A set phrase or fixed phrase is a phrase whose parts are fixed, even if the phrase could be changed without harming the literal meaning. This is because a set phrase is a culturally accepted phrase. A set phrase does not necessarily have any literal meaning in and of itself. Set phrases may function as idioms (e.g. red herring) or as words with a unique referent (e.g. Red Sea). There is no clear dividing line between a commonly used phrase and a set phrase. It is also not easy to draw a clear distinction between set phrases and compound words.
In theoretical linguistics, two-word set phrases are said to arise during the generative formation of English nouns.
A certain stricter notion of set phrases, more in line with the concept of a lexical item, provides an important underpinning for the formulation of Meaning-Text Theory.
Read more about Set Phrase: Examples of Set Phrases, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words set and/or phrase:
“When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire, and when again under the influence of its kindred desires it is moved with violent motion towards the beauty of corporeal forms, it acquires a surname from this very violent motion, and is called love.”
—Socrates (469–399 B.C.)
“Preschoolers think and talk in concrete, literal terms. When they hear a phrase such as “losing your temper,” they may wonder where the lost temper can be found. Other expressions they may hear in times of crisis—raising your voice, crying your eyes out, going to pieces, falling apart, picking on each other, you follow in your father’s footsteps—may be perplexing.”
—Ruth Formanek (20th century)