Idioms

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deafgal001

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So I was in a chatroom today and they were using so many Idioms I never heard of. I was scared to ask them what it means.
But then I wonder, how they know it? it is because they heard it and pick up on it quickly? Do they ask other people what it means?
 
Last time, people say ' I can't believe she doesn't know that! '

But I am curious, do they ask too?
 
deafgal001 said:
Last time, people say ' I can't believe she doesn't know that! '

But I am curious, do they ask too?
Click to expand...

Honestly, they probably have heard it before and put it into context. Or they heard it at a young age.

One thing I've noticed is that some deaf people are not aware of a lot of idioms. I wonder if it's because they rarely are said in the written word? I've said stuff like "He passed with flying colors." and deaf people look at me strangely.

Perhaps I am not supposed to sign English idioms....

My speech therapist taught me a lot of idioms. We would learn maybe 1 or 2 each session. From when I was 5 till about 18 years old. She kept a list of all the idioms she has taught me. It reached over 500.
 
Daredevel7 said:
Honestly, they probably have heard it before and put it into context. Or they heard it at a young age.

One thing I've noticed is that some deaf people are not aware of a lot of idioms. I wonder if it's because they rarely are said in the written word? I've said stuff like "He passed with flying colors." and deaf people look at me strangely.

Perhaps I am not supposed to sign English idioms....

My speech therapist taught me a lot of idioms. We would learn maybe 1 or 2 each session. From when I was 5 till about 18 years old. She kept a list of all the idioms she has taught me. It reached over 500.
Click to expand...

My speech therapy didn't do this that i remember. I stopped taking speech therapy when I was in 7th grade... probably earlier.

They thought about continuing speech but the speech therapist didn't know what to do with me. Now that I think about it, they could have taught me idioms.
 
Daredevel7 said:
Honestly, they probably have heard it before and put it into context. Or they heard it at a young age.

One thing I've noticed is that some deaf people are not aware of a lot of idioms. I wonder if it's because they rarely are said in the written word? I've said stuff like "He passed with flying colors." and deaf people look at me strangely.

Perhaps I am not supposed to sign English idioms....

My speech therapist taught me a lot of idioms. We would learn maybe 1 or 2 each session. From when I was 5 till about 18 years old. She kept a list of all the idioms she has taught me. It reached over 500.
Click to expand...

Sounds like my experience. Some deaf people were confused when I mentioned "stick to your guns" or "walk on eggshells". I explained it to them afterward. My old speech therapists, parents, and siblings taught me lots of idioms when I was a kid. My mom purchased an idiom dictionary for me, so I can understand what they mean.
 
My TOD taught me idioms all the time. We had workbooks! It felt like such a waste of time.

I think the difference between us and the hearing knowing idioms is because they hear it in casual conversation. It can go like "It's raining like cats and dogs!" and another will say "huh?" and then that person will say "I meant it's raining hard!" ... We deafies don't get the benefit of that kind of casual conversation. It can even happen in a grocery line. I see my SO engage in a conversation with the person behind them in line because of something he overheard. We've even made friends that way :)
 
Idioms....spoken a lot around my house, since I've got teenagers...."get on ur job"....(get to work)...."he's my dawg"....(my friend/homey)...."putting in work".....(doing ur job)...."the Prez sezs"...(talking about the President)...."bummer"....bad day....."whatchamacallit"....(whatever it is)....
 
You know, I'm hearing, and there are still idioms that I will hear people use, and I have to ask what they mean. Different cultures use different idioms, so you can never be sure if it is one you are unfamiliar with. I say just ask. It is better to ask than to misunderstand.

But to answer your question, yes, I think hearing people are exposed to certain idioms all the time, so they get the meaning without even really putting it into words.
 
Just learned some new idioms. I've never heard anyone say I'll soft soap her.
 
deafskeptic said:
Just learned some new idioms. I've never heard anyone say I'll soft soap her.
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Never heard of that either.

I only heard of the common ones. like raining cats and dogs (raining hard),
hold your horses (wait) , and idioms like that

Is "walk on eggshells" idiom ? I thought that more of a metaphor or something because I could understand it when people told me "I feel like I'm walking on eggshells" and I totally understand what they meant.
I've always associate idioms as nonsense stuffs. raining cats and dogs is definitely nonsense.
 
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