What's Transparent About Transparent Idioms?

Linguists have long assumed that transparent idioms are easier to understand than opaque ones. However, transparency effects have proven task-dependent. Additionally, many studies supporting transparency advantages tested adults or older children. Prior studies of autistic and other clinical populations have also yielded mixed results. In the present study, participants (fifteen children between the ages of 6;5 and 10;6) performed similarly on transparent and opaque idioms. Autistic children without language impairment did not differ significantly from their typically developing peers on any outcome. Several Children’s Communication Checklist-2 measures significantly correlated with transparent idiom performance. No measure predicted opaque idiom performance. The main finding is that children with strong language abilities showed a transparency advantage, and children with weaker language skills showed an opaque advantage. Skilled communicators use transparency to recall idioms’ meanings, but this is not a default strategy for the average child.