When the Idiom Advantage Comes Up Short: Eye-Tracking Canonical and Modified Idioms.

ABSTRACT: The literature on idioms often talks about an "idiom advantage," such that familiar idioms (spill the beans) are generally processed faster than comparable literal phrases (burn the beans). More recently, researchers have explored the processing of idiom modification and while a few studies indicate that familiarity benefits the processing of modified forms, the extent of this facilitation is unknown. In an eye-tracking study, we explored whether familiar idioms and modified versions with 1 or 2 adjectives {spill the [spicy , (red)] beans} are processed faster than matched literal phrases {burn the [spicy, (red)] beans} when both were preceded by a biasing context. The results showed that adjectives inserted in idioms induced longer fixations and were mor

SUBMITTER: Kyriacou M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8364978 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature