What is "set phrase"

n. 1 (context grammar English) A common expression whose wording is not subject to variation. 2 (context grammar English) (rfv-sense) A common expression whose words cannot be replaced by synonymous words without compromise the meaning.

n. an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up [syn: idiom, idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, phrase]

A set phrase or fixed phrase is a phrase whose parts are fixed in a certain order, 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.