set phrase

English

Etymology

From set +‎ phrase.

Noun

set phrase (plural set phrases)

1. (grammar) An established expression whose wording is subject to little or no variation, and which may or may not be idiomatic.
   • 1951, Gordon M. Messing, “Structuralism and Literary Tradition”, in Language, volume 27, number 1, page 3:

     Bally remarks in passing, as Hall does not, that the inversion in toujours est-il que is part of a set phrase and hence invariable.

   • 2009, Bryan A. Garner, Garner on Language and Writing‎^[1], page 525:

     American courts sometimes use cherry in place of apple, but the latter fruit vastly predominates. The American version is that rare set phrase that is not so well set, variations on the phrase being more common than the main phrase itself.

2. (grammar) An idiomatic expression in general.
   • 1992, Stanislaw Baranczak, "How to Translate Shakespeare's Humor?: (Reflections of a Polish Translator)", in the Performing Arts Journal, volume 14, number 3, page 83:

     If it proves clearly unfeasible to make the audience laugh at a thin and far-fetched joke, it is always better to change the way the joke works . . . for instance, a pun based on the speaker's taking literally some set phrase or metaphor with a pun based on phonetic similarity.

Usage notes

• Specific kinds of set phrases may include: idioms, whose meanings cannot be determined from their parts; proverbs, whose meanings can be derived from their parts and which express practical wisdom and often take the form of complete sentences; and catchphrases, set phrases associated with a specific person or group. Most idioms and proverbs are not set phrases, however, as significant variation is often possible. Also many idiomatic expressions do not form single units but allow intervening terms. Set phrases are often clichés or colloquialisms, but these terms may include expressions other than set phrases.

Synonyms

• fixed phrase

Translations

expression subject to little variation

• Belarusian: усто́йлівае словазлучэ́нне n (ustójlivaje slovazlučénnje)
• Catalan: frase feta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 固定搭配 (gùdìng dāpèi)

• Finnish: kiteymä, vakiintunut ilmaus, sanaliitto (fi)
• French: expression consacrée (fr) f, phraséologisme m
• German: feststehende Wendung f, Wortverbindung (de) f, Wortgruppe (de) f, Redewendung (de) f
• Japanese: 慣用句 (ja) (かんよ​うく, kan'yōku)
• Korean: 관용구(慣用句) (ko) (gwanyonggu)
• Polish: frazeologizm (pl) m, idiom (pl) m, idiomat m, idiomatyzm m, związek frazeologiczny (pl) m,
• Russian: усто́йчивое словосочета́ние (ru) n (ustójčivoje slovosočetánije), усто́йчивое выраже́ние n (ustójčivoje vyražénije)
• Swedish: fast uttryck n
• Ukrainian: уста́лене словосполу́чення n (ustálene slovospolúčennja), ста́ле словосполу́чення n (stále slovospolúčennja), уста́лений ви́слів m (ustálenyj výsliv), ста́лий ви́раз m (stályj výraz)

idiomatic expression

• Catalan: frase feta (ca) f, dita (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 習慣用語 / 习惯用语 (zh) (xíguànyòngyǔ), 成語 / 成语 (zh) (chéngyǔ)

• Finnish: idiomi (fi)
• French: locution figée (fr) f, phraséologisme m
• German: feststehende Redensart f, Floskel (de) f
• Hungarian: állandósult szókapcsolat (hu)
• Italian: frase fatta f, locuzione cristallizzata f
• Japanese: 成句 (ja) (せいく, seiku)
• Korean: 성어 (ko) (seong'eo), 관용구 (ko) (gwanyonggu), 성구 (seonggu)
• Polish: frazeologizm (pl) m, idiom (pl) m, idiomat m, idiomatyzm m, związek frazeologiczny (pl) m,
• Portuguese: expressão idiomática f
• Russian: усто́йчивое словосочета́ние (ru) n (ustójčivoje slovosočetánije), фразеологи́ческая едини́ца (ru) f (frazeologíčeskaja jediníca)
• Spanish: frase hecha f, colocación (es) f
• Swedish: idiom (sv) n

See also

• catchphrase
• cliché (cliche)
• collocation
• colloquialism
• idiom
• proverb
• Thesaurus:saying

 

References

• "set phrase" on Oxford Dictionaries
• "set phrase" in the Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.

Anagrams

• asperseth, spreathes, rapsheets, rap sheets, shapester