NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

I use this book on daily basis and I couldn't be more satisfied with it. Idioms are so common in speech and writing in today's English, that you really don't stand a chance of speaking or understanding the language properly if you don't get familiar with its idiomatic expression. I recommend that you buy this book together with "Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions" and read a few pages of both every day (you don't have to do it in alphabetic order, of course). Do it whenever you have 10 or 20 minutes off. The effect of the time you dedicate to this activity will amaze you. That's all what it takes to transform you into a great English languge speaker. The book is packed with many practical examples that you can start using straight away.

This book will help you improve your verbal expressions and your understanding.

I am a tutor in an advanced English as a second language class. Students at this level have a terrible time understanding American idiomatic phrases. This book meets their needs quite well. The examples of the correct use for each idiom is particullarly helpful. Its relatively low cost is a major plus since these students are usually struggling financially.

NTC's American Idioms Dictionary, Second Edition by lexicographer Richard A. Spears provides 12,000 examples of usage for over 8,500 idiomatic forms in American English. The Dictionary contains an exceptionally comprehensive Phrase-Finder Index that allows you to look up any key word in an expression and find the exact location of that expression in the main body of the dictionary. This unique feature allows you to identify and locate partially remembered expressions quickly and easily. NTC's American Idioms Dictionary is designed for easy use by life-long speakers of English, as well as the new-to-English speaker or learner. An appendix includes 500 irreversible binomial and trinomial phrases. The dictionary contains a unique Phrase-Finder Index that allows the user to identify and look up any expression in the dictionary from a single key word. This is a dictionary of form and meaning. It focuses on the user's need to know the meaning, usage, and appropriate contexts for each idiomatic phrase. The definitions and examples provide sufficient information to allow a person trained in English grammar to parse the idiomatic expressions. Persons who do not understand English grammar or English grammar terminology and who cannot themselves parse the idiomatic expressions or example sentences do not derive much benefit from grammatical explanations. The dictionary relies on clarity, simplicity, and carefully written examples to lead the user to the meaning and appropriate usage of each idiomatic expression. The special features that make this book useful for learners do not detract from or interfere with its usefulness for the life-long English speaker, and should, in fact, add to its usefulness. Specialized knowledge of English lexical and sentential semantics and English grammar is not used in indexing, defining, or explaining the idiomatic expressions. Idioms or idiomatic expressions are often defined as "set phrases" or "fixed phrases." The number of idiomatic expressions that are totally invariant is really quite small, however, even when the English proverbs are included in this category. Most such phrases can vary the choice of noun or pronoun and most select from a wide variety of verb tense and aspect patterns. Adjectives and some adverbs can be added at will to idiomatic phrases. Furthermore, the new-to-English user is faced with the difficulty of isolating an idiomatic expression from the rest of the sentence and determining where to find it in a dictionary of idioms. If the user fails to extract the essential idiomatic expression, the likelihood of finding it in any dictionary is reduced considerably. In dictionaries that list each idiomatic expression under a "key word," there may be some difficulty in deciding what the "key word" is. In phrases such as on the button or in the cards, the key word, the only noun in the phrase, is easy to determine if one has correctly isolated the ph

;to be honest with someone... So i am going to level with you :o) This is a gotta have book for anyone in love with our ever changing American English... so read it and rediscover your love afair with words. Perfect gift for anyone new to America and our way of reshaping the English Language.