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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

Native speakers wanted for my MA-Thesis

1b00Hello,02b02br
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01b00My name is Ellen and I am a student from The Netherlands. I am currently working on my MA Thesis in Applied Linguistics and I would like to ask you, as native speakers of English, if you can help me by filling in this questionnaire. It will only take you about 10 minutes. 02b02br
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01b00Below you will find a list of English proverbs and fixed expressions. Can you please indicate how transparent you feel that the given proverbs or expressions in English are, by giving them one of the following grades:02b02br
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01b001 = If you did not know this expression, it would be almost impossible to understand this sentence. 02b02br
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01b002 = If you did not know this expression, this expression would be quite difficult to understand.02b02br
02br
01b003 = Even if you did not know this expression, this sentence would be quite easy to understand.02b02br
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01b004 = Even if you did not know this expression, it would be almost impossible 01i00not02i00 to understand this sentence.02b02br
02br
00The old man drank the young man under the table.02br
02br
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00Clothes make the man. 02br
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00He made a joke to break the ice.02br
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00Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 02br
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00One swallow does not make a summer. 02br
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00Many hands make light work. 02br
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00New brooms sweep clean. 02br
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00The wish is the father to the thought. 02br
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00Tread in someone’s footsteps. 02br
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00That leaves me cold.02br
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00To weep crocodile tears.02br
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00A bad taste in the mouth.02br
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00The scales fell from her eyes. 02br
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00Hand on the baton. 02br
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00There is nothing new under the sun. 02br
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00He has blue blood. 02br
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00If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.02br
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00Rest on your laurels. 02br
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00The bird has flown.02br
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00Lull before the storm. 02br
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00Rats deserting a sinking ship.02br
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00Speech is silver, silence is golden. 02br
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00Her eyes were bigger than her stomach. 02br
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00That remark is below the belt. 02br
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00East, west, home’s best.02br
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00The squeaky wheel gets the grease. 02br
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00A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 02br
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00No room to swing a cat. 02br
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00The proof of the pudding is in the eating.02br
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00Jump out of your skin.02br
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00As red as a beetroot.02br
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00People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. 02br
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00Blow your own trumpet.02br
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00What is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander.02br
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00Pass the parcel. 02br
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00To be all hat and no cattle.02br
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00Hard words break no bones. 02br
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00An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.02br
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00To kill the goose that lays the golden egg. 02br
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00Well begun is half done. 02br
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00By a long chalk. 02br
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00A watched pot never boils. 02br
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00Fix someone’s wagon. 02br
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00Money for old rope. 02br
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00Measure twice, cut once. 02br
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00To have many irons in the fire. 02br
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00Fine feathers make fine birds. 02br
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00Thank you very much for your help!02br
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00Kind Regards,02br
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00 Ellen 0-
  

Top answer

0(My only comment is that some of these are American idioms - I would guess - as I'm not familiar with them as an English person. 02br 02br 001 /01b 00 202b 00 / 3 / 402br 02br 00Clothes make the man. 02br 02br 01b 00102b 00 / 2 / 3 / 402br 02br 00Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

— Nona the brit

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5 Answers
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0(My only comment is that some of these are American idioms - I would guess - as I'm not familiar with them as an English person. I don't know if that matters to your study)02br
02br
00The old man drank the young man under the table.02br
02br
001 /01b00 202b00 / 3 / 402br
02br
00Clothes make the man. 02br
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1b001 = If you did not know this expression, it would be almost impossible to understand this sentence. 02b02br
02br
01b002 = If you did not know this expression, this expression would be quite difficult to understand.02b02br
02br
01b003 = Even if you did not know this expression, this sentence would be qu
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0 01b00"02b00Below you will find a list of English proverbs and fixed expressions."02br
02br
00I would like to make an observation even though I am not a native speaker. I don't know what exactly you are researching, but these are not just English expressions, as you can find some of them (or very similar ones) in other languages too, in this case in Se
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0Thank you all for helping me and thanks for your comments.02br
00This questionnaire is a pre-test for the real questionnaire that will be given to native speakers of Dutch. The proverbs that were give here, are divided in two parts; the ones that can be translated literally into Dutch and the ones that do not exist in Dutch. The participants will receive a list of several proverbs t
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0If there are any more native speakers of English who would like to fill in this questionnaire; please do so, because I still need a few more people who can fill it in for me in order to let the results be reliable.02br
00Thanks in advance.0-
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