BRUSOV STATE UNIVERSITY

Research Paper

Course: Writing Skills

Topic: English idioms used in fashion magazines
Student: Adamyan Mariam
Year: 4th
Faculty: LPF
Group:2nd
Lecturer: S. Stepanyan
 Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 3
Chapter 1
General characteristics of idioms and their use in newspapers……………. 4
Chapter 2
The use of English idioms in fashion magazines……………………………
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………..
 Introduction

English is a truly international language, as it is being used by the people all over the
world as a means of communication. The spread of the English language over recent
centuries has been driven largely by its use as a common language in international trade
and commerce. It is currently used by many companies as their primary language for
correspondence and negotiations, allowing for easier communication with partners all
around the world.
English is also the main language of famous newspapers, especially of international
ones. It has its own peculiarities in each sphere.
One of the important aspect of the use of English is the newspaper. English used in
newspapers has its own peculiarities.
The use of idioms is one of the characteristics of newspaper style.
In this research paper some idioms used in fashion sphere, particularly in fashion
magazines will be covered. Going through fashion magazines, reading articles, or
listening to fashion designers and stylists, we come across to many idioms. The style of
this newspapers is as original as the fashion itself. That is why it may be useful to study
the idioms used in fashion magazines.
Chapter 1 gives the general idea about idioms and their use in newspaper style.
Chapter 2 gives some practical examples of idioms used in fashion magazines (Vogue,
Elle)
In the concluding part all the information of the research paper is summarized.
Chapter 1
 General characteristics of idioms and their use in newspapers

An idiom is a sequence of words which functions as a single unit; it is syntactically fixed and
semantically conventionalized.
There are the following types of idioms:

● Pure Idioms: Pure idioms are idioms whose original meaning has been forgotten to the
point where the phrase can no longer be analyzed logically to determine its meaning.

● Binomial Idioms: Binomial idioms are idioms that are made up of two elements that
function together or in opposition to form a statement.

● Partial Idioms: A partial idiom contains a literal part and a non-literal part.

● Prepositional Idioms: Prepositional idioms are idioms that contain prepositional verbs
plus an adverb or a preposition to create non-literal meaning.
Idiomatic expressions pose many semantic and structural problems. The most
familiar difficulty is that of meaning, since idiomatic expressions do not mean
what they appear to mean. Because they have a special meaning attached to
them, it is not possible to understand the meaning of the whole simply by under-
standing the meaning of the constituent parts. In this respect, they are similar to
a word: they must be learnt by memorizing their stipulated meaning. They are
figures of speech that contradict the principle of compositionality and as such,
they are often regarded as fossilized, petrified or frozen lexical items.
Idiomatic expressions are often modified to enhance the memorability of slo-
gans in commercial advertising and are fairly popular also in journalism, par-
ticularly in newspaper headings to spark the reader’s curiosity. However, modifications
of idiomatic expressions can also be found in a variety of other text types, ranging from
advertisement and newspaper articles to prose fiction and public speeches. The fact that
modifications are not as infrequent as it appears and that they appear in numerous texts
encountered on a daily basis leads to the question whether they are included and treated
in dictionaries, particularly in specialized phraseological dictionaries, and various
teaching materials, especially textbooks.
The essential features of idioms are stability of the lexical components and lack of
motivation. Lexical stability means that the components of set expressions are either
irreplaceable or partly replaceable within the bounds of phraseological or phraseomatic
variance.
The fact that the wards of the idioms are fixed is what makes the idioms, firs of all. So
the fixed state of idioms is quality which not only characterizes them, but also proves
idioms to be internally structured lexical items.
 Idioms have no social boundaries or limitations as they exist in all cultures and classes
of the society as well as in all languages. Idioms are a part of each language and cannot
be described apart from the given language.
English idioms make up a big part of the vocabulary of the language, and they are
widely used in almost every sphere. They are rich in functional-style and emotional-
expressive synonyms. Stylistic coloring of idioms, as well as words, causes their fixing in
a certain style of speech. English idioms are extensively used in newspaper style.
English newspaper style may be defined as a system of interrelated lexical,
phraseological and grammatical means as a separate unity that basically serves the
purpose of informing and instructing the reader. It goes without saying that the bulk of
the vocabulary used in newspaper style is neutral and commonly literary. But apart from
this, newspaper style has its specific vocabulary features.

Its basic genres, which can be classed as follows:

● brief news items,

● headlines,

● advertisements and announcements.

● The editorial.

Brief news items. The function of a brief news item is to inform the reader. It
states only facts without giving comments. Newspaper style has its specific
vocabulary features and is characterized by an extensive use of: special political
and economic terms, non-term political vocabulary, newspaper cliché,
abbreviations, neologisms.

The headline. The headline is the title given to a news item of a newspaper article.
The main function of the headline is to inform the reader briefly of what the news that
follows is about. Syntactically headlines are very short sentences or phrases of a variety
of patterns: full declarative sentences, interrogative sentences, nominative sentences,
elliptical sentences, sentences with articles omitted, phrases with verbals, questions in
the forms of statements, complex sentences, headlines including direct speech.

Advertisements and announcements. The function of advertisement and

announcement is to inform the reader. There are two basic types of advertisements and
announcements in the modern English newspaper: classified and non-classified. In
classified advertisements and announcements various kinds of information are arranged
according to subject-matter into sections, each bearing an appropriate name. As for the
separate advertisements and announcements, the variety of language form and subject-
matter is so great that hardly any essential features common to all be pointed out.

The editorial. Editorials are an intermediate phenomenon bearing the stamp of both
the newspaper style and the publistic style. The function of the editorial is to influence
the reader by giving an interpretation of certain facts. Emotional coloring in editorial
articles is also achieved with the help of various stylistic devices, especially metaphors
and epithets, both lexical and syntactical, the use of which is largely traditional.

The newspaper style has the following functions:

● Provides information without comment or appeal.

● Delivers ‘hot news’.

● Addresses general public.

Chapter 2
The use of English idioms in fashion magazines

Fashion is always creative, interesting, and attractive. And the news concerned to this
sphere are always in reader’s center of attention. So, it is essential to deliver the news in
an creative, and at the same time in an accessible way. The use of idioms is the best way
to provide the information to the readers and keep them interested.
In this chapter some idioms and idiomatic phrases from the world’s two most famous
fashion magazines- the ‘’Vogue’’ and the ‘’Elle’’ will be covered.
Vogue is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers various
topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway.
Elle is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix
of fashion and beauty content, and society and lifestyle.
Going through the articles of this magazines we see a lot of idioms and idiomatic
phrases about fashion, and not only.
Examples of articles and headlines containing idioms and idiomatic phrases

● ‘’High Interest: Industry Star Harry Lawtey Is Setting His Sights On

Hollywood”[Vogue, 21 Decemberb2023]
To set one’s sight on sth is an idiom, which means to decide that you want it and
try hard to get it.
● ‘’Emma Waston On Eco-Concious-Fashion, Stepping Back From Acting &
Becoming A Dog Mum’’[Vogue, 14 December 2023]
To become a dog mum means to be dog lover that identifies as female and believes
that her pets are “fur kids”.
● ‘’…The global reach of one company cobined with the kudos of another can
create true fashion magic.
To create true fashion magic means to do sth very creative in fashion.
● ‘’…I am always telling people to buy better and buy less- and being allowed five
new pieces sounded pretty generous to me’’.
To buy better and buy less is an idiom used in fashion, which means that it is
better to buy less but of good quality.
● ‘’…a piece a thought would go perfectly with the skirt, and with jeans’’. [Vogue]
To go with means to style with in fashion.
● ‘’The 19 Best End-of-Year Sales to Shop Before the Ball Drops’’[Elle]
End-of-year sale is an expression, that means an occasion when clothes or other
goods relating to a particular season are sold at a lower price than usual.
● ‘’…I don’t know about you, but the gift cards I received yesterday for Christmas
are already burning a hole in my pocket.’’ [Elle]
To burn a hole in the pocket is an idiom, which means to be eager to spend it as
soon as possible, especially on something you don’t really need but would like to
have.
● ‘’Whether you are looking to upgrade your style with new bags and boots, sleep
more soundly with updated winter bedding, or try out a skincare routine to fight
wrinkles, you can find everything you need in 2024 on sale now.’’ [Elle]
To upgrade your style means to improve your style.
To fight wrinkles means to prevent or to reduce wrinkles.
Idioms used in fashion sphere, at all:
● To have a sense of style means to know what looks good on you and have
your own style and taste.
● To be old-fashioned means to wear clothes or do something that is no
longer in style.
● Strike a pose means to take a particular posture in order to impress. You
can strike a pose for the camera.
● To be dressed to kill means wear something with an intention to stand
out/impress people and be noticed
● To have an eye for fashion means to have a good taste and know what is
“in fashion” and what is not.
● Dress for the occasion means to wear something in the right place at the
right time. Not to wear short skirt to church or bathing suit to a wedding
(unless you are in Miami).
● To be well dressed means attired in clothing that is of fashionable,
expensive and properly fitted.

Conclusion

As mentioned in the introduction, idioms make up un inseparable part of all

languages. They are used in every sphere specifically. And English idioms are not
an exception.
 One of the common field, where English idioms are used is newspaper style.
Newspaper are read by the people all over the world, especially the international
newspapers and magazines. They should deliver the news to their audience with an
attractive way, and always keep them interested. A lot of methods are used for this
pupose.
One of the most common ways of making the speech colorful and creative is
using idioms. They are specific expressions, the meaning of which doesn’ coincide
with the meaning of its individual words.
Newspapers can have different contexts. There are sport newspapers, health
newspapers, fashion newspapers, etc.
When trying to find idioms in a specific newspaper, we see that not only idioms
of that sphere are used, but also idioms of general use.
Idioms in fashion magazines are often original and unique. They may be even
made impromptu. However, it is intersting and at the same time useful to know
those idioms, especially for the fashion lovers. It enriches the speaker’s vocabulary
in that sphere, and helps understand the meanings clearly.

Biblography
1. Cooper Th. Teaching Idioms. 1998
2. Adam Makkai. Idiom structure in English. 1972
DIctionaries
1. A dictionary of English Idioms. 2009
2. Oxford dictionary of idioms
3. Cambridge dictionary
4. Free dictionary by Farelex