What is the difference between idioms and collocations?

Idioms And Collocations Questions



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What is the difference between idioms and collocations?

Idioms and collocations are both linguistic expressions, but they differ in their structure and meaning.

Idioms are fixed phrases or expressions that have a figurative meaning that is different from the literal interpretation of the words used. They often cannot be understood by simply looking at the individual words. For example, "kick the bucket" means to die, but it does not literally involve kicking a bucket.

Collocations, on the other hand, are combinations of words that frequently occur together due to their natural linguistic association. They are more flexible in terms of their meaning and can be understood by looking at the individual words. For example, "strong coffee" is a collocation because "strong" and "coffee" naturally go together.

In summary, idioms have a fixed figurative meaning that cannot be deduced from the literal meaning of the words, while collocations are combinations of words that commonly occur together due to their natural linguistic association.