Ok, so this might be the geekiest email I’m going to write. For about 8 years now I’ve been collecting pairs of words. I find it a bit hard to describe…it’s adjectives and adverbs that only seem to exist to describe one noun only.
For example
Dulcet Tones
Dulcet describes sounds that are soft and pleasant to listen to, but you don’t often hear of dulcet waves or dulcet rain.
I wanted to be able to give you more examples of this, but I haven’t actually collected all these pairs one sensible place, they are scribbled on note pads and diaries and books and I’m too lazy to go on a rummage, so I decided to ask some bloggers on linguistics, if they knew any more and if there was a name for it.
Lo and Behold = HOLD ON A SECOND, is that one? You don’t often hear lo without behold, brilliant. Ok, sidetracking.
Lo and Behold, I did actually get a reply from Graham Pointon:
“Fixed Collocations”
I think this is a good enough term for what you’re looking at. The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage (by R.W.Burchfield, OUP 1998 in my edition) has, under the heading Collocation, pairs such as “innocent bystander”, “habitual liar”, “far-reaching consequences”. There is also “rancid butter”. These are not strictly as indissoluble as “dulcet tones”, but pretty close, I think. The term “collocation” was first used in this sense by J.R.Firth, Professor of General Linguistics at the
BRILLIANT
Now hit me with yours…
Also, for fun, have play with the singing horses; it’s an art…sort of.
http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf
Love from
Rachel and The Laundry
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15 Responses to “Soul Mates”
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Not sure this classifies as quite the same thing but the phrase ‘legal tender’ only ever seems to come in to fruition when talking of Scottish bank notes!
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 10:42 am
oh yes and talking of Scottish things (kind of), how about a fiery red head, you wouldn’t hear of a fiery blonde…
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
‘Now then’
Not very literary, but we all use it and I just can’t work out what it actually means.
Vicki
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 10:46 am
oh yes!
also
“How about”
what does that mean?
he he
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 10:49 am
How about Crispy Cream (as in donuts)? Does that count??
….I say that as I am eating one right now!
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
No it does not.
You can have crispy…skin when sun burnt
When you should have used sun…cream.
The words when together do conjure up deliciousness though, so I’ll give you 8 points for trying, but on second thoughts deduct 3 for making me jealous, there’s be no crispy creams at BedZED eco village…
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Oh nooooooo! Oh well it was a thought
…..as I have my second crispy cream…..
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
How about ‘angry mob’? You never get a ‘happy mob’, or a ‘contented mob’, or even a ’slightly cheesed off mob’.
Posted: May 29th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Angry mob is good; I think it’s definitely a fixed collocation. ‘Figment of the imagination’ - another one from Rachel. You don’t use the word ‘figment’ in any other sense apart from this one (or do you?) so it is similar to a fixed collocation yet has something more to it, in that one of the words is a bit of a runt without the other.
Posted: Jun 3rd, 2008 at 9:07 am
eclectic mix?
always found this one confusing - doesn’t eclectic mean mix? anyway … that’s all I’ve got!
Posted: Jun 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
Ooo, I’ve got a couple (I think)…
“extenuating circumstances” - I don’t think I know of another phrase that uses the first word.
“weapons of mass destruction” - Using any word other than ‘destruction’ just seems wrong.
That’s it - my brain has literally shut down on me now. I keep thinking there should be more but nothing’s happening!
Posted: Jun 3rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Kat, I LOVE YOU, that’s a brilliant one. I’ve never heard of an extenuating situation. They’re are really hard to think of spontaneously. I’m going to start keeping a special book and write fixed collocations on the front cover, just in case.
Posted: Jun 5th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I thought of one: “foregone conclusion”!!
Posted: Jul 15th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Spick and span! What on earth is ’spick’?!
Posted: Jul 16th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Cat that’s brilliant. Yay, even looking it up on the dictionary and they wouldn’t say what spick was without mentioning span and vice versa. This truely is a fixed collocation. I’m impressed that you’ve spent two months diligently working on the problem, what a Laundry star.