COMPARATIVE PHRASEOLOGY

 

In The Anatomist, Bill Hayes defines comparative anatomy as "the study of the similarities and differences in the structure of living things." Comparative literature is the study of two or more different literatures. Comparative phraseology is the vetting of the structures of idiomatic expressions in two languages and their meaning. "Sell a bill of goods" is to deceive, swindle, or take unfair advantage of someone. "Dar gato por liebre" is defined in Spanish as engañar, hacer pasar una cosa mala por mejor, similar to "darla con queso",  engañar o estafar a alguien. Comparative phraseology finds that the idiomatic expressions in both languages have the same meaning although the words may differ in structure and literal meaning.