Dichos

[Elaina]

"Dichos" are the same as "refrán",right?

Idiom = modismo ..... which is not the same as a "dicho", right?

So what exactly is an "idiom"? Is it like words that are used in certain parts of the country? Like............ water fountain in the south but bubbler in the north?



Confused Elaina

[Rusty]

Un refrán is a proverb, sometimes called a saying, a byword, or an adage. It is a condensed, but memorable expression that embodies important experience taken as truth by many people.

Un dicho is an idiom, also known as an idiomatic expression, a set phrase, a phrasal idiom, or a phrase. It is an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up.

Un modismo is another word for an idiom (un dicho).

Words that are used in a particular area are known as regional words or variants. Your example of bubbler being used in the Northern United States for a drinking fountain is a good example of a regional word (although I have never heard the word used). The same thing happens between the Western United States and the Eastern United States - if you're not from the West, you've probably never heard of a barrow pit, for example.

[Elaina]

Muy interesante Rusty, y si te entiendo correctamente, un dicho es un modismo....pero refrán es un "saying" which goes back to being a dicho which is the same as a refrán........etc. etc. etc.

UGH..........help

Elaina

[Rusty]

That's probably why David didn't create specialized regions in the Idiom Dictionary. All the dichos, sayings, modismos, expressiones, refranes, etc. are grouped together. It's hard to differentiate between them, sometimes.

[Elaina]

Ok.....

1. Más vale pájaro en mano que cientos volando
(a) refrán (b) dicho (c) modismo

2. Ese hombre tomó vino "hasta por los codos"
(a) refrán (b) dicho (c) modismo

3. Si miro a una persona cruzar la calle sin fijarse en el tráfico, le grito: ¡Águas! o íÁguila!
(a) refrán (b) dicho (c) modismo

¿Quién me puede contestar estas preguntas, por favor?

Elaina

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Elaina

Ok.....

1. Más vale pájaro en mano que cientos volando
(a) refrán (b) dicho (c) modismo

2. Ese hombre tomó vino "hasta por los codos"
(a) refrán (b) dicho (c) modismo

3. Si miro a una persona cruzar la calle sin fijarse en el tráfico, le grito: ¡Águas! o íÁguila!
(a) refrán (b) dicho (c) modismo

¿Quién me puede contestar estas preguntas, por favor?

Elaina

Mi intento:
1 (a)
2 (b) o (c)
3 ninguno; son interjecciones usadas en México, así que son variantes regionales (términos locales).

[María José]

Now I'm as confused as Elaina. I always thought dicho meant refrán...

[poli]

This is clearly a question of symantics. Incidentally, is "splitting hairs" a refrán o modismo?
On the other hand (would say modismo) because I'm familiar with word refrain which can mean a line of poetry repeated in the poem. It usually rhymes. In music there refrains which are quite similar to poetic ones. So, I think a refrán might be more of a rhyming or rhythmical(I hope I'm spelling this right) saying or dicho.
An example of one in English is "a stitch in time says nine".

How about platitudes? What's your opinion of platitudes?

[Rusty]

Del DRAE:
refrán: acepción 1 - Dicho agudo y sentencioso de uso común.
dicho: acepción 2 - Palabra o conjunto de palabras con que se expresa oralmente un concepto cabal.
modismo: acepción 1 - Expresión fija, privativa de una lengua, cuyo significado no se deduce de las palabras que la forman; p. ej., a troche y moche.

[Marsopa]

Pero bubbler sólo se usa en WI, no en todo el norte del país...

Marsopa