Dear All,

The meanings of idioms are figurative. It is difficult to understand them because we are used to the literal meaning in speech and writing. But, we can use this- the literal meaning- to understand some idioms. The method requires you to look at the literal meaning and reason the figurative meaning out. For example: the idiom 'all at sea'. We can imagine someone who is [literally]in the middle of the sea and no matter where we look it is nothing but open water on all sides. So, we get the meaning 'perplexed', or, 'confused'. Another idiom we can look at as an example is: 'as the crow flies'. Since a crow doesn`t have any obstacles it flies in a straight line. So, 'as the crow flies' is 'to move in a straight line'.  Another idiom is 'a stone`s throw'. We can imagine a stone being thrown. It can`t be thrown very far and so the meaning is 'close to'.

We can also look at the context of an idiom: This is child`s play. I want something more challenging. From the context of the idiom we can infer 'simple', or 'easy' as the meaning. 

He stayed mum throughout the meeting. He didn`t say anything.   We understand that this idiom means 'silent'.

We can also draw upon our General knowledge to find out the meaning of an idiom. For example: Bear one`s cross refers to the fact that Jesus had to bear a cross and because God had to bear a cross all people have to bear a cross or a burden in life.  Similarly An apple of discord refers to the biblical story of Eve being tempted by an apple by the snake. Sowing an apple of discord refers to the seeds of enmity being sown between two friends.