# Idiom | | An **Idiom** is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Some phrases which become figurative idioms, however, do retain the phrase's literal meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. Idioms occur frequently in all languages; in English alone there are an estimated twenty-five million idiomatic expressions. | | --- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | wikipedia:: [Idiom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom) | | | [Figure of speech - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech) | | | [English-language idioms - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_idioms) | | | [Proverb - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proverb) | | | [List of proverbial phrases - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proverbial_phrases) | Contra [[Principle of compositionality]] [[My favorite idioms & expressions]] - [[Maxim]] - [[Metaphor]] - [[Simile]] - [[Cliche]] - [[Hyperbole]] - [[Alliteration]] - [[Tautology]] - [[Synecdoche]] - platitude - epitaph - anecdote - epigram - saw (that old saw) - saying - brocard ## List - Spilled the beans - Bob’s your uncle - Screwed the pooch - What’s that got to do with the price of tea in China? - Barking up the wrong tree - It is not possible to step into the same river twice. - When life gives you lemonade - Don't beat around the bush