[Grammar] What are they categorized as?

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Adesanya Ayende

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I am an English teacher in South Korea, my supervisor has been going on and on about knowing a set of phrases commonly used in the US (he says), such as, "oh, why didn't I think of that", "do you have to brag about it like that", "why don't we trade books". I am well familiar with these words in my everyday dealings but I never knew they were classified. Can anyone give a pointer please? He claims these words are up to 1500 or so.

Thanks:roll:
 

bhaisahab

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I am an English teacher in South Korea, my supervisor has been going on and on about knowing a set of phrases commonly used in the US (he says), such as, "oh, why didn't I think of that", "do you have to brag about it like that", "why don't we trade books". I am well familiar with these words in my everyday dealings but I never knew they were classified. Can anyone give a pointer please? He claims these words are up to 1500 or so.

Thanks:roll:

What does "up to 500 or so" mean?
 

MikeNewYork

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I am an English teacher in South Korea, my supervisor has been going on and on about knowing a set of phrases commonly used in the US (he says), such as, "oh, why didn't I think of that", "do you have to brag about it like that", "why don't we trade books". I am well familiar with these words in my everyday dealings but I never knew they were classified. Can anyone give a pointer please? He claims these words are up to 1500 or so.

Thanks:roll:

There are two main varieties of categorized phrases in English. One is "set phrases". They are made of words that are frequently used together in a certain order. Another category is "idioms". Idioms differ from set phrases in that the meanings of the phrases are different from the literal meanings conveyed by the individual words. The word order and word choice cannot be changed in an idiom. Of your three examples, the only one that could be considered a "set phrase" is the first. The other two are just phrases. None of the three are idioms. I have no idea why your supervisor thinks he knows something new or different.
 

Barb_D

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I've lived 46 years without once saying "Why don't we trade books." Your supervisor has some interesting ideas.
 

emsr2d2

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Maybe your supervisor would like to write down all 1500 he thinks exist, you can post them here and we'll tell you if they're set phrases or not! I'm joking of course - not only would that be too much work for us but your supervisor isn't going to do that in the first place.
 

Adesanya Ayende

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You guys are awesome! you have just confirmed my sanity and my supervisor's overblown ego. Thank you very much.......you know what they say, "no one is a pool of knowledge".
 

Barb_D

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MikeNewYork

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You guys are awesome! you have just confirmed my sanity and my supervisor's overblown ego. Thank you very much.......you know what they say, "no one is a pool of knowledge".

And many pools have a shallow end. ;-)
 
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