(Precis/vocabulary practice) "Use 'take umbrage at' and 'sing like a bird' in sentences that bring out their idiomatic meanings."

You cannot work out an idiom's meaning from its separate words. S. Upendran's column in The Hindu shows that "take umbrage at" depends on fixed grammar and "sing like a bird" depends on context [1]. Each idiom is used below in sentences that bring out its idiomatic sense.

1. Take umbrage at: meaning and usage

• Meaning: to feel upset or annoyed because you think you have not been given the respect you deserve [1].
• Fixed preposition: you always take umbrage at something [1].
• Pronunciation: two syllables, um-BRIDGE, with the stress on the second syllable [1].
• Sentences:
• The senior officer took umbrage at being left off the guest list for the inauguration.
• It is hard being a teacher today; students take umbrage at almost everything you say or do [1].
• The department took umbrage at the auditor's blunt remarks, even though the findings were accurate.
• "Don't take umbrage at what I said; I only meant to help." [1]

2. Sing like a bird: two meanings

• An informal expression with two very different meanings; the context decides which one applies [1].
• Sense 1, to sing beautifully:

• At the school's annual day, the young girl sang like a bird, and the audience rose to applaud.

• Sense 2, to tell the police everything freely, as in the column's example of a captured thief [1]:

• "The thief has been caught, and has been singing like a bird." [1]
• Under questioning, the accountant sang like a bird and revealed how the funds had been diverted.

Common traps

• "Take umbrage on" or "take umbrage with" is non-standard; the correct form is "take umbrage at" [1].
• If you read "sang like a bird" in a crime report as praise for someone's voice, you miss the meaning [1].
• Register: "sing like a bird" is informal, so it does not belong in formal writing [1].

In short, both idioms get their meaning from fixed word combinations and context, not from dictionary definitions alone. Using the right preposition with "take umbrage" and reading "sing like a bird" by its setting makes writing precise. That precision helps in essays, in the qualifying English paper and, in public service, in speaking candidly without giving needless offence.