The relationship among metaphorical and metonymic idioms in English and Spanish is explored and their translation equivalents from English into Spanish in five widespread English-Spanish dictionaries. There are times when the figurative language is preserved in the translation but there are others when the image is lost or portrayed by a different image schema. Thirty highly frequent multiword units taken from the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, which are in many cases cultural specific, are studied in their contexts of production, providing some clues about their origin and the translation strategies used.

The contrastive analysis of these idioms in English with real examples from the BNC and internet and their translation equivalents with figurative meaning shows four patterns that emerge when studying the relationship among figurative language, multiword units and translation:

-First, dead, cliché, stock and original metaphors and metonymies play a significant role in the development of idiomatic vocabulary. Many language users do not know where the metaphors and metonymies are originated but make use of them in oral and written speech to add emphasis and encapsulate the main points of an argument or topic.

-Second, contrary to widespread myth; idiomatic language retains much of its metaphoricity. Thus, idioms are lively, creative, sometimes even rhyme and they are resistant to paraphrase. This explains why they are difficult to translate many times if one wishes to keep their metaphorical and metonymic value. 

-Third, metaphorical idioms are able to give a personal tone, mark the style of a text and reflect common values and a common cultural metaphorical and metonymic background in various European languages such as the association of black to negative emotional states in both English and Spanish culture. -Fourth, standard bilingual dictionaries and even phraseological dictionaries usually include the translation of idioms but proverbs are randomly included. The close-up provided by this preliminary contrastive data highlights the difficulties translators face when dealing with idioms, which add colour to the language, helping us to emphasize meaning and to make our observations, judgements and explanations lively and interesting. They are also useful tools for communicating a great deal of meaning and cultural background in just a few words. The paper ends with practical suggestions on how to teach these figurative idioms in the L2 classroom for advanced learners of English.References

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