the translation of idioms presents another difficulty. an idiom is a phrase that forms a unit whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of each of its parts. if an idiom is translated word for word its meaning becomes lost. English uses many idioms such as "kick the bucket" which means " to die." a person who simply kicked a bucket word not end up dead so if each word is literally translated a reader of the translated version unfamiliar with the idiom wold lose the meaning