Fixed expressions are like secret codes that have a precise meaning and cannot be deduced from their parts. Unlike idioms, they offer no image or wisdom. Learning them is important for communicating in English. Children quickly absorb their meaning, but English learners need to memorize them.
For children, non-native English speakers, and anyone confronted with a fixed expression for the first time, they can be disconcerting. A fixed expression is a bit like a secret code that allows access to a club that not everyone can enter. It is a sentence that has a precise meaning that cannot be expressed in any other way nor can it be deduced only by considering the sum of its parts. Some fixed expressions, such as “ready, aim, shoot” are used so often that the opportunity to turn them into a joke creates another fixed expression. Others, like “before you know it” or “to tell you the truth” have been around for so long they almost function as a single word.
Unlike idioms, fixed expressions typically offer neither folk wisdom nor an image. “Two heads are better than one” creates a bizarre but effective visual idea of a body operating with two heads, while the meaning of the idiom is that two people working on a problem have a better chance of solving it than one single thinker. Fixed expressions are most often a collection of individually meaning words that actually have nothing to do with each other.
“Suddenly” is a perfect example. “Everything” means a totality, a place or a moment in time in which everything is included. “Tell” is really just a grammatical sentence with no internal meaning. “Sudden” refers to something completely unexpected; it is only the last word in this expression that contributes to the meaning of the fixed expression, which is simply another way of saying “suddenly”.
Another fascinating and disconcerting fixed expression is “neither here nor there”. This phrase is used to dismiss someone’s idea, statement, or concern as irrelevant. In fact, if something that’s been added to a conversation is “neither here nor there,” then it’s nowhere; does not exist and can therefore be ignored.
Sometimes, fixed expressions make very little sense. Imagine two friends who are discussing which movie to see. One says to the other: “It’s up to you”, which means that the friend should make the decision. Since the word “decision” is nowhere in the sentence or even hinted at by it, unless a listener already knows what the sentence means, there is no way to understand it.
Learning fixed expressions is part of learning a language. Children often question a fixed expression the first time they hear it, but quickly absorb its meaning and integrate it into their conversations. English learners, however, need to make a concerted effort to memorize fixed phrases because they are such an important part of communicating in English.
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