regulations and play the system at the office. Another example is the middle adult who accepts the reality of contradictions in his or her religion, as opposed to the adolescent who expects a concrete truth in an infallible set of religious doctrines and rules. Post formal thinking begins late in adolescence and culminates in the practical wisdom so often associated with older adulthood. â€Å"Scholars have long studied twins to address the nature nurture question. Identical twins separated at birth and brought up in separate environments provide the ideal test cases, but such cases are exceedingly difficult to find†(traditional twin studies,2014). Instead, most researchers study twins who have grown up together and carefully compare the experiences of identical twins to those of fraternal twins. Since identical twins are monozygotic, developed from a single sper m fertilizing a single egg, which then divides into two separate cell masses within the first two weeks of development, these twins are essentially clones. Fraternal twins, on the other hand, are dizygotic, developed when two eggs are each separately fertilized by different sperm. Identical twins fraternal twins have, on average, half their genes in common, as do any two full siblings. Comparing identical and fraternal twins enables researchers to separate genetic from environmental influences without measuring genes directly. If a physical or behavioural trait, like hair colour or success at math, is shared more often by identical twins than by fraternal twins, researchers reason, genes must have played a role in developing the trait. Twin and related studies provide most of the evidence that Genes determine human traits and behaviours. For example, schizophrenia runs in families. Twin  studies show that when one twin in an identical pair suffers from schizophrenia, the chance that the other twin will be schizophrenic is about one in two; it is only one in six for fraternal twins. This gap is evidence for the existence of a genetic tendency toward schizophrenia. Similar evidence suggests that genes influence such traits and behaviours as height, weight, manic-depressive psychosis, alcoholism, and cognitive development, reading skills, parenting style, rate of accident occurrence in childhood, television-viewing habits, peer-group selection, and timing of first sexual intercourse, marital disruption, and educational and economic attainment. Traditional twin study designs rely on two assumptions, both of which have prompted criticism. First, the equal environments assumption states that the environments of identical twins are no more similar than the environments of fraternal twins. However, if the experiences of identical twins are more similar, genetic influences would be overestimated. Critics note that identical twins tend to be treated more alike than fraternal twins and suspect that this greater environmental Similarity may explain the greater trait similarity of identical twins. For example, identical twins are probably more often dressed alike than fraternal twins. If being treated identically, in dressing for instance, makes identical twins more similar than fraternal twins, we could mistakenly attribute effects to genes that are really due to differences in treatment. Maturation theory: â€Å"Basically, this theory maintains that children mature as they grow older and personalities and temperament will be reveals with little influence from the surrounding environment† (children’s medical services,(23/11/2014) . Through his research, Arnold Gesell developed some of the first milestones that children should meet. These milestones are called the Gesell developmental schedules. This was the beginning on the idea that children development happens in stages. The Gesell developmental schedule was able to compare a children’s development to the standard norm. The norm was established through extensive studies of children. The schedule is supposed to be able to give a measure of possible intelligence. Children who how early development were likely to have high intelligence according to schedule. The schedule has fallen out of favour in regards to studying intelligence over  the years. There is not enough proof to show that the schedules accurately measure intelligence over the years. The scale is used to this day to measure an infant’s intellectual development in which the infant may have developmental issues. The Arnolds Gesell theory of a child development also has roots in the study of evolution of genetics. Arnold Gesell believed that child development was mostly biological, not environmental. According to Gesell, a stable environment is important to a child, but only so that they can develop naturally according to their genetics. This idea that children develop only according to their biology is called the Gesell maturational theory. According to Gesell’s maturation theory, a child or teenager will develop only according to what they have programmed in their genetics. A stable, nurturing environment helps this along by encouraging growth, much as fertile soil helps a plant grow and develop. References: Nature vs. nurture,(19/11/2014) How much influence do you have on your baby’s intelligence, available at: http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=1044 (accessed: 19/11/2014) How nature and nurture influence human development,(19/11/14) the ongoing debate, available at : http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/110288.aspx (accessed:19/11/14) Traditional twin studies, (21,11,2014) twin studies ,what can they tell us about nature/nurture? Available at: http://www.unc.edu/~gguo/papers/05%20twin%20studies%20Contexts.pdf (accessed:23/11/2014) Intellectual development : age 45-65, (14/11/2014) available at: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/psychology/development-psychology/physical-cognitive-development-4565/intellectual-development-age-4565 (accessed : 23/11/2014)

Comparison The Lovely Bones and The Liars Club

Comparison The Lovely Bones and The Liars Club In this term paper I will compare two books that I really liked: The lovely bones and The liars club. I decided to write about them, because I believe that both stories are very similar and very well written. I also think that the authors of these books are admirable women who have struggled with life, society and family. For this reason, I consider important to compare the two books. I will start to write about the lovely bones. At the beginning, I did not want to finish reading the book, because it is a hard story that talks about the raping of a little girl. Therefore, I felt so angry and frustrating. But then I understood that I had to continue reading the book if I wanted to know the meaning of it. The point of view of the lovely bones is first person and it is narrated by Susie Salmon, the girl that was horribly raped and murdered by her neighbor. The entire story is about the grief that the Salmon family is experimenting after Susies death. However, there was a member of the family who suffered the most: Susies father, Jack Salmon. This man loved her daughter so much that when he knew that she was killed, life became a hell for him. As a result, his marriage was very affected and his wife cheated on him. I found a quote that explains the relationship between Susie and her father: His own father had taught him how to build ships in bottles. They were something my mother, sister, and brother couldnt care less about. It was something I adored. The den was full of them. He would call me in whenever he was ready (Sebold, Alice p, 45) Unlike her siblings, Susie enjoyed her fathers hobby. This man loved to build ships in bottles, because his father taught him how to do them. So, he shared this hobby with their children, but the only one who liked and care about it was Susie because she had a very strong relationship with her father. Therefore, when she passed away his father Jack wanted to die. On the other hand, Mary Karr in her book The liars club showed that her relationship with her father was very special and unique. For example, she mentioned that he used to be a very lovely father with her and her sister and that even though he was many years in the war, when he came back home he always wanted to spend time with his family. However, Marys father did not have a good relationship with the rest of the family, because his mother in law did not like him and as a result, his marriage was falling apart. This quote explains the situation he was living: Mother threatened divorce a lot of times, and Daddys response to it was usually a kind of patient eye-rolling. He never spoke of divorce as a n option. If I asked him worried questions about a particularly nasty fight, hed just say I shouldnt talk bad about my mother, as if even suggesting they might split up insulted her somehow (Karr, Mary pa, 35) As we can see, Marys father did not want to get divorce maybe because he wanted to be with her two children. Moreover, he said to Mary that even though he had conflicts with his wife, she had to love her mother no matter what. I think this man showed that he was a good husband and a good father since he always asked Mary to respect her mother. This case is very similar to the conflict that Susies parents had in the book The lovely bones. As we know, when Susie died, all the family struggled with the fact that she was not longer with them. Each of them faced Susies death differently. The father, for example, was obsessed to find the killer, the sister Lindsay did not want to talk about it, the brother was very innocent to realize that her sister had passed away and the mother decided to cheat on her husband to relieve the pain. I said before that Susies father and Marys were similar because both men were married with women whot, from my point of view, did not care about their children . Marys mother cared only about herself. She just wanted to have fun and get another husband that is why she went on a trip with his Latin-American boyfriend and left her children. Susies mother did the same thing when she decided to move to another state in order to be alone and deal with her daughters death. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIBLINGS I believe that in the two books that I decided to compare, the relationship between siblings is one of the most important topics. In this part of my term paper, I will compare Susies relationship with her brother and sister and Mary Karr relationship with her sister Lecia. Susie Salmon had one brother called Buckley and one sister called Lindsay. The tree of them were very closed and cared very much about each other. There is a quote in the book The lovely bones where Susie says that once she saved her brothers life. a three-year-old Buckley had swallowed it. Buckley was choking, his body bucking, and I carried him with Nate trailing into the garage, where my fathers precious Mustang sat. I put Buckley in the back and grabbed and grabbed the keys from the unused terra-cotta pots where my father hid them. I sped all the way to the hospital. if the hadnt been there, the doctor later told my mother you would have lost your little boy (Sebold, Alice p, 93,94) As the quote explains, Susie saved her brother because she loved him very much. She also had the courage to do it since many people would not dare to do what Susie did. Susie loved Buckley so much that she did not think about anything but to safe her little brother. Later in the book, this strong connection is demonstrated when in one of the chapters, Buckley said to his dad that Susie touched his cheek and that he felt that Susie was seeing them from heaven. Susie also got along well with her sister Lindsay. Both girls enjoyed being together, not only because they were sisters but also because they were the same age. As a result, when Lindsay knew that her sister was dead, she did not want to talk about this tragic event to anybody. For me, it is very understandable the way that Lindsay felt. Some people like her deal with death by being quite and reserved. Some others share their feelings in order to release their pain. But what really cares is to remember the people who we love. Now, the author of The liars club also had a good relationship with her sister Lecia. These two girls suffered a lot not only because they had many problems in their home, but also because they have an alcoholic mother and a hysterical grandmother. I found a quote that explains their relationship: Lecia and I both behaved like savages at any opportunity. When she was only twelve, Lecia could beat the dogshit out of any neighbor boy up to the age of fifteen. For my part, I can remember standing behind the drainage ditch in our yard cussing Carol Sharp for bloodying my nose (Karr, Mary pa, 40) In this quote, Mary Karr explains that she used to play pranks with her sister and that thought she had problems in home, she tried to forget them by playing with Lecia. From my point of view, it is very difficult to live you life normally when you know that your family is hurting each other. For this reason, I admired Mary Karr very much, because she tried to forget all her problems. Unfortunately, when you are a child, all these family conflicts affect you and the only thing that you can do about it is to move on with your life just as Mary Karr did. On the other hand, I also believe that she was conscious about her family problems, but she could not do anything about it. I can not imagine what it feels like to live with a family that is full of traumas and that does not care about you. For example, Mary Karrs grand mother was a bitter woman who did not love their grand children and who lived in the past. That is why Mary Karr did not suffer when her grand mother passed away. Inste ad, she felt relieved and free. Susie Salmon also had a special grand mother, but unlike Marys she was a good person who loved their grand children very much. This woman was an alcoholic but she took cared of their grand children while her daughter Abigail decided to move to another state. These two women were so different, but as any human being they have many flaws. Now, in the next pages of my paper I will talk about the role of the mothers in the two books The lovely bones and The liars club THE ROLE OF A MOTHER IN A FAMILY It is well known that a mother represents many important things in a family. She is the one who takes care of her children, because she has a protective instinct that a father does not have. For this reason, it is unbelievable for me to understand why Susies mother abandoned their children in order to forget her dead daughter. I can understand that it is very painful to lose your daughter, but by abandoning your other children you are not going to resolve anything. Now, I also comprehend that as human beings we need to have our space, because is our right. But when you have a family like Susies mother you also have to think about them. Another thing that also surprised me was that Susies mother cheated on her husband. Even now I can not understand what she did that. There is a very good quote that explains Abigails attitude according to Susies point of view: Len kissed her forehead hard and closed his eyes. She took his hand and placed it on her breast. She whispered in his ear. I knew what was happening. Her rage, her loss, her despair. The whole life lost tumbling out in an arc on that roof, clogging up her being. She needed Len to drive the dead daughter out (Sebold, Alice p, 152) This woman desired to forget her daughters death by cheating on her husband. She thought that her pain was going to disappear if she transferred all his sorrow in another person, but I think that is not the correct way to resolve our problems. She could have gone to a therapist or talking to her husband about Susies death. Infidelity is something that I can not comprehend. Unfortunately, Abigails infidelity did not bring Susie back. Instead, this deception caused Abigail more pain and more remorse to her life. At the end of the book, we know that Abigail returned with her family because Jack had a heart attack, but we never knew if she stayed again with them or if she decided to be brave enough in order to tell her husband that she had cheated on him with Len Fenerman. In the book The liars club Mary Karr explained that her mother was always worried about herself, just exactly like Susies mother. You might think that I am judging these women very hard, but I just can not understand why they behaved that way with their children. I mean, when you decide to have children is because you know that you have to take care of them, yet there are some mothers that do the opposite thing. Mary Karrs mother for example, tried to be a good mother, but I feel that she had a very hard background that did not allow her to live her life peacefully. Even Mary Karr recognized that when she finished her book, it was very hard for her mother to read it. At the same time, Mary said that she was very supportive when the book was done. Another thing that it was hard to assimilate for Mary and her sister Lecia was to live with their stepfather Hector. He constantly had arguments with Marys mother and they did not have a good relationship. There is a quote that explains this situation: Other nights were occupied with Mother and Hector fighting. The litany of his innate low-lifedness got seared into skull during this time. Hector was a pussy, was her main gripe. Also, he lacked gainful employment, which meant Mother accused him of sponging off her all the time. As this quote explains, Marys stepfather did not support his wife economically. Therefore, Marys mother argued with him and had many conflicts. Plus, he was an alcoholic who was worried more about drinking than about taking care of his wife, his house and his stepdaughters. When I think about the problems that Mary had to deal with, I really felt sorry for her. She was only a child when her parents got divorce and when he had to accept a new father figure. I can see Marys life like a quest. During her childhood, she lived so many bad things that made her stronger, but at the same time made her more vulnerable. In order to conclude this term paper in the next to pages, I will talk about the most difficult topic in both books: raping. The reason why I decided to write about it at the end, was because I want to reflect about how raping can change your life. TWO GIRLS WHO LOST THEIR INNOCENCE The books that I decided to compare in this term paper talk about a very hard topic: raping. In the lovely bones, the main character Susie Salmon was horribly raped and killed by her neighbor Mr. Harvey. This story is fiction, but the author of it was raped in real life. For that reason, she wrote this book. As we know, Susie Salmon was a fourteen year old girl who had a normal life and who wanted to fell in love for the first time. Unfortunately, all of her dreams were destroyed by a disgusting and despicable man named Mr. Harvey. He took away Susies innocence when he raped her. After this, he decided to kill her so she could not accuse him of anything. But Susie was not dead in a one hundred percent, because her spirit went to heaven. She saw her family and her killer from there. She saw all the pain that Mr. Harvey had caused after he killed her. But she also saw that her family got over her death and moved on. Here is a quote in which Susie explains her raping: Mr. Harvey made me lie still underneath him and listen to the beating of his heart and the beating of mine. How mine skipped like a rabbit, and how thudded, a hammer against cloth. We lay there with our bodies touching, and, as I shook, a powerful knowledge took hold. He had done this thing to me and I had lived. (Sebold, Alice p, 14) The only thing that I can say about this quote is that I can not imagine what this girl felt in that moment. For me, it is very difficult to understand how these criminals can exist. I mean, this man took advantage of a child who was not big or strong enough to defend herself. Killing a person is horrible, but killing a kid who is weak and innocent is the most despicable act in the world. From my point of view, Mr. Harvey was a scum of the earth who did not deserve to be alive, because she also killed other children. All of them were girls that had a life, dreams and hopes for the future. But this killer ruined their lives and left sorrow in their families. Finally, in the book The Liars club Mary Karr narrates that she was raped, when she was a little girl. This event changed her life and her perspective about the world. The quote says: He pulled me off my shorts and underwear and threw them in the corner in a ball, over where I knew there could be spiders. He pushed down his pants and put my hand on his thing, which was unlike any of the boys joke about hot dogs and garden hoses. It was hard as wood and felt big around and felt big around as my arm. He wrapped both my hands around it, and showed me how to slide them up and down (Karr, Mary p, 66) When I read this fragment of the book, I really felt so angry and frustrated. I can to imagine the desperation that Mary Karr experimented. She as Alice Sebold experienced how it felt to be raped and humiliated by a man. But at the same time this horrible experience made them successful and brave. So, my conclusion for this term paper is the following: every person forms his character based on his personal experiences. As a consequence, in life we can follow two paths: the one that is related with hate, vengeance and sadness and the one that is connected with love, success and hopes. I believe that the authors of the books that I compared followed the second path, because they decided to heal their emotional wounds in order to move on. That is a lesson that all human beings should learn. Nobody said that life is easy. Nobody said that life is pink color. However, god made us strong to achieve any objective that we have. He made us intelligent to understand that life is something that is full of bad and good moments. For this reason, these two authors, Alice Sebold and Mary Karr succeed when they decided to tell their stories to the world. They had a lot of pain in their lives, but they also decided to cure their traumas to move on and have a good life.

How Andy Goldsworthy Expresses His Feelings through His Works Essay

How Andy Goldsworthy Expresses His Feelings through His Works Andy Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire in 1956 and was brought up in Yorkshire. He studied at Bradford College of Art (1974-75) and Preston Polytechnic (1975-78). After leaving college Goldsworthy lived in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. He moved over the border to Langholm, Dumfriesshire in 1985 and to Penpont one year later. This gradual drift northwards was due to a way of life over which he did not have complete control. However, contributing factors were opportunities and desires to work in these areas and reasons of economy. Throughout his career most of Goldsworthy's work has been made in the open air, in places as diverse as the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District, Grize Fiord in the Northern Territories of Canada, the North Pole, Japan, the Australian outback, St Louis, Missouri and Dumfriesshire. He collaborates with nature to make his creations. The materials he uses are those you find in the remote locations he visits: twigs, leaves, stones, snow and ice, reeds and thorns. Most works are ephemeral (don't last/live long), but demonstrate in their short life, Goldsworthy's extraordinary sense of play and of place. The works are recorded as photographs. Book publication is an important aspect of Andy Goldsworthy's work: showing all aspects of the production of a given work, each publication is a work of art in its own right. Some recent sculpture has a more permanent natur...

Glycogen Storage Disease Essay -- Disease, Disorders

Introduction: Glycogen storage disease is the result of a defect in the synthesis or breakdown of glycogen that is found in muscles, the liver and many other cell types. This disease may be genetic or acquired and is usually caused by a defect in certain enzymes that are important in the metabolism of glycogen. To date, there are 11 different classifications for glycogen storage disease but this paper will focus on glycogen storage disease type 1 (GSD I), also known as von Gierke’s disease, after the German doctor who discovered it. GSD I is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder with the incidence being 1 in 100,000. Parents may be heterozygote carriers, making them asymptomatic, however they have a 25% chance of having a child that is affected by GSD I. Prenatal diagnosis can be made by completing a liver biopsy at 18-22 weeks but no fetal treatments are currently available and standard newborn screening tests are not able to detect GSD I. Background and epidemiology: GSD I is a genetic disease resulting from the deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) and glucose-6-phosphate translocase (Andria et al). These particular enzymes are important in enabling the liver to produce glucose from glycogen and/or generate new glucose via gluconeogenesis. The inability of the liver to produce glucose from these metabolic pathways can result in severe hypoglycemia since the liver is responsible for maintaining blood glucose for the body in periods of fasting. The reduction of glycogen breakdown can also cause the kidneys and liver to become enlarged because excess glycogen is typically stored within these two organs. The liver and kidneys can typically function normally during childhood, however because of the increas... ...apter 362. Glycogen Storage Diseases and Other Inherited Disorders of Carbohydrate Metabolism. In D.L. Longo, A.S. Fauci, D.L. Kasper, S.L. Hauser, J.L. Jameson, J. Loscalzo (Eds), Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e. Retrieved January 21, 2012 from http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=9144477. Medscape, Glycogen Storage Diseases Types I-VII. Retrieved at http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1116574-overview. Moses, S.W. Historical higlights and unsolved problems in glycogen storage disease type 1. European Journal of Pediatrics 2002, 161: S2-S9. Nazir, Z. and Qazi, S.H. Urolithiasis and psoas abscess in a 2 year old boy with type 1 glycogen storage disease. Pedriatric Nephrology 2006, 21: 1772-1775. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Glycogen storage disease type I. Retrieved at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycogen_storage_disease_type_I.

A Good Business Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

A Good Business What the characteristics of a good business looks like? The basic element of a good business is derived from good management. It is true since business is run by individuals known as managers that perform specific business functions, such as manufacturing and production, finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and human resource departments. Identifying a good business is not an easy job; an understanding of Managerial Economics is needed because it provides some tools, techniques of analysis and Economic concepts to make good managerial decisions. The purpose of this paper is to identify some characteristics of a good business and list names of the companies having these certain characteristics. Most of good businesses have characteristics such as promising prospect, high rates of return on equity, steady growth of sales, and also strong brands equity. When we talk about a good business, we are not only talking about past and present condition of a firm, but a good business should also have a good prospect. It is true that past successes do not ensure future successes; however the most common way to predict the future is based on the companies’ historical data because those all data are available for us. Those data must depict consistent sales growth and high rates of return on equity. Moreover, since many changes can happened, it is also important for a business to anticipate and adapt continuously to the changing conditions. Since the commo...

Idioms Denoting Parts of Body Essay

1. Introduction It is common knowledge that one of the most important functions of language is to name the world or express human thoughts through a system of concepts. They exist in association in language and make up a giant network with many interconnection and association among the various subparts. A good example of this interconnection involves metaphor. Metaphor is used in the literary or poetic language. It is also widely used in every day conversational language. It is obvious that metaphor is utilized to express ideas sensibly and vividly as it has great expressive power. It is capable of conveying more of the human feeling, emotion or attitude toward what is said rather than the non-metaphorical or direct way of expression. The more developed the society is, the more necessary the need of communication becomes; especially in the process of globalization, the communication has spread beyond the boundary of a country. Together with the development of the society in the era of integration, language has been clearly recognized as a very important tool in communication with many purposes. Language can be used to show one’s feeling, attitude, and evaluation. And through communicating, reading newspapers etc., I realize that people often use words, phrases denoting human body to show their feeling, emotion†¦ In our daily life, we can easily recognize words denoting our body parts used plentifully, not only individual words but also word combinations containing more than one human body part. Regarding to word groups denoting human body parts, their meanings are not the combination of each word’s meaning only, in some cases, their meanings are quite different from the original meaning. Learning of idioms is important, especially for the foreigner learners. Idioms correspond to a valuable vein in English language, so they need for explanation. Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of its components. Learners of English must be aware that the meaning cannot be taken as a combination of words which the idiom consist of. Also behaviour of idioms in sentences is different. One cannot understand literally the meaning of an idiom. Sometimes it seems that it has no sense or it is illogical. Idioms cannot be changed; especially one cannot use related words when the idiom is concerned. Many of them cannot be used in passive form. The structure of idioms is extraordinary. That is why learners of English must know that the most important thing is not learning idioms by rote, but learning how to use them. If speaker of English knows a lot of idioms and he can use them in a right context, he will be able to communicate more easily. Idiomatic expressions are phrases which use language in a non-literal way. This is why interpretation of idioms is very hard. Idioms are group of words, phrases that meaning cannot be concluded from the individual words. Every idiom has a deeper, metaphorical meaning. Idioms are very important in life because it is impossible to speak, read, write and listen to English without knowing idiomatic expressions. Native speakers of English feel more comfortable using idiomatic phrases; however, non-native speakers can be frustrated because the true meaning of an idiom is not always clear. One should remember that idioms can be used when every speaker master a language completely. Nowadays, idioms are essential elements that enrich the language. However, one should remember that speech which is overloaded with idioms loses its originality. On the other hand, lack of idioms make that oral or written speech loses much in its expressiveness. A large number of phrases and sentences in the English language are related to body parts. Some of them are descriptive while others, elusive. Their origins are dated from Biblical times to the recent days. Each generation adds new idiomatic expressions which are connected with their culture. The meaning of idiomatic expressions is indefinable. They show that metaphors are very important in our lives and that we do not look at things in the way they are in reality, but rather we perceive them through our understanding and our experience of the world. The present thesis is an attempt at an analysis of English idioms with a body component. Its goal is to study and present the nature of idioms, their connection with culture and context. It is common knowledge that one of the most important   functions of language is to name the world or express human thoughts through a system of concepts. They exist in association in language and make up a giant network with many interconnection and association among the various subparts. A good example of this interconnection involves metaphor. Metaphor is used in the literary or poetic language. It is also widely used in every day conversational language. It is obvious that metaphor is utilized to express ideas sensibly and vividly as it has great expressive power. It is capable of conveying more of the human feeling, emotion or attitude toward what is said rather than the non-metaphorical or direct way of expression. Achilles’ heel= the only vulnerable spot in a person or thing that is otherwise strong; a serious or fatal weakness/ fault After one’s own heart = to like someone because of similar interests An eye for an eye (and a tooth for a tooth)= retaliation/ retribution in kind, a punishment that is as cruel as the crime An eye opener = a surprise; a startling or enlightening experience Armed to the teeth = heavily armed Behind one’s back = when one is not present Blue blood = having the qualities of being of noble birth Can’t put one’s finger on = can’t locate immediately, can’t find the answer Can’t see beyond the end of one’s nose = limited vision concerning decisions of the future Crocodile tears = false tears, pretended grief Face to face/ eyeball-to-eyeball = confronting each other Foul mouth = a user of profanity Hand in hand= in close association Hands are tied = restrained from acting Heart-to-heart = intimate speaking freely and seriously about a private subject I could have bitten my tongue off= sorry you said something In one ear and out the other = does not heed or pay attention It’s in your hands = it is your responsibility On the tip of one’s tongue= at the point of telling or recalling One foot in the grave = old and decrepit Over one’s dead body= against one’s strong opposition Right-hand man= chief assistant To (not) lift a finger= not to help in the slightest degree To be all ears = to listen attentively To be loose–tongued = to talk too much To be up to one’s ears = immersed in, caught in To break someone’s heart = cause great sorrow, disappoint someone To breathe down someone’s neck = to follow someone closely in pursuit, the action of a superior who is looking for something wrong or watching someone very closely To bury one’s head in the sand = to refuse to accept facts To catch one’s breath = to rest to regain normal breathing To cry on someone’s shoulder = to go to someone to talk to about a problem To foam/ froth at the mouth= to be very angry To force one’s hand = make one reveal his plans To get one’s hands on= obtain To get out of hand= become uncontrollable To get through one’s head= to understand or believe To give one’s right arm = make a big sacrifice; give something of great value To give someone a hand= help, assistance To go to one’s head= cause dizziness To have a big mouth= to talk too much To have a sharp tongue= harsh or sarcastic in speech To have an eagle eye= to have an excellent eyesight 1.1 Aim Idiomatic Phrases For the first time the term ‘phraseology’ appeared in 16th century and it meant ‘style’ or ‘vocabulary’. In 18th century it got terminological meaning such as ‘a group of word units’. At the same time in most of European languages ‘phraseology’ meant ‘empty words’. New linguistic branch ‘phraseology’ developed in 20th century, mostly in East Europe. The forerunner of phraseology was Charles. Bally, Swiss linguist. He used the term phraseology when he wrote about different types of word-groups which differ in degree of stability from free word-groups to phraseological units. The study on phraseology was developed by Russian linguists A.A. Shakhmotov and A.D. Polivanov. M. Tarasevitch (1991:448) claims that â€Å"[†¦] linguists became aware of the existence in the language of special larger-than-words units: word-groups consisting of two or more words whose combination is integrated as a un it with a specialized meaning of the whole [†¦]. Russian linguists made an attempt to study various word-groups on a scientific basis. They pointed out the need to establish a new branch of linguistics that would study unusual feature of word-groups. In linguistics, ‘phraseology’ is a term used for describing the context in which a word is used. The term also describes various structural and semantic types of phrases characterized by different degrees of idiomacity in given language. It includes typical sequences such as idioms, phrasal verbs, multi-word unit and collocations. â€Å" Phraseology – the words and phrases used in particular profession or activity or a particular way of putting words together to express something† (Macmillan English Dictionary 2007:1119) Phraseology studies compound meaning of two or more words e.g. like a knife through butter. The meaning of the phrase is different from the words used alone. Phraseology studies why such meanings come in everyday use, and what possibly are the laws governing these word combinations. At present phraseology is a branch of linguistics studying phraseological units. According to M. Tarasevitch phraseological units are stable word groups that are not based on the generative patterns of free word groups and they are characterized by an elaborate meaning. Tarasevitch claims that phraseological unit should have: * Stability of use; * Structural separateness; * Complexity of meaning and * Word-groups are not built on the generative pattern of free word-groups. Stability of use means that phraseological units are language units which are members of a language community. Phraseology is connected with culture and speech community. Structural separateness helps to distinguish praseological units from compound words. Complexity of meaning signifies the non-compositionality of phraseological units, which mean that the meaning of the whole phrase is different from the sum of literal meanings of the words. Each unit is constituted according to its own unique rule, which cannot be predicted. One of three groups of phraseological units is idioms. Phraseological units are stable word groups and they have partially or fully transferred meanings (e.g. kick the bucket). They are lexicalized word group in common use. What is an idiom? â€Å"A group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words† (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 2000:672) â€Å"An expression established in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in grammatical construction or in having a meaning that cannot be derived as a whole from the conjoined meanings of its elements† (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1993:1123) â€Å"[†¦] an idiom is a lexicalized, reproducible word group in common use, which has the syntactic stability, and may carry connotations, but whose meaning cannot be derived from the meanings of its constituents† (Cowie 2001:125) The word ‘idiom’ comes from the Greek root idio, meaning a unique signature. An idiom is an expression, a phrase or a combination of words that has a meaning that is different from a meaning of the individual words. Each language contains expressions which make no sense when they are translated literally into another language. Sometimes idiom can have literal meaning in some situation and different idiomatic meaning in another situation. It is an expression or a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar. If somebody (especially a foreigner or a person outside a given culture) does not know that some words convey a meaning that is unrelated to the individual meaning of those words, he may does not understand what someone is saying. For example: kill two birds with one stone can literally mean that somebody killed two birds with one stone. But the idiom has totally different meaning: one resolves two difficulties or matters with a one single action. Many idioms are similar to expressions in other languages, can be easy to understand and its meaning is usually obvious. For instance, black ship of the family in Poland can be easily understood because there is an identical idiom and it can be easily translated. Other idioms come from older phrases which have changed their meaning over time, for example, kick the bucket originally referred to suicide victims standing on inverted buckets, they kick them away and in this way hang themselves, but now it means simply to die. Shelley (1995) suggests that some idioms are slang. â€Å"Slang seems to mean everything that is below the standard of usage of present-day English† (Galperin 1971:96). Galperin cited a definition of slang of â€Å"Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language†: â€Å"1. Originally, the specialized vocabulary and idioms of criminals tramps, etc. The purpose of which was to disguise from outsiders the meaning of what was said; now usually called cant. 2. The specialized vocabulary and idioms of those in the same work, way of life, etc.; now usually called shoptalk, argot, jargon. â€Å" (Galperin 1971:96). According to Thomas (1995) idioms are known as clichà ©s. Clichà ©s are expressions that have been used over and over again. They are overused and common expressions. Idioms are perceived as a very interesting part of the language because they are different from simple words and phrases. They make language life and rich because they take existing words and combine them with a new sense and create totally new expressions. â€Å"[†¦] language is a living thing [†¦]. Living things grow and change, so does language.† (Seidl and McMordie 1988:11) English language being flexible enriches its vocabulary with the words invented by language speakers, which makes English more colourful with new idiomatic expressions. Since idioms have unpredictable meaning, structure and collocations, they are linguistic curiosities. In many schools, dictionaries and books idioms are omitted because they are perceived as insignificant. They are rarely used in classrooms. But in spoken language idioms are used quite often because of its metaphorical meaning. According to Seidl and McMordie (1988) the attitude to language is still changing. It is observed in some parts of grammar (case, number and tense), and in style. Some words which were deemed as slang in the past now are considered informal or colloquial. Idioms are not any longer colloquial expressions. They appear in formal style, in poetry and in the language of the Bible. Idioms and culture â€Å"By culture we understand the ability of members of speech community to orientate themselves with respect to social, moral, political and so on values in their empirical and mental experience. Cultural categories [†¦] are conceptualized in the subconscious knowledge of standards, stereotypes, mythologies, rituals, general habits and other cultural patterns†. (Cowie 2001:57) The term idiom refers to a group of words which are usually confusing to people who are not familiar with the language. Nevertheless, many phrases or expressions from natural language are in fact idioms or have idiomatic origin and they have been assimilated into the language. Idioms are often colloquial metaphors. They often combine in their semantics more than one type of cultural information. It means that they require some foundational knowledge, information and experience which are used only within a culture where groups must have common reference. As cultures are localized around some area, idioms are not useful for communication outside of that local context. But there are some idioms that can be more universally used than others, they can be easily translated and their metaphorical meaning can be more easily deduced. Those common idioms have deep roots in many languages, they can be translated in other languages and tend to become international. Idioms are an essential part of English style language study. One cannot say that he know English history, culture and society without understanding the meaning and the roots of English idioms. Each generation has added its new non-literal expressions which are defined by the values, beliefs, traditions, customs and events of the times. If you master idioms you will be on your path to better understanding English culture, customs, society and lifestyle of English people. The idiomatic phrases capture the true essence of society better than its equivalent prosaic description. When one uses idioms among English friends and even business associates, he can create emotional bands that bring him closer to their culture. Mastery of idioms can lead to better understanding of people. Often background information on the origin or popular usage of idioms provides important insight into culture. Different aspects of an idiom Seidl and McMordie (1988) said that idioms are not only colloquial expressions, but they also appear in formal style and in poetry. Idioms often occur in journalism, radio and magazines to make information, stories and articles more interesting. However, idioms are often connected with informal language. The construction of an idiom is strict and for one it can be odd (e.g. not by a long chalk). Sometimes the construction seems to be illogical (e.g. for two pins). This is why learning idioms is not only very difficult task but also very exciting and intriguing. People who do not know certain idioms cannot easily understand the others. Such a phrase would not make sense and one cannot deduce what is actual meaning of the expression. These features causes that idioms have to be learnt as a whole expressions without any changes. Sometimes idioms have alternative forms without any change in their meaning (e.g. to drop a brick and put one’s foot in it mean to say something tactlessly or blue-eyed boy and golden boy – a favoured person). In some cases several verbs can be used in one idiom and the meaning is the same, but sometimes there are slight changes in meaning connected with the verb which it substitutes (e.g. keep/bear someone in mind, come/get to/reach the point). An idiom is natural to native speakers of the language and only people who are possess English very good can use idiomatic expressions in their speech. Idioms have different structures and combinations. They can be short or long, they contain various parts of speech and they are unpredictable, but sometimes one may guess meaning from the context, when the idiom is used in a particular situation. Foreigners know the meaning of the idiom when it is related to the mother tongue of the speaker (e.g. be in seven heaven in Polish its mean być w sià ³dmym niebie). Some idioms are so difficult that one cannot guess the meaning from the context correctly. It is difficult to learn them. Idioms can change their meaning during period of time or simple phrase can transform into idiom and get deeper meaning as it was with kick the bucket. Learners of foreign language have to learn idioms as a single item with their meaning. It is essential to master the rules of their use in sentences. They are strict in their structure and they do not allow the word order to change. A learner must know how to use an idiom in the correct way. Idioms are not separate part of language, but they are very important part of lexicon. Languages contain a large number of idioms and sometimes native speakers use them in the unconscious way. There are many problems with idioms. The main problem is that it is not usually possible to translate them literally. There are exceptions, for instance, take the bull by the horns can be translated literally into Polish as wziąć byka za rogi, which has the same meaning. Mostly, the use of normal rules in order to translate idioms will result in illogical phrases. Idioms have to be treated as single units in translation. There are idioms which are ‘frozen’. It means that an idiom appears in the same form and in the same order (e.g. for good – ‘forever’). But, there is problem with idioms which change the form of the verb, which varies according to tense, person and number. For example, kick the bucket (‘to die’) one gets she kicks/kicked/will kick the bucket. Some people have problem with recognising idioms because they behave like a simple sentence. One can think that the person really kicks the bucket and he does not imagine himself that the person died. The interpretation of idioms for one can be surprising. It is better to recognise idioms which have ‘frozen forms’. Idioms pragmatics and context â€Å"Pragmatics – the study of the way in which language is used to express what somebody really means in particular situations, especially when the actual words used may appear to mean something different.† (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English 2000:1031). Pragmatics is involved with the comprehension process. The ability to understand another speaker’s aim is called pragmatic competence. It is a linguistic study of the way in which people use language to achieve different goals. Suppose a person wanted to ask someone else to reveal a secret. These could be achieved in the different ways. The person could simply say ‘do not tell a secret, please’ which is direct and with clear meaning. Alternatively the person could say ‘do not spill the beans’, which implies a similar meaning but is indirect and therefore requires pragmatic competence. Idioms play very important role in those studies. Because idioms have general meaning they are rather used to express attitude then give specific information. They are used to express approval or disapproval and admiration or criticism. According to Collins Coubild Dictionary of Idioms (1995) idioms sometimes have connotations and pragmatic meaning which are not always obvious to people who do not know the meaning and then the meaning of the expression can be missed. It may happen that somebody can use an idiom and do not realize that it can be interpreted as critical or disapproving. It can cause wrong reaction of the person they are talking to. Pragmatics is one of the most challenging aspects for language learners to comprehend, and can be learned by experience. The interpretation of what the speaker wanted to say using particular words is often influenced by factors such as listener’s assumption or the context. In pragmatics two contexts can be distinguished: linguistic context (is the set of words that surround the lexical item) and physical context (is the location of given words, the situation in which the word is used, as well as timing, all of them lead to proper understanding of the words). 1.2. Practical Value When we use idioms? According to Seild and McMordie (1988) one should know in which situations it is correct to use idiom and weather an idiom can be used in a formal or an informal situation. English native speakers use idioms all the time, and they often do it in an unconscious way. This means that the communication with them can be very difficult. They use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. Of course choice of words depends on the person who is speaking, on the situation and the place. If people are friends and they are talking in private there is no reason to avoid using idioms, slang or jargon. But, if in the same situation one of speakers is foreigner they should not use idioms until this person will master the language completely. Learning idioms cause a lot of troubles to English learners because they do not know the culture and history behind the idioms. That is way they often use idioms inappropriately. Learners use idiomatic expressions carefully because they are afraid of using them incorrectly. In formal situations, it means when one is talking with a stranger or speaks publicly than one should shun idioms. Using idioms one should know whether an idiom is appropriate in certain situation. When idioms are used judiciously, they can even improve the atmosphere of one’s formal writing and provide more interesting descriptions. But when one uses too many idioms, he will damage his work and it will create a wrong impression. Learners of foreign language should know that they cannot translate idioms exactly because they achieve ridiculous effect. The results of foreigner’s translation may be bewildering to the English native speaker. Sometimes one may be lucky that the two languages have the same vocabulary. It is connected with close relation between language and culture. Idioms can be learnt only by listening to native speakers or reading texts which contains idioms. â€Å"Mastery of idioms comes only slowly, through careful study and observation, through practice and experience.† (Seidl and McMordie 1978:8) Idioms with a body part component Many English idioms are related to external and internal organs of the human body. Body parts idioms contain following aspects: ââ€"  body parts which are connected with senses ââ€"  internal organs ââ€"  limbs and limbs’ elements ââ€"  other body parts Body idioms connected with senses Ear Idioms Ear – is an organ of hearing. It is a part of human auditory system and it is used to listen to the sounds. Ear idioms have both positive and negative meaning. Half of them are positively loaded; the other part is negatively loaded. Eye idioms Eye – is an organ of vision. According to Macmillan dictionary (2007) eye is one of two body parts used for seeing. Most of the idioms are positively loaded. Nose idioms Nose – it is a part of people’s face that is used for smelling and breathing. Half of nose idioms have a positive meaning the other half have a negative meaning. Skin idioms According to Mcmillan English dictionary (2007) skin is the external layer of human’s and animal’s body. Skin also enables feeling. Body idioms connected with limbs and limbs’ elements Arm idioms Arm – is an upper limb of human body with your hands at the end. Six arm idioms have a positive meaning, one is rather neutral and the others have a negative meaning. Shoulder idioms Shoulder – it is one of two parts of the body between one’s neck and the top of one’s arms. Hand idioms In dictionaries there are many different uses of word ‘hand’. As a body part ‘hand’ is at the end of each arm that people use for picking up and holding things, but it is also used for moving and touching things. Hand provides a good source for metonymic extensions and hand-based idioms convey both positive and negative meanings. That said, a hand that takes does not give, your hand and not the charity of others, someone’s hand outruns his/her tongue (speech), someone’s hand and strike, someone with a long hand, someone’s hand on his/her heart, someone with an empty hand, someone with a loose hand, someone with a short hand, someone with a dry hand, someone dug his/her grave by hand, someone withdrew his/her hand from someone/ something, soften your hand (imperative), as left by your hand, no power in hand, putting one’s hand in another’s throat and nobody hit him/her on the hand are all instances of hand based idioms that express negative meanings. Finger idioms Fingers are the long, thin parts at the end of human’s hands. Half of the finger idioms have a positive meaning and the other part is negative. Leg idioms Leg – is a lower limb of human body with your foot at the end. Bigger parts of leg idioms have negative meaning (5), one is neutral and the rest are positive. Foot idioms Foot – the part of your body that is at the end of the leg on which a human or an animal stands. Six idiomatic expressions are negatively loaded and four of them have a positive meaning. Toe idioms Toe is the one of the individual parts at the end of human’s foot. Only one idiom (be/keep on one’s toes) have a positive meaning, one is neutral (from top to toes) and the rest are negatively loaded. Internal idioms Heart idioms Heart is the organ in human’s chest that makes blood flow around the body. The term refers to our feelings and emotions in reference to people’s character. Heart is considered as the most important and influential part of human body. It is the place where people’s deepest emotions come from. It is believed that heart controls emotions and it is used to talk about love and happiness. This is why, the most of idioms are positively loaded. 80% of heart idioms contain the word ‘heart’ in Polish and 20% of idioms are not related to heart or feelings. Bone idioms Bone is one of the hard parts that form a fame inside the human’s or animal’s body. Bone function is to move and protect the internal organs of the body. Bones create the skeleton. This is why they used to represent death. Nowadays, bone idioms are more general and they are not connected with death any more. Most of them (six) have a negative meaning, three are positively loaded and one is neutral. Tongue idioms Tongue is the organ in your mouth. It is a long piece of flesh fixed to the bottom of human’s or animal’s mouth. People use it for tasting and speaking. Tongue, mostly is use to talk but it also stands for a style of expression, a particular way of speaking and writing. Almost all tongue idioms have a negative meaning, which is surprising. It is the first body part which is so negatively loaded. None of idioms have a clear positive meaning. Only one is neutral: have something on the tip of one’s tongue. Other body parts idioms Head idioms Head is the top part of human’s or animal’s body that has brain, eyes, mouth and nose. Head can also stand for mind and thought. It is often connected with reason, thoughts or memories. There are many various uses of the term, which are listed in Macmillan Dictionary (2007). Six head idioms have a positive meaning and four of them are negatively loaded. Head provides an essential source domain for characterizing people human states and behavior. The implicit meanings of head-based idioms are predominantly negative. This being the case, someone’s head getting big – which is equivalent to the English swollen-headed – is used rhetorically as a metonymy to stand for someone who is arrogant, whereas someone with a big head refers metonymically to any knowledgeable person (scientist, engineer or professor) who is most appreciated by others, or to any person in power (minister, prime minister, or university president) who has mastery over issues others do not. Someone with a heavy head, which is equivalent to the English sleepy head, symbolizes a person who is less likely to wake up early and almost misses the clock alarm. Other idioms which also implicate negative meanings include someone’s got dry or solid head, which is a metonymy for the attribute of stubbornness and which is parallel to the English hard-headed, and someone’s head and pillow, which symbolizes loneliness (unmarried or friendless person) and metonymically stands for anybody who need not look after anyone except him/herself. When someone constructed roads in my head – which is equivalent to the English drilling a hole in someone’s head – is said by someone, then the speaker is complaining that he/she is tormented by someone pertinacious, one who is persistently nagging and over-enquiring about something in a very unpleasant manner. Face idioms The conventional pragmatic implications of the idioms could also be either positive or negative. Instances of metonymic face-based idioms of negative implications which are of frequent use include someone has been eating my face, someone should not be given face, someone with a bloodless face, someone slept on his/her face = someone slept on belly, and someone’s face stops the livelihood. Someone has been eating my face is a metonymic expression used to stand for someone who relentlessly asks about something and insists on his request. This idiom is also used to stand for creditors who insist on their request and seek to recover debt from debtors. Someone should not be given face is also a metonymy for a meddling person and this idiom is used as advice not to establish a relationship with any such type of people. There are some people who are intrusive overbearing in a very intolerable way, and if someone shows them a good welcome and smile in their faces once, they are encouraged to come back and hope to get more and more, and ask someone at every opportunity to give them what they want. If someone forgives and disregards an intrusive person’s mistakes, then the apologizer might go too far and keep insulting and hurting the apologize unless the apologizer is stopped from doing so. Further, there are some disturbing people who overstay their welcomes, in that if respected and welcomed in someone’s home or workplace, they come to visit someone every day in order for the host to undertake the duty of hospitality. For all these possible reasons, some people might use the metonymical idiom of someone should not be given face. Someone with a bloodless face is a metonymic expression that symbolizes rude and shameless people who are likely to speak in a way that may be hurtful and offensive to others; people who do not care whether they are right or not due to over brazenness and lack of modesty and understanding. The metonymical idiom of someone slept on his/her face is normally used to describe someone who slept worried or slept because of the severity of fatigue. Finally, the expression someone’s face stops the livelihood is used to describe pessimistic people who are likely to get someone down. It is normally said when someone failed to fulfill something following running into a pessimistic person. Metonymical face-based idioms of positive implications are relatively few and they include you can see your face in it and your face and not the moonlight. The former is used as a metonymy to signify anything tremendously clean such as car, door, floor, etc. It is so clean that one can see one’s face in it as if it were a mirror. The latter is said while addressing the beloved person and used to express the longing and welcome to the beloved person after a long absence. Also, someone with white face is a metonymy for a peaceful person who is innocent of some charges blamed on him/her accidently. Back idioms Back is the body part that is opposite side to people’s chest, it is between the neck and the top of legs. Half of back idioms are positive and the other half has a negative meaning. 2. Calculation Idioms are one of the most difficult parts of the vocabulary of any language because they have unpredictable meanings or collocations and grammar. One of the main difficulties for learners is deciding in which situation it is correct to use an idiom, i.e. the level of style (neutral, informal, slang, taboo, etc. idioms). Learners of English may also have difficulty deciding whether an idiom is natural or appropriate in a certain situation. It is extremely unwise to translate idioms into or from one’s native language. One may be lucky that the two languages have the same form and vocabulary, but in most cases the result will be utterly bewildering to the English native speaker – and possibly highly amusing. (Seidl 1988) Today’s English has a general tendency towards a more idiomatic usage. Even educated usage has become more tolerant, so the use of idiomatic expressions increased in frequency. Idioms are, in a very broad sense, metaphorical rather than literal: they are effectively metaphors that have become ‘fixed’ in language. In some cases, it is fairly easy to see how the idiomatic meaning relates to the literal meaning, in other cases, the literal meaning may make no sense at all. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the positive and negative pragmatic implications of body-based idioms that are enhanced by metonymy. It was found that metonymical idioms that include lexis for head, face, eye, hand, tongue, and leg predominantly implicate negative meanings. Also, whereas metonymy-enhanced idioms that include body parts such as hair, nose, tongue, teeth, back, skin and blood were found to be expressing positive and negative meanings almost equally, metonymical idioms that are based on mouth and neck were found to be conveying positive meaning only. It might be possible to argue that the use of the majority of body-based idioms is enhanced by the need to be polite. Having said that, we could say that the use to which these idioms are established and maintained is to protect the speaker’s and/or the addressee’s face. Idioms in general and those examined in this study in particular are all examples of indirect communication of opinions, human states and behaviour. Almost every body idiom is related to human being, to its behaviour, qualities and everyday life. Understanding of the metaphorical meaning of idiomatic phrases is related to everyday experience and the world around us. It causes that metaphors are very important in people’s lives. This is whyone should know idioms especially when he is learning language. Metaphors are part of the language. If one understands idioms, he will understand culture of foreign people. 3. Some Examples All ears If you are all ears, you are very interested and ready to listen to what another person wants to tell you. Tell me what happened – I’m all ears. All in your head If something is all in your head, you have imagined it and it is not real. Stop thinking that everybody hates you. It’s all in your head. Cost somebody an arm and a leg If something costs an arm and a leg, it is very expensive. This television set cost me an arm and leg. It wasn’t cheap at all. Armed to the teeth A person who is armed to the teeth is using or carrying a lot of weapons. The enemy soldiers were armed to the teeth. It was impossible to defeat them. At each other’s throats If two people are at each other’s throats, they are arguing in an angry way. It looks like they are at each other’s throatsagain. They just can’t agree on anything. Have the guts If you have the guts to do something, you are brave enough to do it. He has the guts to express his opinions in public. Hit a nerve If you hit a nerve, you upset someone by talking about an uncomfortable topic. I think you really hit a nerve when you mentioned her divorce. Pain in the neck If someone or something is a pain in the neck, he/she/it is very annoying. Angela is a real pain in the neck. She annoys just about everyone she meets. Pick someone’s brains If you pick someone’s brains, you ask the person for advice, suggestions and information. I need some ideas. Can I pick your brains? Play it by ear If you play something by ear, you deal with a situation as it develops rather than according to any plan. We don’t have a plan. We’ll just have to play it by ear. Pull someone’s leg If you pull someone’s leg, you make someone believe something that is not true, usually as a joke. Don’t take her seriously. She’s just pulling your leg. Put your foot down If you put your foot down, you stop something from happening by using your authority. She was out of control but her parents finally decided to put their foot down. 4. References 1. Courtney, R., Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Essex England: Longman Group UK Ltd, 1994; 2. Gibbs, Raymond W. (1994): The Poetics of Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Under-standing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3. Gibbs, Raymond W. & Berg, E. (1999): Embodied metaphor and perceptual symbols. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22, 4. Gibbs, Raymond W., Lima, Paula & Francuzo, Edson (2004): Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience. Journal of Pragmatics 36, 5. Gibbs, Raymond W. & Wilson, Nicole L. (2002): Bodily Action and Metaphorical Meaning. 6. Goossens, Louis (1990): Metaphtonymy: The interaction of metaphor and metonymy in 7. expressions for linguistic action. Cognitive Linguistics1, 8. Halliday, Michael A.K. (1985): An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold. 9. Hansen, Gyde (2005): Experience and Emotion in Empirical Translation Research with 10. Think-Aloud and Retrospection. Meta 50, 11. Flavell, L. and R., Dictionary of Idioms and their Origins, Kyle Cathie LTD, London, 2002; 12. Manser, M., Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, London: Sphere Books Ltd., 1990; 13. Rogers, J., The Dictionary of Clichà ©s, New Jersey: Wings Books, 1994; 14. Seidl, J., English Idioms, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988; 15. Warren, H., Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of English Idioms, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994; 16. ***, The COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms, London, Harper Collins Publishers, 1995 17. ***, The Longman Dictionary of English Idioms, Longman Group UK Ltd., 1979; 18. ***, The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, New York, Oxford University Press Inc., 1999; 19. ***, The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms, Penguin Books Ltd., 1994; 20. ***, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms, Ware: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1993; 21. ***, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1993.