[Lexicog] Idioms

[thlcolmdubh]

To estimate--much less count--the idioms of a language, one must first 
posit what is meant by 'idiom.'  I have explained 'idiom' in English 
and various foreign language classes as a phrase or sentence that does 
not mean what it says; e.g., How do you do.  How do I do what?!?  Do we 
consider collapsed phrases?  For example, should a devout atheist say
"Good-bye"?

What would be a more functional--as opposed to formal--definition of an 
idiom?

Scott Catledge


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