{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.idiom","code":"thing-q184511","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q184511/","name":"idiom","alternateNames":["proverbial phrase","idiomatic adjective","idiomatic interjection","formulaic language","Dutch idioms","Portuguese idioms","redewendung","idiom derived from Greco-Roman mythology","If a cow kicks, why make chicken curry?","Hebrew idioms","night butterfly","Sovietism"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from the ordinary meanings of its words, such as kick the bucket or spill the beans, fixed by convention in a language; idioms are part of formulaic language along with proverbs, collocations and set phrases, differ across languages, and are a challenge in learning and translation.","purpose":"Let an agent recognise idioms and explain their meaning and origin with attribution, distinguish idioms from proverbs, collocations and metaphors, relay dictionary resources, and support learning and translation.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Non-compositional meaning","Fixed or nearly fixed form","Language-specific","Often figurative in origin"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"concept","name":"Concept","description":"What an idiom is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is an idiom, and how does it differ from a proverb, a collocation or a metaphor?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the phrase an idiom or another kind of fixed expression?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"kinds","name":"Kinds","description":"Kinds.","findings":[{"id":"kinds-finding","name":"Kinds","description":"Kinds.","questions":[{"text":"What kinds of idiom exist, and how fixed are they?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific language?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"meaning","name":"Meaning","description":"Meaning and origin.","layers":[{"id":"meaning","name":"Meaning","description":"Meaning.","findings":[{"id":"meaning-finding","name":"Meaning","description":"Meaning.","questions":[{"text":"What does a given idiom mean, and in which contexts is it used?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which dictionary documents it?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"origin","name":"Origin","description":"Origins.","findings":[{"id":"origin-finding","name":"Origin","description":"Origin.","questions":[{"text":"What is known about the origin of an idiom, and what is folk etymology?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the etymology attributed to a reliable source?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"use","name":"Use","description":"Learning and translation.","layers":[{"id":"learning","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","findings":[{"id":"learning-finding","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","questions":[{"text":"How do learners acquire idioms, and what errors occur?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits language learning?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"translation","name":"Translation","description":"Translation.","findings":[{"id":"translation-finding","name":"Translation","description":"Translation.","questions":[{"text":"How are idioms translated, and what strategies do translators use?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which entry fits translation?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"study","name":"Study","description":"Research and processing.","layers":[{"id":"linguistics","name":"Linguistics","description":"Phraseology.","findings":[{"id":"linguistics-finding","name":"Linguistics","description":"Linguistics.","questions":[{"text":"How do phraseology and cognitive linguistics study idioms, and which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits phraseology?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"computing","name":"Computing","description":"Computational handling.","findings":[{"id":"computing-finding","name":"Computing","description":"Computing.","questions":[{"text":"How do language technologies detect and handle idioms?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits natural language processing?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain the meaning and usage of an idiom with examples.","Translate idioms by sense rather than word for word."],"mustNot":["Translate an idiom literally so that its meaning is lost or reversed.","Present folk etymologies of idioms as fact.","Mark learners' correct but unusual phrasing as wrong.","Use idioms in critical instructions for readers who may not understand them."],"requiresHuman":["Approving translations of legal, medical or safety texts that contain idioms."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Idioms can exclude non-native speakers from understanding important information."],"affectedParties":["Language learners","Readers of translations"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the concept; it belongs to the speakers of each language.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q187931","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"phrase","type":"related","note":"a fixed phrase"},{"target":"formulaic language","type":"related","note":"the wider category"},{"target":"proverb","type":"related","note":"a full statement with a lesson"},{"target":"metaphor","type":"related","note":"many idioms are frozen metaphors"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.idiom","Wikidata: Q184511 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184511)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Fixed phrase with non-compositional meaning","Conventional in a language community","A proverb states a lesson; a collocation is compositional; a metaphor may be novel","Not visible; a phrase whose parts do not add up to its meaning."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["identify idioms in text","explain meaning and origin","distinguish related kinds of fixed phrase","support translation and learning"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Literal translation of idioms","Misuse by learners","Folk etymologies presented as fact"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation; dictionaries and corpora document usage"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Expressing meaning through fixed conventional phrases.","verbal idioms such as kick the bucket","idiomatic adjectives and interjections","proverbial phrases","binomials and similes as formulaic language","idioms of specific languages such as Dutch or Portuguese idioms","jargon idioms in professions"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q184511: idiom","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184511","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Idiom","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should idioms of each language be separate entries?","How should idiom dictionaries be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases for language-specific idiom sets; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q184511/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q184511/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T20:42:23Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:55+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}