Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English (FEIs)

- Terminology in this field has always been problematic. There is no generally agreed common vocabulary.
- Problems:
1. Different terms used to describe identical or very similar kinds of unit
2. A single term used to denote very different phenomena

Fixed expression is a very general term used to cover several kinds of units of two or more words (lexical combinations of
lexemes) creating a phrase that has a very specific meaning that can't be expressed in any other way. In some cases the meaning
of such expressions cannot be deduced just by considering the sum of its parts.

Fixed expressions are not a unified phenomenon and no clear classifications are possible.

Groups of lexical combinations on the basis of their degree of cohesion:

1) Free combinations: Most lexical combinations belong to this category. Parts of free combinations are
extremely free in terms of combining with other lexical items. E.g. noun murder can be used with many verbs, such as: to
anaylze, condemn, describe, discuss, disregard, etc. These verbs also combine freely with a large number of other nouns:
accident, adventure, discovery, event, etc.

2) Idioms: A much smaller group of combinations consists of these.

Idioms are relatively frozen expressions whose meanings do not reflct the meanings of their component parts.
Examples: to cry blue (to complain very loudly), to have an axe to grind (to seek personal advantage), to have one's back to the
wall (to be in a desperate situation), etc.
Many idioms do allow some variability, for example grammatical variability (variability of the verb tense): we'll kill (or killed)
two birds with one stone, lexical variants: to mind one's (or one's own) business, to add fuel to the fire (or flames) – these are
typical for the same idiom used in BrE and AmE: a skeleton in the cupboard (BrE) vs. A skeleton in the closet (AmE)

3) Proverbs (poslovice) and sayings (izreke): Some frozen expressions are called like this, and they differ from idioms
in following ways:
- Their meaning can be literal, or nearly literal: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
- They convey folk wisdom or an alleged general truth: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; He who hesitates is
lost; etc.
- They are usually complete sentences, whereas idioms are parts of sentences.
- They are usually more frozen than idioms.

4) Collocations: Fixed combinations between idioms and free combinations, they have a relatively restricted
variability. They are not idioms because the meaning of the whole does not reflect the meaning of the parts. To
commit murder differs from free combinations in two ways:
- The synonymy of the verb is restricted, the only synonym is to perpetrate. In free combinations there is no such
synonymy restriciton: to analyze, boast of condemn, describe, discuss, disregard, etc. a murder
- The combination to commit murder is used frequently, it's a fixed phrase in English so we call it fixed combination or
collocation.

A large group of collocations consists of adjective + noun: close attention, pure chance, strong suspicion etc.

In the collocation pure chance, we usually do not replace pure by synonyms such as spotless, unblemished, immaculate etc.
In strong suspicion, we do not replace strong by powerful, mighty, forceful, etc.

5) Transitional Combinations: Transitional between idioms and collocations. They are more frozen than ordinary
collocations (less variable). Unlike idioms, they seem to have a meaning close to that suggested by their
component parts. E.g. to catch one's breath, to have a mind of one's own, he always has his nose in a book, for old
times' sake, etc.
Fixed Expressions Classification:

 Frozen collocations (in retrospect, kith and in, a foregone conclusion, in effect, beg the question)
 Gramatically ill-formed collocations (by and large, stay put)
 Proverbs (every cloud has a silver lining, first come first served)
 Routine formulae – discourse fuctions (alive and well, pick and choose, you know) – jezik u upotrebi, npr. Politički,
ekonomski
 Sayings – include formulae such as quotations, catch-phrases (an eye for an eye, don't let the bastards grind you down)
 Similies (as good as gold, like lambs to the slaughter)
 Idioms – refer to semi-transparent and opaque metaphorical expressions (spill the beans, burn one's candle at both
ends) – opaque = bukvalno mutan, neproziran; lingvistički semantički netransparentan, nejasan

Idiom – definition
a) Idiom is a multi-word phrase whose overall meaning is idiosyncratic and largely unpredictable. (Idiosyncratic, adj. An
unusual or unexpected feature that something has)
b) Idioms reflect speaker meanings that are not derivable by combining the literal senses of the individual words in the
phrase. (e.g. kick the bucket > kick + the bucket does not yield the meaning 'die')

Idioms are expressions which have a meaning that is not obvious from the individual words. The best way to understand an
idiom is to see it in context. We learn them to improve our level of English and to understand native speakers.

Uses of idioms
a) Narrower uses: idiom is a unit that is fixed and semantically opaque or metaphorical, or not the sum of its parts (kick
the bucket, spill the beans)
b) Broader uses: idiom is a general term for many kinds of multi-word item, whether semantically opaque or not (in this
use the term idiom is equivalent to the term fixed expression)
c) General use: idiom has two main meanings in everyday use:
- Idiom is a particular manner of expressing something in language, music, art, etc. which characterizes a
person or a group. (… the most fantastic (performance) I have seen in the strict idiom of the music hall comedian. –
idiom = izričaj)
- Idiom is a particular lexical collocation or phrasal lexeme, peculiar to a language (The French translations,
however, of my English speeches were superb (except for rare instances where the translator was unfamiliar with some
out-of-the-way English idiom I had used). – idiom= narječje, osobitost govora)

Meanings of idioms
The typical meanings of idioms are not fully compositional (their constituents do not contribute their meanings to the
meanings of the whole idioms), however most idioms also have possible, literal compositional interpretations along with their
idiomatic senses. Which meaning is intended usually depends on the context in which the expression is used.

Examples

- Let the cat out of the bag = to reveal a secret

- Take the bull by the horns = to take charge of a situation

These are commonly used idioms whose usual meanings are not fully composisitonal but usually have to be learned as a whole.
However, they also have possible, though rarely intended, literal compositional meaning.

Any speaker of English knows that Let the cat out of the bag is usually used to mean something like 'reveal a secret' though it
also has a possible, but rarely intended, literal compositional meaning, something like 'release a small feline animal from a sack'.
Similarly, Take the bull by the horns tpically evokes the idea that someone 'takes charge of a situation', though it could also
mean 'grab a (real) bull by its horns'.
Main factors in defining FEIs
Idiomaticity is a universal linguistic phenomenon in natural languages, so the fundamental question is whether a string of words
can be considered a free combination or FEI.

3 principal factors in trying to define fixed expressions:

1) Institutionalization: the process by which a string or formulation becomes recognized and accepted as a lexical item of the
language. The main criterion is the frequency with which the string recurs. The idiom and especially its idiomatic meaning
must be commonly known and used to become institutionalized in a language. Institutionalized words belong to the norm
of the language and are more or less familiar to the members of a certain speech community.
Institutionalization problems:
- Most idioms are rather infrequent: they may be restricted to certain registers and uses of speech or to certain accents
or dialects of the English language.
- Most fixed expressions occur infrequently; FEIs may be localized within certain sections of a language community, and
peculiar to certain varieties or domains.
- Some FEIs are no longer in use, but were institutionalized in former times (e.g. put one’s eyes together, swim between
two waters)

2) Lexicogrammatical fixedness: implies some degree of lexical and grammatical defectiveness (anomality) in units, for
example restrictions in terms of aspect (vid), mood (način), or voice (stanje) – which are grammatical categories of verbs.
(Grammatical category refers to specific properties of a word that can cause that word and/or a related word to change in
form for grammatical reasons)
Aspect refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect to time rather than to its actual location in time: David
fell in love on his 18th birthday – svršeni aspect / perfective; David is falling in lve – nesvršeni aspect / imperfective
Mood is the form of the verb that shows the mode or manner in which a thought is expressed:
a) Indicative expresses an assertion, denial or question: Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas. Have you finished your
homework?
b) Imperative expresses command, prohibition, entreaty or advice: Don’t smoke in this building. Be careful Don’t drown
that puppy!
c) Subjunctive indicates a hypothetical state or a state contrary to reality, such as a wish, desire or an imaginary situation.
The most common use of the subjunctive is the use of the subjunctive after “if” clauses that state or describe a
hypothetical situation: If I were a butterfly, I would have wings.

Voice expresses the relationship of the subject to the action. It has two values:

- Active: the subject does the action: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

- Passive: the subject receives the action: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.

Restriction in these grammatical categories means that: kick the bucket cannot be passivized since it is regarded as a single
semantic unit much like ‘die’, which cannot be passivized because it is an intransitive verb (neprelazni). Also, we cannot inflect
parts of this idiom: if we pluralize bucket we do something that is not possible with the idiom, for ‘buckets’ is not present
semantically when the idiom is present. Also, we cannot modify bucket with an adjective: ‘John kicked the blue bucket’ carries
only the literal meaning.

3) Non-compositionality: is in contrast with the principle of compositionality: The meaning of a complex expression is a
function of the meaning of its parts and of the syntactic rules by which they are combined.
Non-compositionality: the meaning of an idiom is typically not predictable from those of its parts: kick the bucket = die,
under the weather = being sick, feeling ill. Non-compositionality is a semantic criterion. The meaning arising from word-by-
word interpretation of the string does not yield the institutionalized, accepted, unitary meaning of the string. However,
there are also cases where the string is decodable compositionally, but the unit has a special function in discourse:
proverbs, similes, sayings. This is called pragmatic non-compositionality.
 Other criteria in defining FEIs
1) Ortography: FEIs should consist of, or be written as, 2 or more words.
2) Syntactic integrity: FEIs form syntactic or grammatical units in their own right: adjuncts (priloške odredbe – We’ve been
together through thick and thin, and we won’t desert each other now. = in spite of all difficulties or problems),
complements (I may be long in the tooth but I’m not stupid. = too old), nominal groups (a flash in the pan = a sudden
success that ends quickly and is unlikely to happen again), sentence adverbial/modifier (I find that, by and large, people
tend to do what they are told to do. – when talking generally about someone or something), clauses (You might be able
to get a loan from the bank, but don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. = you should not make plans because
you hope something good will happen)
3) Phonological criterion: interword pauses and word durations are longer in literal readings, shorter in idiomatic
readings.

Institutionalization, fixedness and non-compositionality distinguish FEIs from other strings, but they are not present to an
equal extent in all items:

 Degrees of institutionalization (very frequent of course v. fairly rare cannot cut the mustard)
 Degrees of fixedness (completely frozen kith and kin v. relatively flexible and variable take stick from someone, get a lot
of stick from someone, give someone stick)
 Degrees of non-compositionality (opaque bite the bullet v. transparent enough is enough)

Typology of fixed expressions

Three macrocategories of FEIs:

A) ANOMALOUS COLLOCATIONS
B) FORMULAE
C) METAPHORS

A. ANOMALOUS COLLOCATIONS – problematic on the grounds of Lexicogrammar (a level of linguistic structure where
lexis/vocabulary and grammar/syntax combine into one, and on which words and grammatical structures are seen as mutually
dependent, interfacing with one another). They cannot be decoded purely compositionally nor encoded freely: The meaning of
of course cannot be decoded from the meaning of of and course, and we cannot freely encode another collocation of this type:
*of cake, *for course

A1. Ill-formed collocations break the conventional
grammatical rules of English: by and large, stay put
A2. Cranberry collocations include items that are unique
to a certain string of words and not found in any other
collocation (not found in the language outside this
expression): in retrospect, kith and kin, on behalf of
someone/something, short shrift, to and fro
A3. Defective collocations cannot be decoded purely
compositionally because a component item has a
meaning not found in other collocations or contexts, or
because one or more of the component items is
semantically empty: at least, a foregone conclusion, in
effect, beg the question, in time
A4. Phraseological collocations consist of cases where
other analogous (similar) strings may be found, but where
the structure is not fully productive: in action, into action,
out of action, on show, on display, to a ____ degree, to a
____ extent
B. FORMULAE – problematic on the grounds of Pragmatics (the study of the aspects of meaning and language use dependent on
the speaker, addressee and other features of the context of utterance)

B1. Simple formulae have some special discoursal B3. Proverbs can be metaphorical: you can't have your
function, and are routine compositional strings: alive and cake and eat it, every cloud has a silver lining
well, I'm sorry to say, not exactly, pick and choose, you or non-metaphorical: enough is enough, first come first
know served

B2. Sayings include formulae such as quotations, catch- B4. Similes are institutionalized comparisons that are
phrases and truisms: curiouser and curiouser, don't let the typically transparent, but not always, and are signalled by
bastards grind you down, that's the way the cookie as or like: as good as gold, as old as the hills, like lambs to
crumbles the slaughter, live like a king

C. METAPHORS – problematic on the grounds of Semantics (the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning). They
include pure idioms, and their classification reflects degrees of transparency:

C1. Transparent metaphors are institutionalized but the
image of the metaphor is such that the reader/hearer can
be expected to decode it successfully by means of his
real-world knowledge: alarm bells ring, behind someone's
back, breathe life into something, on someone's doorstep,
pack one's bags
C2. Semi-transparent metaphors require some specialist
knowledge in order to be decoded, not all speakers of a
language may understand the reference. If the
institutionalized idiomatic meaning is unknown, there
may be two or more possible interpretations: grasp the
nettle ('tackle something difficult with determination and
without delay' – but someone not knowing the metaphor
might interpret it as 'do something foolish which will have
unpleasant consequences'), on an even keel, the pecking
order, throw in the towel, under one's belt
C3. Opaque metaphors are pure idioms, and
compositional decoding and interpretation of the image
are practically impossible without knowledge of the
historical origins of the expression:
- bite the bullet (to accept something difficult and
try to live with it; in the days before anesthesia, a
wounded soldier about to undergo surgery was given a
bullet to clamp his teeth and bear down on so he
wouldn't bite off his tongue from the pain)
- kick the bucket (considered a euphemistic,
informal, or slang term meaning 'to die')
- over the moon ('in a state of great happiness')
- red herring ('a misleading clue', a red herring is a
type of strong-smelling smoked fish what was once drawn
across the trail of a scent to mislead hunting dogs a put
them off the scent)
- shoot the breeze (fig. 'to chat casually and without
purpose')

Chunking
When experienced readers read a text, they are able to recognize groups of words, such as noun phrases or verb phrases, that
go together to create meaning. This is known as 'chunking' and it is a way of describing how fluent readers are able to read a
text. Being able to 'chunk' effectively is a very efficient approach to reading comprehension, as well as to language acquisition
(učiti fraze a ne samo riječi). 'to chair a meeting' – to be in control of the procedure of a meeting

- A lexical chunk is a group of words that are commonly found together, they include collocations and involve content
words, not grammar.
Did you stay long at the party?
No, I got out of there as soon as they ran out of food.
- Collocation is a pair of lexical content words commonly found together. 'basic'+'principles' is a collocation, but
'look'+'at+ is not because it combines a lexical content word and a grammar function word (at)

Lexical chunks that are not collocations: by the way, up to now, upside down, if I were you, a long way off, out of my mind

Lexical chunks that are collocations: totally convinced, strong accent, terrible accident, sense of humour, sounds exciting, brings
good luck
Collocation
Frequently repeated or statistically significant co-occurrences, whether or not there are any special semantic bonds between
collocating items. They are the lexical evidence that words do not combine randomly but follow rules, principles, and real-world
motivations. Different kinds of collocation reflect different kinds of phenomenon:

1) The simplest kind arises through semantics: co-occurence of co-members of semantic fields, representing co-occurence
of the referents in the real world, or combination of the words which belong to the same semantic field: jam co-occurs
with other words from the same semantic field, i.e. lexical set 'food', such as tarts, butty, doughnuts, marmalade,
apricot, strawberry

2) The second kind arises where a word requires association with a member of a certain class or category of item, it is
contrained lexicogrammatically as well as semantically: rancid is typically associated with butter, fat and foods
containing butter or fat. In other cases, a word has a particular meaning only when it is in collocation with certain other
words: face the truth/facts/problem. Also, selection restrictions on verbs may specify certain kinds of subject or object:
the verb drink normally requires a human subject and a liquid as object.

3) The third kind is syntactic and arises where a verb (be), adjective (fond of), or nominalization (to implement  the
implementation of...) requires complementation. Such collocations are grammatically well formed and highly frequent,
but not necessarily independent: to be, one of, had been, you know, are going to be

Psycholinguistic Aspects of Chunking

Research into language acquisition (usvajanje jezika) suggests that language is learned, stored, retrieved and produced in multi-
word items (chunks), not just as individual words or terms.

There is a good psycholinguistic basis for believing that the mind stors and processes chunks as individual wholes (combination
of words, not single words)

The main reason stems from the structure of the mind itseld. It can store vast amounts of knowledge in long term memory but is
only able to process small amounts of it in real time.

Processing of FEIs
Research into the psycholinguistic processing of FEIs adresses questions such as:

a) How FEIs are recognized

b) How they are stored in the mental lexicon (mind)
c) Whether idiomatic meanings are retrieved before, after, or simultaneously with literal meanings
d) How variations and inflections are handled

In attempting to find out how FEIs are processed, several hypotheses have been singled out:

(1) Idioms are stored separately in the mental lexicon (mind) through the 'idiom list'.
The analysis of the literal meaning occurs separately from the idiomatic meaning. The literal meaning is normally
processed first, and when the processing fails to yield an interpretation for the context, the 'idiom list' is accessed.
(2) Idioms are stored and retrieved like single words and idiomatic and literal meanings are processed simultaneously.
The experiments show that subjects decode idiomatic meanings faster than literal ones.
(3) The 'key word' of a FEI triggers recognition of the whole FEI.

Lexicalization
The process by which a string of words and morphemes becomes institutionalized as part of the language and develops its own
specialist meaning or function.
Diachronic considerations
1) Institutionalization is a diachronic process – much of the lexical, syntactic and semantic anomalousness of FEIs results
from historical processes.
- Cranberry collocations such as to and fro and kith and kin contain lexical items that were formerly current.
- The ill-formed collocation through thick and thin is an ellipsis of through thicket and thin wood, and of course is an
ellipsis of a matter of course, or of course and custom, or of common course.

2) Diachronic: some FEIs disappear and others emerge.

- Some metaphorical FEIs and proverbs may be tracked back to classical or Biblical sayings or historical events, better
late than never, all roads lead to Rome, an eye for an eye, burn one's bridges/boats.

3) Catch-phrases drawn from cinema, television, politic, journalism and so on become institutionalized as sayings and
other kinds of formula – this is an obvious way in which English fixed expressions realize intertextuality:
- „Good morning, Vietnam“ – GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM
- „It's showtime!“ – BEETLEJUICE
- „Hey you guys“ – THE GOONIES
- „Say 'hello' to my little friend!“ – SCARFACE
- „Bond... James Bond.“ – GOLDFINGER
- „Who are you?“ – „Your worst nightmare“ – RAMBO III
- „You talkin' to me?“ – TAXI DRIVER
- „Houston, we have a problem.“ – APOLLO 13
- „Go ahead, make my day.“ – SUDDEN IMPACT
- „Run, Forrest, Run!“ – FORREST GUMP
- „I feel the need... the need for speed.“ – TOP GUN
- „Never give up, never surrender!“ – GALAXY QUEST
- „I'll have what she's having.“ – WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
- „My precious!“ – THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS
- „I'm the king of the world!“ – TITANIC
- „Hasta la vista... baby.“ – TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY

The catch-phrases above are associated with a memorable event or film sequence, or consistent media use, they are repeated
as commentary devices, greetings and so on, and become situationally or culturally bound.

4) In other cases, FEIs become established as ways of expressing or referring to concepts; hyphenation is an indicator of
the process of institutionalization and lexicalization.
- On a first-come-first-served basis
- His charity-begins-at-home appeal
- A don't-take-no-for-an-answer message
- Six months ago it (sc. a hotel) changed owners, but remained in the hello-how-may-I-help-you realm
- The chaos might amuse the man who belonged to the live-fast-die-young-have-a-good-looking-corpse school
Grammatical aspects of FEIs
Some words are never used in fixed expressions/idioms, while some words are never found outside FEIs (used in FEIs only!)

Cranberry collocations
There are a few words that never occur outside cranberry collocations. Several groups of cranberry collocations:

1) The group with rare fossil words, or words which have been borrowed from other language varieties:
- AMOK – run amok (to suddenly behave in an uncontrolled/violent way)
- CAHOOTS – in cahoots with someone (to be working secretly with another person or group; biti u dosluhu)
- DINT – by dint of something (by using a particular method; zahvaljujući)
- DUDGEON – in high dudgeon (in an angry or offended way; veoma ljut, razjaren)
- FETTLE – in fine/good fettle (healthy or working properly; u veoma dobrom stanju/raspoloženju)
- FRO – to and fro (move in one direction and then back again)
- GRIST – grist to one’s mill (something useful in a particular situation; veoma korisno)
- HAYWIRE – go/be haywire (to start working a completely wrong way; pokvariti se)
- KIBOSH – put the kibosh on something (to stop a plan/idea from developing; zaustaviti, spriječiti)
- KILTER – out of/off kilter (not working as well as usual)
- KITH- kith and kin (family and friends)
- LOGGERHEADS – at loggerheads (to disagree very strongly)
- SLEIGHT – sleight of hand (the use of skilful tricks and lies in order to deceive someone)
- SNOOK – cock a snook (to show clearly that you don’t respect someone or something)
- SPIC(K) – spic(k) and span (a completely clean and tidy room; sređena, tip-top, k’o pišta)
- TENTERHOOKS – on tenterhooks (kao na iglama)
- TRICE – in a trice (veoma brzo)
- UMBRAGE – take umbrage (uvrijediti se)
- WEND – wend one’s way somewhere (krenuti lagano)
- YORE – of yore (existing a long time ago)

2) The group with lexemes unique to the fixed expressions/idioms but homographic with other independent items.

Homographs – words with multiple meanings: tire, wave, ring, pop

- Be at someone’s beck and call (to always be ready to do what someone wants; biti na usluzi)
- To boot (in addition: For graduation, I got a new suit and a coat to boot)
- Come a cropper (to fail in something, propasti, pasti, tresnuti)
- Curry a favour (to try to make someone support you by doing things to please them; steći naklonost)
- Hue and cry (angry protests about sth. Usually by a group of people; oštri protesti)
- Leave someone in the lurch (ostaviti bez objašnjenja)
- Queer someone’s pitch (uništiti šansu)
- (by) the scruff of someone’s neck (by the back of the neck of a person or an animal)
- Be no slouch (at something) (to be very good at something; odličan, nema boljeg od njega, izvrstan)
- Have no truck with someone/something (to have nothing to do with someone/something)

3) The group with items that have compositional or familiar morphemic structure, but occur only in fixed strings.
- AMENDS – make amends (to do something to show you are sorry for hurting/upsetting someone)
- GUNPOINT – at gunpoint (threatening someone or being threatened by a gun; držati na nišanu; also: under threat;
figurativno pritisnuti)
- OUTSET – at/from the outset (from the beginning of an event or process)
- RUN-AROUND – give someone the run-around (to act in a way which makes it difficult for someone to do something, for
example by refusing to tell them things they need to know)

4) The group which contains morphologically unanalysable or unique items.

- On someone’s behalf, on behalf of someone
- For someone’s/something’s sake, for the sake of someone/something
- In someone’s stead (in someone’s shoes)
Grammatical form of FEIs
1) Ill-formed FEIs

FEIs that cannot be analysed according to normal syntactic rules. They are fossils of earlier uses, and arises from odd phrase
structures, ellipsis (ispuštanje/brisanje nekog sintaksičkog elementa) or inflections, etc.

- be that as it may (what you say is true)
- be seeing you (goodbye, I’ll be seeing you)
- by and by (as time passes, undetermined period of
time)
- by and large (generally, usually; sve u svemu)
- come what may (no matter what might happen;
kud puklo da puklo)
- curiouser and curiouser (becoming more and more
curious)
- dog eat dog (to do anything to become successful,
even if it harms others; nema milosti)
- every which way (in many different directions)
- far be it from me (not really my place to do
something)
- give someone what for (to punish, dobit će ona
svoje)
- go for broke (to risk everything, to try as hard as
possible)
- how come (why do/why have)

2) FEIs that contain strange uses of wordclasses

A non-nominal word or sense may be used as a noun, or an adjective, or as an adverb.

- all of a sudden (suddenly) - of old (in the past)

- at the ready (available to be used immediately)
- beyond compare (the best of its kind)
- do the dirty on someone (to behave unfairly
towards someone, usually without their
knowledge; iza leđa)
- for free (without cost or payment)
- have a down on someone (to express negative
feelings toward someone; okomiti se na nekoga)
- ifs and buts (no ifs and buts; bez izgovora; do it
quickly and without arguing)
- in brief (ukratko)
- in general (uopšteno)
- in the know (knowledgeable)
- of late (lately)
- once in a while (sometimes)
- on the up and up (honest)
- play fair (do it by the rules)
- state the obvious (say something everybody
knows)
- swear blind (to say something completely true,
especially when someone doesn’t believe you)
- the back of beyond (in a place far away)
- the dos and don’ts (rules)
- the ins and outs (the correct way to do something)
- the whys and wherefores (reasons for something)
- through thick and thin (through good and bad
times)
- trip the light fantastic (to dance)

3) FEIs in which one or more component words deviate from their usual syntactic behaviour

Countable nouns may be used without determiners in the singular, verbs may be used in aberrant (nenormalan) transitivity
patterns.

- bag and baggage (with all one’s posessions)
- bring someone to book (to punish someone)
- (by) word of mouth (by speaking rather than by
writing)
- come a cropper (to have a misfortune, to fail)
- fight tooth and nail (engage in vigorous combat or
make a strenuous effort, using all one’s resources;
boriti se svim sredstvima)
- (not) go a bundle on something (to not like
something)
- go (the) whole hog (to do everything possible)
- in all weathers (done in any type of weather)
- in case (in the event that something takes palce)
- keep body and soul together (to manage to keep
existing)
- put pen to paper (to write on paper)
- rain cats and dogs (raining in great amounts)
- sweat blood (to be very anxious and tense)
- stand someone in good stead (to be of great use
and benefit to someone)
- stay put (to not move)
- to hand (within easy reach)
- turn and turn about (one after another; in
succession, jedan za drugim, naizmjenično)
- under lock and key (pod ključem, securely locked
up)
- to date (until now, do dana današnjeg)
Grammatical types and structures of FEIs
1) Predicate FEIs
Consist of clause elements and have the syntactic structure of clauses. The main elements are subject and verb which are
obligatory, while other elements vary (direct and indirect object, adjunct, complement, predicator, object complement):
- X admits defeat (subject+predicator+object)
- X gets something off the ground
(subject+predicator+object+adjunct) – to get
something started, airplane beginning a flight,
pokrenuti
- The coast is clear
(subject+predicator+complement) – there is no
visible danger, zrak je čist
2) Nominal groups
- A blessing in disguise (sreća u nesreći)
- A flash in the pan (a thing or a person whose
sudden but brief success is not repeated or
repeatable, neponovljiv)
- A foregone conclusion (a result that is obvious to
everyone even before it happens, očito)
- Ivory tower (place or a situation where you are
separated from ordinary life and its problems, u
svom svijetu)
3) Predicative-adjectival groups
They usually appear after a copula verb (e.g. be). They are actually adjective phrases that are used predicatively.
- Alive and kicking (well and healthy, živ I zdrav)
- Bone idle (very lazy, lijenčuga)
- Cut and dried/cut and dry (konačan, jasan, final)
- Dressed to kill (napucana, sređena)
- Free and easy (easy-going, maksimalno opušten)
4) Modifiers
Modify a head noun in a noun phrase.
- A thousand and one
- All-singing all-dancing (having every desirable
feature possible, govori nekoliko jezika, ne može
bolje biti, jede malu djecu, prejak, predobar, full
oprema, boli glava)
- Any old (bilo koji/a, any kind of a thing), in general
- Common or garden (very ordinary, sasvim običan)
5) Adjuncts
They are adverbials (priloške oznake).
- Above board (fully visible to public scrutiny, honest
or legit, jasno I transparentno)
- By heart (exactly and from memory, napamet)
- By the skin of one’s teeth (jedva, za dlaku)
- From memory (to know something well from
seeing it often, po sjećanju)
- High and dry (siguran, bez opasnih posljedica)
- X teaches Y a lesson (subject+predicator+indirect
object+object) – to get even with someone for bad
behavious, milo za drago
- The penny drops (subject+predicator) – when you
finally understand something, upalila se lampica
- A world of difference (very different, nebo i zemlja;
improving something very much makes a world of
difference, činiti čuda)
- The salt of the earth (a very good or worthy
person, melem za ranu, dušu, izuzetna osoba, duša
od žene)
- Trojan horse (someone or something that attacks
the group or organization it belongs to, špijun,
neprijatelj, krtica, ubaciti svoje ljude)
- Long in the tooth (star)
- Wet behind the ears (star, nezreo)
- Wide awake (neko ko se odavno probudio, oči
širom otvorene; biti potpuno svjestan nečega,
completely aware, oči kao fildžani, budan sve u 16)
- Dim and distant
- Hard and fast (rigorozan, strong, binding, clearly
defined)
- Precious little, precious few (malo ali veoma bitno,
vrijedno)
- The one and only (jedan jedini, jedna jedina)
- In cold blood (in a cold, unemotional manner)
- On horseback
- Out of the question (ne dolazi u obzir)
- Under the counter (švercovati, ilegalno
preprodavati)
- Under the weather (ne osjećati se dobro, bolestan)
- Up for grabs (sotupno svima, biti u potpunom
haosu)
- With one’s bare hands (golim rukama)
- At once (at this time, for a moment)
- For the time being
- On the spur of the moment (spontaneously)
- From time to time (s vremena na vrijeme)
- Little by little (malo pomalo)
- Time and again (veoma često)
- Once in a blue moon (jednom u 100 god)
6) Sentence adverbials
- By definition (according to prior determination, as
a given, po definiciji)
- For the most part (mostly, in general, većinom)
- In effect (producing a particular effect, kao
posljedica, efekat)
- No doubt (a transitional or interpretative phrase
strengthening the rest of the previous sentence,
undoubtedly, certainly)
- To be sure (da razjasnimo)
7) Conventions, exclamations, and subordinate clauses
7.1. FEIs used to express greetings, apologies,
refusals, expressions of sympathy
- By all means (svim silama)
- Don’t mention it (nema na čemu, ma daj molim te)
- Excuse me
- Go for it! (samo naprijed)
- Good morning
- Never mind
- No comment
7.2. FEIs used to express reactions and opinions
- It’s nothing (nemoj mi se zahvaljivati)
- Pigs might fly (kad na vrbi rodi grožđe)
- Those were the days (to su bili dani)
- Who cares? (koga je briga?)
- You can say that again (ponovi to slobodno, ne
čujem te baš najbolje, ponovo izazivanje
komplimenta)
- From afar (at a great distance)
- Within spitting distance (tik do, veoma blizu)
- In vain (uzalud)
- To be on the safe side (osigurati se )
- To smithereens (rasturiti nešto u hiljadu komada) –
blow sth to…
- By far (daleko najbolji)
- Far and away
- Through and through (detaljno pročešljati)
- By the way (usput, adding information)
- In other words (drugim riječima)
- So much of (toliko o tome)
- Talking of (kad smo kod)
- Above all (iznad svega)
- After all (na kraju krajeva)
- In fact (zapravo)
- On the contrary (nasuprot)
7.3. Proverbs and sayings are classified as
conventions
- Every cloud has a silver lining (u svakom zlu nešto
dobro)
- First come first served (ko prvi djevojci njemu
djevojka)
- The end justifies the means (cilj opravdava
sredstva)
- You can’t have your cake and eat it (ne može i jare
i pare)
7.4. FEIs functioning as subordinate clauses
- As if X owns the place
- If the worst comes to the worst (u najgorem
slučaju)
- Until the cows come home (do besvijesti, for a very
long time)
- When push comes to shove (kada zagusti)
- When the chips are down (kada krene nizbrdo)
Inflectability of FEIs

- Verbs in predicate FEIs normally inflect, although there may be restrictions on number, tense, aspect, voice and mood.
- The problem of inflectability mainly involves the fixed nouns in FEIs. Nouns in non-metaphorical FEIs are more likely
to inflect than ones in metaphors. Nouns bill, conclusion, and question inflect freely in FEIs foot the bill, a foregone
conclusion, and beg the question. The nouns in kick the bucket, bite the bullet and spill the beans do not change.
However, but both nouns pluralize in have a chip on one’s shoulder. (exception!)
- The problem is at its most acute where the FEI contains an item such as eye, ear, or hand, which is singular in the FEI,
but normally found in pairs in the real world. These items rarely, if ever, occur in plural in FEIs. For example, FEIs
containing an item ear: a word in someone’s ear, be beaming from ear to ear, bend someone’s ear (peglati koga), (with)
half an ear, keep one’s ear to the ground, lend someone an ear, play something by ear, turn a deaf ear.
- In terms of inflectability, there is an interesting distinction between He has pulled our legs (which refers to separate
occasions) and He has pulled our leg (which refers to a single occasion affecting the plural referent of our) = to kid, fool,
or trick someone
- The distinction can also mean that with the plural forms, the focus is on the individual experiencers (I’m not sure
really… whether… whether you’re pulling our legs.. or… or not), whereas with the singular, focus is on the mass (Is Mr
Thomson pulling our leg by saying that we are good at writing project proposals?)

Negation
- Some FEIs are conventionally negative, i.e. a negative is a part of the whole expression. The position of the negator
NO/NOT is fixed. I kid you not, leave no stone unturned, no laughing matter, there is no time to lose
- A few other FEIs do not contain a negative word, but they are used in negative environments. To lift a finger (to not
help someone to do something, usually because you are lazy: He spends all day stretched out on the sofa and never lifts
a finger to help), a red cent, at all, in the least (at all, in the smallest degree: I don’t care in the least what you do with
the money), be the end of the world

Passivization
- There are FEIs where passive forms are at least as common as active forms: X bears something in mind / something is
borne in mind; X cuts Y short / Y is cut short
- There are FEIs where there is no evidence of active forms: something is cheered to the echo (to shout and clap a lot in
order to support someone: The team captain was cheered to the echo when he was presented with the cup), X is
laughed out of court (to dismiss something presented in earnest as ridiculous: Bob’s request for a large salary increase
was laughed out of court)
Variation in FEIs
- A very large number of FEIs do not have fixed forms. Kick the bucket is frozen, but kick the pail and kick the can bot
mean ‘die’ are found in AmE.

Types of lexical variation

1) Verb variation: the most common type, the verb varies but the meaning of the FEI does not change: stick/stand out like
a sore thumb, throw/toss in the towel, look/shoot daggers at someone, say/kiss goodbye to sth., twist/wrap someone
around one’s little finger

2) Noun variation: slightly less common, in the simplest cases the varying nouns are broadly synonymous: hold a
gun/pistol to someone’s head = to use threats to force someone to do what you want, a cat on a hot tin roof/a cat on
hot bricks = be nervous and unable to keep still
In metaphorical FEIs the nouns are often the focus of the metaphor. Variations do not have changed meanings but
mental images of the metaphor may differ considerably: burn one’s boats v. burn one’s bridges. The distinctions are
therefore greater than those between many verb variations.

3) Adjective and modifier variation: considerably less common than that of verbs or nouns: a bad/rotten apple (one bad
person in a group of people who are good), the best/greatest thing since sliced bread (extremely good), a
different/another kettle of fish (drugi par rukava, drugi par opanaka)

4) Particle variation: variation of a prepositional or adverbial particle: on/along the right lines (na dobrom putu), go
round/around in circles (vrtiti se ukrug), in touch/into touch/out of touch (biti u toku, u kontaktu, ne biti u toku), in
keeping with sbd./sth./out of keeping with sbd./sth. (biti/ne biti u skladu sa)

5) Conjunction variation: when/if push comes to shove, when/while the cat’s away, the mice will play (dok mčke nema,
miševi kolo vode), hit and/or miss (marked by a lack of care, system, plan)

6) Specificity and amplification: there are many cases of FEIs where the variation consists broadly of some inserted or
suppressed material. Amplification is inserting additional material into a FEI, when one version is simply a fuller version
of the other, adding emphasis or precision. Amplification can be:
- Adjectival: have a (good) laugh, in (full) bloom
- Adverbial: turn (over) in one’s grave
- With an optional PP: go to hell (in a handbasket), twist the knife (in the wound) – dosipati so na ranu, up the creek
(without a paddle) – in trouble, biti u gabuli
- With expanded nominal group: put flesh on (the bones of) something – add more details to a plan, idea

7) Truncation: cutting off material from a FEI, reducing the fuller version to a lower-level grammatical unit – a compound
clause to a single clause, or a clause to a group: a bird in the hand (is worth two in the bush), birds of a feather (flock
together), don’t count one’ chickens (before they’re hatched), make hay (while the sun shines), a drwning man will
clutch at a straw  clutch/grasp at straws, it’s the (last) straw that breaks the camel’s back  the last straw/final
straw
In a few cases, the original fuller form has almost disappeared from the common use, and the reduced forms have
become fossilized: happy is the bride that the sun shines on (and blessed are the dead that the rain falls on) – dobar je
znak kad sunce sija na dan vjenčanja, (speech is silver but) silence is golden, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth (but
cheese wouldn’t choke her) – izgleda kao da ne bi ni mrava zgazila, a ustvari je suprotno)

8) Variations between British and American English:

- There are few cases where the verb varies: cut/make a long story short, flog/beat a dead horse – waste effort on sth.
with no chance of succeeding, kick/cool one’s heels, touch/knock/knock on wood
- Far more common is noun or noun modifier variation, which sometimes reflect standard distinctions between British
and American English: in the driving/driver’s seat, red as a beetroot/beet, wear the trousers/pants
- Catch someone with their trousers/pants down – the latter variation is found in both AmE and BrE, with slightly
different mental images (underwear for the British and not outerwear) – cultural variation
- Other cultural distinctions: like turkeys voting for Christmas/Thanksgiving, turn on sixpence/a dime
 - Prepositional variation:
Briticism  about, Americanism  around: (not) beat about/around the bush
Lead someone up/down the garden path
- Similar meanings, usages and source domains, but different lexis: a storm in a teacup/a tempest in a teapot, have one’s
hand/fingers in the till/ have one’s hand in the cookie jar, in inverted commas/quote end quote OR BOTH: quote
unquote

Proverbs
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush – bolje vrabac u ruci nego golub na grani
- Birds of feather flock together – svaka ptica svome jatu leti
- Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched – ne pripremaj ražanj dok je zec u šumi, prvo skoči pa reci hop
- Make hay while the sun shines – željezo se kuje dok je vruće
- Actions speak louder than words – djela govore više od riječi
- Better late than never – bolje ikad nego nikad
- Once bitten twice shy – koga su zmije ujedale i guštera se boji, ko se na mlijeko opekao i na hladno puše
- There is no smoke without fire – gdje ima dima ima i vatre
- Speech is silver but silence is golden – šutnja je zlato, svaka ti je zlatna koju ne izgovoriš
- Finders keepers losers weepers – ko nađe njegovo
- A drowning man will clutch at a straw – davljenik se hvata za slamku
- It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back – kap koja je prelila čašu
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained – ko ne riskira, ne profitira
- What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander – što je dozvoljeno jednom, mora biti dozvoljeno i drugom
- A rolling stone gathers no moss – ko prečesto mijenja zanimanje ili se ne može ustaliti na jednom mjestu nema
odgovornosti (može biti upotrijebljeno i u pozitivnom i u negativnom kontekstu)

Losing that job was a blessing in disguise because it meant I got a much better job.

After saying Beverly made too many mistakes, Bob added insult to injury by saying she worked very slowly.

The school principal thought their new teacher’s record was as clean as a whistle, but he was very disappointed when found put
that the new teacher hadn’t informed him about his arrest for drunk driving.

My friends called and told me to hang in there after I’d broken my leg in an accident.

Some staff think we need new packaging for our products, and others think we should leave well enough alone and keep the
same packaging.

If you read between the lines, you will know what the writer really thinks.

- Kith and kin – prijatelji i porodica
- A foregone conclusion – ishitren zaključak
- Beg the question – povlači pitanje
- By and large – uglavnom, u biti, u konačnici, sve u
svemu
- Stay put – ostati na mjestu, ne micati
- Every cloud has a silver lining – u svakom zlu ima
nešto dobro, sreća u nesreći, nada zadnja umire
- Pick and choose – pažljivo izabrati
- Spill the beans – izlanuti se, odati tajnu, pokvariti
iznenađenje
- Burn one’s/the candle at both ends – raditi od jutra
do mraka
- Call the shots – odlučivati, gospodariti situacijom
- Shoot the breeze - čavrljati
- Through thick and thin – I u dobru I u zlu, kroz sito I
rešeto
- Long in the tooth – star k’o Grčka
- A flash in the pan - razočarenje
- Don’t count your chicken before they’re hatched –
ne raduj se unaprijed
- Cannot cut the mustard – ne moći se nositi s nečim
- Take stick from someone/ get a lot of stick from
somene/ give someone stick – biti kritikovan,
osuđivan
- Bite the bullet – stisnuti zube, izdržati, skupiti
hrabrost