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Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 2: Of the Dawn of Freedom
Explanation and Analysis—Fly in the Ointment:
In Chapter 2, Du Bois gives an overview of the Freedmen's Bureau's efforts to assist recently liberated Black Americans during the Reconstruction era, immediately following the Civil War. In an excerpt from this section included below, Du Bois utilizes both metaphor and idiom to emphasize for the reader just how ineffective these efforts were:
The agents that the Bureau could command varied all the way from unselfish philanthropists to narrow-minded busybodies and thieves; and even though it be true that the average was far better than the worst, it was the occasional fly that helped spoil the ointment.
Related Themes:
