Some Aspects of English Idiom in Traditional Media Classification and the Problem of Translation into Lithuanian

Abstract

The current research addresses the role of idiomatic expressions in communication. Effective interaction requires sufficient knowledge of these lexical units to enable the communication parties to understand each other and cooperate. Since the 21st century is the age of information, individuals and societies are surrounded by an infinite number of messages specifically from the media as its primary source. However, they often fail in interpreting those lexical items which seem familiar to them but carry a different meaning. Therefore, the present paper aims at categorizing media idiomatic expressions according to their grammatical/syntactic function in the text, as well as raising the problem of English idiom translation into Lithuanian, and determining the most prevailing translation strategy. The syntactic structure analysis helped to identify five categories of idiomatic expressions based on the function the expression performs in the sentence.