Idiom is an expression (i.e. term or phrase) whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definition and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through conventional use. In linguistics, idioms are widely assumed to be figures of speech that contradict the principle of compositionality, however some debate has recently arisen on this subject. In the English expression to kick the bucket, a listener knowing only the meaning of kick and bucket would be unable to deduce the expression's actual meaning, which is to die. Although it can refer literally to the act of striking a bucket with a foot, native speakers rarely use it that way. Idioms hence tend to confuse those not already familiar with them; students of a new language must learn its idiomatic expressions the way they learn its other vocabulary. In fact many natural languages words have idiomatic origins, but have been sufficiently assimilated so that their figurative senses have been lost.