Irreversible binomial

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The expression "macaroni and cheese" is an irreversible binomial. The order of the two keywords of this familiar expression cannot be reversed idiomatically.

In linguistics and stylistics, an irreversible binomial,[1] frozen binomial, binomial freeze, binomial expression, binomial pair, or nonreversible word pair[2] is a pair or group of words used together in fixed order as an idiomatic expression or collocation. The words have some semantic relationship and are usually connected by the words and or or. They also belong to the same part of speech: nouns (milk and honey), adjectives (short and sweet), or verbs (do or die). The order of word elements cannot be reversed.[1]

The term "irreversible binomial" was introduced by Yakov Malkiel in 1954, though various aspects of the phenomenon had been discussed since at least 1903 under different names: a "terminological imbroglio".[3] Ernest Gowers used the name Siamese twins (i.e., conjoined twins) in the 1965 edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage. The 2015 edition reverts to the scholarly name, "irreversible binomials", as "Siamese twins" had become offensive.[4]

Many irreversible binomials are catchy due to alliteration, rhyming, or ablaut reduplication, so becoming clichés or catchphrases. Phrases like rock and roll, the birds and the bees, mix and match, and wear and tear have particular meanings apart from or beyond those of their constituent words. Their specific phrasing thus bears the references in the English lexicon: the former two are idioms, whilst the latter two are collocations. Ubiquitous collocations like loud and clear and life or death are fixed expressions, making them a standard part of the vocabulary of native English speakers.

Some English words have become obsolete in general but are still found in an irreversible binomial. For example, spick in spick and span is a fossil word that never appears outside the phrase.[5] Some other words, like vim in vim and vigor or abet in aid and abet, have become rare and archaic outside the collocation.

Numerous irreversible binomials are used in legalese. Due to the use of precedent in common law, many lawyers use the same collocations found in legal documents centuries old. Many of these legal doublets contain two synonyms, often one of Old English origin and the other of Latin origin: deposes and says, ways and means.

While many irreversible binomials are literal expressions (like washer and dryer, rest and relaxation, rich and famous, savings and loan), some are entirely figurative (like come hell or high water, nip and tuck, surf and turf) or mostly so (like between a rock and a hard place, five and dime). Somewhat in between are more subtle figures of speech, synecdoches, metaphors, or hyperboles (like cat and mouse, sick and tired, barefoot and pregnant). The terms are often the targets of eggcorns, malapropisms, mondegreens, and folk etymology.

Some irreversible binomials can have minor variations without loss of understanding: time and time again is frequently shortened to time and again; a person who is tarred and feathered (verb) can be said to be covered in tar and feathers (noun).

However, in some cases small changes to wording change the meaning. The accommodating attitude of an activity's participants would be called give and take, while give or take means "approximately". Undertaking some act whether it is right or wrong excludes the insight from knowing the difference between right and wrong; each pair has a subtly differing meaning. And while five and dime is a noun phrase for a low-priced variety store, nickel and dime is a verb phrase for penny-pinching.

Structure[]

The words in an irreversible binomial belong to the same part of speech, have some semantic relationship, and are usually connected by and or or. They are often near-synonyms or antonyms, alliterate, or rhyme.

Examples below are split into various tables; some may belong in more than one table but are listed only once.

With opposites and antonyms[]

  • addition and subtraction
  • assets and liabilities[1]
  • back and forth
  • balls and strikes
  • beginning to end
  • black and white[2]
  • big and small
  • boom or bust
  • bride and groom[2]
  • brother and sister
  • butt and pass
  • buy and sell
  • catch and release
  • cause and effect[2]
  • church and state
  • cops and robbers
  • come and go
  • coming and going
  • cowboys and Indians
  • days and nights
  • deep and wide
  • dos and don'ts
  • ebb and flow
  • fire and ice
  • first and last[2]
  • floor to ceiling
  • food and drink
  • fore and aft
  • foreign and domestic
  • forward and backward
  • friend or foe
  • front to back
  • fruits and vegetables
  • give and take[2]
  • good and evil
  • hail and farewell[note 1]
  • hand and foot
  • head over heels[1]
  • Heaven and Hell
  • here and there
  • hide and seek
  • hill and dale
  • him and her
  • high and low[2]
  • hills and valleys
  • his and hers
  • hither and thither
  • hither and yon
  • hot and cold
  • hurry up and wait
  • husband and wife[2]
  • in and out[2]
  • ladies and gentlemen[2]
  • land and sea
  • life or death[2]
  • long and short
  • lost and found[2]
  • love and hate
  • love and war
  • man and wife[2]
  • mom and pop
  • naughty or nice
  • near and far
  • night and day (difference)
  • nip and tuck
  • north to south
  • now and then
  • now and later
  • on and off
  • open and shut
  • over and under
  • park and ride
  • port and starboard
  • pros and cons[2]
  • push and pull
  • rank and file
  • rise and fall[2]
  • savings and loan
  • in sickness and in health
  • soap and water[2]
  • start to finish
  • strike and dip
  • sweet and sour[2]
  • stop and go
  • the quick and the dead
  • thick and thin
  • tip and ring
  • to and fro
  • top to bottom
  • town and country
  • up and down[2]
  • ups and downs
  • uptown and downtown
  • war and peace[1][2]
  • washer and dryer
  • wax and wane
  • yes and no
  • yin and yang

With related words and synonyms[]

  • ages and generations
  • aid and comfort
  • alas and alack
  • bits and pieces
  • body and soul[2]
  • born and raised/bred
  • bright and early
  • brick and mortar[2]
  • by hook or by crook
  • cheek by jowl
  • clean and tidy
  • chapter and verse
  • (this) day and age
  • dollars and cents
  • dot the i's and cross the t's
  • fear and loathing
  • fish and chips
  • first and foremost
  • hail and farewell[note 1]
  • hand over fist
  • haughty and high minded
  • head and shoulders
  • heart and soul
  • herbs and spices
  • house and home
  • hunger and thirst
  • leaps and bounds
  • like father, like son
  • like mother, like daughter
  • lo and behold
  • neat and tidy
  • six of one,
    half a dozen of the other
  • nickel and dime
  • nook and cranny
  • null and void[2]
  • over and done with[1]
  • pain and suffering
  • peace and quiet
  • pen and ink
  • pick and choose
  • (on) pins and needles
  • plain and simple
  • prim and proper[2]
  • rant and rave
  • rocks and shoals
  • shock and awe
  • signs and wonders
  • skull and bones
  • skull and crossbones
  • strait and narrow
  • straight and narrow
  • stress and strain
  • swings and roundabouts
  • ticks and chiggers
  • whine and complain
  • wind and rain
  • yea and amen

With alliteration[]

Also see the English section of the Reduplication article for cases like walkie-talkie, ragtag, chit-chat, hip-hop, bing-bang-boom, etc.

  • bag and baggage[1]
  • baubles and beads
  • beams and balance
  • bed and breakfast[1][2]
  • belt and braces
  • big and bad
  • the birds and the bees[2]
  • bish bash bosh
  • black and blue
  • bold and beautiful
  • bootleggers and Baptists
  • boxers or briefs
  • bread and butter[2]
  • bull and boar
  • cash and carry
  • chalk and cheese
  • cliques and clans
  • command and control
  • cookies and cream
  • deaf and dumb
  • (between the) devil and the deep blue sea
  • dine and dash
  • down and dirty
  • dribs and drabs
  • drink and drive
  • drunk and disorderly
  • Dungeons and Dragons
  • fast and furious
  • feast or famine
  • fire and forget
  • fire and fury
  • fit in or fuck off
  • flip-flop
  • flora and fauna
  • footloose and fancy-free
  • forgive and forget[2]
  • form and function
  • friend or foe
  • fun and frolics
  • fur and feathers
  • ghosts and goblins
  • grins and giggles
  • guys and gals
  • to have and to hold
  • hearth and home
  • hem and haw[2]
  • hoot and holler
  • Jew and Gentile
  • juking and jiving
  • king and country
  • kit and caboodle[6]
  • kith and kin
  • last but not least
  • latitude and longitude
  • Lend-Lease
  • life and limb[7]
  • live and learn
  • lock and load
  • love it or leave it
  • mix and match
  • meek and mild
  • name and number
  • part and parcel[8]
  • peas in a pod
  • pen and pencil[2]
  • pen(cil) and paper
  • pig in a poke
  • pillar to post
  • pots and pans[2]
  • publish or perish
  • rags to riches[1]
  • ranting and raving[2]
  • read and write[2]
  • ready to rumble
  • rest and relaxation (R&R/R'n'R)
  • (without) rhyme or reason
  • right and wrong[2]
  • rock and roll
  • rough and ready
  • rules and regulations[1]
  • safe and secure
  • safe and sound
  • shot and shell
  • shower and shave
  • signs and symptoms
  • slip and slide[2]
  • spick and span[5]
  • spit and shine
  • Stars and Stripes[2]
  • sticks and stones
  • sugar and spice
  • this or that
  • ticky-tacky
  • tic-tac-toe
  • tit for tat
  • top and tail
  • toss and turn[2]
  • trick or treat
  • trials and tribulations[2]
  • tried and tested
  • tried and true
  • truck and trailer
  • wash and wear
  • watching and waiting
  • weep and wail
  • wet and wild
  • whooping and hollering
  • wild and woolly
  • wise and wonderful
  • witches and warlocks
  • wrack and ruin

With rhymes and similar-sounding words[]

  • break and take
  • box and cox
  • chalk and talk
  • charts and darts
  • chips and dip
  • double trouble
  • even Steven
  • fender bender
  • five and dime
  • flotsam and jetsam[6]
  • no fuss, no muss
  • handy-dandy
  • harum-scarum
  • helter skelter
  • higgledy piggledy
  • high and dry[1][2]
  • hire and fire[1]
  • hit it and quit
  • hither and thither
  • hocus pocus
  • hoity toity
  • hot to trot
  • huff and puff[2]
  • hustle and bustle
  • lap and gap
  • latest and greatest
  • lean, mean, fightin' machine
  • lick 'em and stick 'em
  • loud and proud
  • mean, green, fightin' machine
  • meet and greet
  • motor voter
  • my way or the highway
  • namby-pamby
  • name and shame
  • name it and claim it
  • near and dear
  • never, ever
  • nitty gritty
  • odds and sods
  • onwards and upwards
  • orgy porgy
  • out and about
  • out and proud
  • pell-mell
  • pump and dump
  • rough and tough
  • shout and clout
  • saggy baggy
  • shake and bake
  • slowly but surely
  • smoke and joke
  • son of a gun
  • stash and dash
  • stop and drop
  • so far, so good
  • surf and turf
  • time and tide
  • town and gown[1]
  • use it or lose it
  • wake and bake
  • wear and tear
  • weed and feed
  • wham, bam, thank you, ma'am
  • willy nilly
  • wine and dine[1]
  • yea or nay
  • (the) yeas and (the) nays

Legal terminology[]

In law and official documents, there are many irreversible binomials or triplets consisting of near synonyms. See the Legal doublet article for a list.

Conjunction[]

The most common conjunctions in an irreversible binomial are and or or.

With "and" as the conjunction[]

With "or" or "nor" as the conjunction[]

  • all or nothing
  • better or worse
  • big or small
  • black or white
  • business or pleasure[2]
  • the chicken or the egg
  • day or night
  • dead or alive[2]
  • do or die
  • fight or flight
  • (neither) fish nor fowl
  • give or take[1]
  • good or bad
  • gentle or simple
  • he or she
  • heads or tails
  • (come) hell or high water
  • (neither) here nor there
  • (neither) hide nor hair
  • his or her
  • hit or miss
  • (not one) jot or tittle
  • kill or cure
  • kill or be killed
  • (neither) love nor money
  • make or break[1]
  • more or less
  • now or never
  • put up or shut up
  • rain or shine[2]
  • rhyme or reason
  • right or wrong[2]
  • sink or swim
  • sooner or later[2]
  • take it or leave it
  • two or more
  • up or down[2]
  • (neither) use nor ornament
  • victory or death
  • win or lose
  • yes or no

With no conjunction[]

  • hoity toity
  • hunter-gatherer
  • corn cheese

People and fictional characters[]

Rhyming slang[]

  • Adam and Eve
  • apples and pears
  • bottle and glass[note 5]
  • Brahms and Liszt
  • dog and bone
  • frog and toad
  • hand and blister
  • north and south
  • rabbit and pork
  • trouble and strife
  • two and eight
  • whistle and flute

Variants[]

Irreversible binomials are sometimes isocolons (bicolons, tricolons, etc.) which have become set phrases.

They may also be called simply binomials.

With three words, they may be called trinomials, and may satisfy the rule of three in writing.

Common trinomials[]

Longer lists with fixed order also exist, such as Blood, toil, tears and sweat.

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b Etymologically synonyms; functionally antonyms.
  2. ^ In the United Kingdom eggs and bacon is the common term and saying bacon and eggs would out the user as American.
  3. ^ In the United Kingdom, synonymous to bob and weave in common parlance and origin from the world of boxing (i.e. pugilistic).
  4. ^ A jocular nonsense reply to the question (usually a child's) of "what's for dinner (breakfast, or lunch)?" London usage, now all but archaic.
  5. ^ Or more commonly just bottle, which leads on to aris from aristotle that is the rhyming slang for bottle.
  6. ^ Jocular variant

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Gramley & Pätzold (2004). A Survey of Modern English (2 ed.). London: Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 0-415-30034-7. Retrieved 2012-10-04.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce Word Pairs
  3. ^ Malkiel, Yakov (1959) Studies in irreversible binomialsLingua 8:113–160
  4. ^ Butterfield, Jeremy (2015) Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 4th edition, ISBN 0199661359, p. 436, s.v. "irreversible binomials"
  5. ^ a b Martin, Gary. Spick-and-span, Phrases.org.uk
  6. ^ a b c "8 Amusing Stories Behind Common Expressions | Reader's Digest". Reader's Digest. 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
  7. ^ "life and limb | meaning of life and limb in Longman Dictionary of contemporary English | LDOCE". Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online. LDOCE. Retrieved 7 December 2018. life and limb formal your life and physical health – used especially when this is threatened in some way
  8. ^ Espenschied, Lenné Eidson (2010). "10.1 Eliminate clutter and redundant language § Eliminate common doublets and triplets". Contract Drafting: Powerful Prose in Transactional Practice. ABA Fundamentals0. Chicago: American Bar Association. pp. 164–165. ISBN 978-1-60442-795-0. LCCN 2010003298. OCLC 505017586. OL 15443452W.

Bibliography[]

  • Cooper, William E. and Ross, John R. (1975). World order. In Robin E. Grossman et al. (Eds.), Papers from the Parasession on Functionalism, Chicago Linguistic Society, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 63–111.
  • Sarah Bunin Benor, Roger Levy, "The Chicken or the Egg?: A Probabilistic Analysis of English Binomials", Language 82:2:233-278 (June 2006) JSTOR 4490157 full text
  • Ourania Hatzidaki, "Binomials and the Computer: a Study in Corpus-Based Phraseology", ALLC/ACH Conference, University of Glasgow, July 2000 abstract
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