Communication function of deformed idioms in speech conflict

Statement of the problem. Idioms, due to their special features as units of language, constantly attract the attention of Russian linguists. Despite a significant number of studies devoted to them, idioms can hardly be considered to be studied comprehensively. In particular, clarifications are needed for the so-called “idiomatic innovation,” that is, both intentional and erroneous transformations of idioms (changes in composition, literalization, etc.). Some authors believe that deformation of an idiom is a special stylistic device. On the other hand, as a result of a change in verbal composition, an idiom simply ceases to be so. The purpose of the article is to examine the extent to which external changes in idioms make it difficult for the addressee to understand its semantics and especially imagery. Materials and methods. The actual material is extracted from some television shows, where one of the main baselines is obviously simulating a spontaneous speech of people; their personal life has been seriously tested (in accordance with the plots), and, therefore, the speech of the participants is characterized by increased emotionality. To provide the characters' speech with additional imagery, idioms, though often distorted, are present in their discourse. The main method of our research is structural and semantic. As a result of the analysis, involving a number of authoritative lexicographic sources, it was possible to establish that the possibilities of deformation of idioms are quite limited and do not interfere with their perception by interlocutors. This is facilitated by the memory of native speakers, who have captured the original structure of idioms and the images encapsulated by them. In addition, it should be borne in mind that in the modelled nature of speech communication, some of its participants wish not so much to share information about some events and individuals as to express publicly their opinions and assessments about them. Thus, the communicative value of idioms in such situations is reduced, and deformed idiomatic expressions, more precisely, their rudiments turn out to be only conditional signals of certain emotions.