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ows, idioms come from different aspects: different living environments; everyday life; religion; historical events; literary works and mythology and allusion. 2.1.1 Idioms from different living environments Idioms are closely related to people’s labor and life, because people in a particular culture need words to name and explain objects and appearance present in that culture. The Han People, live on land, and belong to an agrarian society that places agricultural production at the top of the national agenda. During the long history of farming, the Chinese language has accumulated large numbers of farmers’ idioms like 瑞雪兆丰年 (a time snow promises a good harvest), 五谷丰登(abundant harvest of all food crops). While British live in an island country, probably have idioms about water and sailing. For example, we speak挥金如土in Chinese，but we should render it into English as “spend money like water”. And there are similar examples as follows: “to keep one’s head about water” (奋力图存)，“in full sail” (全力以赴), “tower one’s sail” (甘拜下风). What is more, there come different special products determined by the different geographical surroundings. For example, “like mushrooms” and “spring up like mushrooms” in English , means 像蘑菇一样, and 雨后春笋般地涌现 in Chinese. Both of them have the same meaning of the great development of a thing, but they use their respective things to form the metaphor, because China abounds with bamboo, whereas it does not grow in England. So the Chinese people are quite familiar with bamboo; while the English don’t. This case is quite the same with the idiom “plentiful as blackberries”, for blackberries are easily available in England while in Chinese, 多如牛毛 is used, for cattle can be found everywhere in China. 2.1.2 Idioms from everyday life Entertainment and activities, which are parts of national culture, are quite different in various countries. Horse racing, boxing and cricket are ancient and traditional sports in England, so in English, there are idioms like “neck and neck” (不分上下)，“down and out”(倒下出局)，“not cricket” (不讲信用)，and “straight from the shoulder” (直截了当)，and “have a good innings” (一帆风顺)；whereas the ancient Chinese preferred hunting and chess: 棋逢对手 (diamond cut diamond), 剑拔弩张(at daggers drawn), 明枪易躲，暗箭难防(False friends are worse than open enemies). There are some aspects in everyday life in the following. (ⅰ) Idioms from food In England, bread is usually eaten together with butter, and salt, milk and cream are their everyday diet. All of them are the everyday diet for western people and thus appear “There is no use crying over spilt milk” (不要做无谓的后悔)，“baker’s dozen” (面包师的第十三个面包), and “polish the apple” (拍马屁)；China has a long history of cooking and the Chinese are known as the most critical, for who attach greater importance to food than any other people, as is reflected in the saying like: 画饼充饥 (to draw cakes to allay hunger) (ⅱ) Idioms from sea Both in the Chinese and the English languages, idioms about the sea are numerous, because both of these two countries are surrounded and half-surrounded by sea, and they are rich in natural resources of fish. Fishing plays a vital role in their economy, so a large number of idioms concerning fish are handed down: “Fish begins to stink at the head” (上梁不正下梁歪), “Never offer to teach fish to swim” (不要班门弄斧)，and “to fish in troubled water” (浑水摸鱼). (ⅲ) Idioms from military affairs The history of mankind is almost the history of war, which is the source of numerous idio