ETHNIC IDIOMS IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
3𝑑 year student
High School of Management
Roxana Prosvetova

Idiom (Gr.
Ἴδιος"own,
peculiar")
(linguistics) - the
turn of speech,
used as a whole;
phraseological
adhesion
Greece

“[It is all] Greek to me”
which means “it is
absolutely
incomprehensible”. This
idiom has a neutral
tone in the
conversation because
it’s connected not with
the English stereotypes
about Greeks but with
the historical situation.
Dutch

All of word
combinations
connected with
Dutch are from
the XVII-XVIII
centuries – the
time of the
Anglo-Dutch
wars.
Turkey

The British have
considered Turks as
very quick-tempered
people. A “young
Turk” is a rebel going
against the system.
Polish

The expression "Polish
Parliament" is quite
popular in all
Scandinavian
languages and means
chaos, disorder, when
it is impossible to
make a decision. The
roots of the expression
go back to the XVIIXVIII centuries.
China

“Not for all the tea in
China” is another
idiom reflecting the
British opinion of a
nation, or rather a
country.
Russia

The only idiomatic
statement about
Russians in English is
“Russian roulette”,
which means "a matter
of risk".
France

"French leave“ - “to
leave the party without
saying goodbye” or
“leave the battlefield
without permission”, the
last one is associated
with the cases of
desertion during the
Anglo-French conflicts.
Thanks for attention!