What term describes a fixed expression whose meaning is not literal, such as 'feeling under the weather'?

What term describes a fixed expression whose meaning is not literal, such as 'feeling under the weather'?

• A. Idioms
• B. Metaphor
• C. Proverb
• D. Collocation

Answer: (A)

Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning isn’t tied to the literal definitions of the individual words. “Feeling under the weather” fits this because it conveys being unwell, not literally being beneath weather. The phrase is understood as a conventional whole, not something you interpret by replacing words with their literal senses. This differs from metaphors, which are direct comparisons; proverbs, which are traditional sayings that convey a piece of wisdom or advice; and collocations, which are common word pairings whose meaning is usually literal or predictable.

Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning isn’t tied to the literal definitions of the individual words. “Feeling under the weather” fits this because it conveys being unwell, not literally being beneath weather. The phrase is understood as a conventional whole, not something you interpret by replacing words with their literal senses. This differs from metaphors, which are direct comparisons; proverbs, which are traditional sayings that convey a piece of wisdom or advice; and collocations, which are common word pairings whose meaning is usually literal or predictable.