with open arms

[Hansman]

1) We will welcome you with open arms.
2) We will welcome you with arms open.

I know that the #1 sentence is commonly used, and I was wondering if I can use the #2 sentence for some meaning or the same instead of the #1 sentence?

 

[Tarheel]

The first one is a well known expression. The second one is not. If you want to use it, that's up to you. Will people take it to mean the same thing as the first one? I don't know. Probably.

 

[emsr2d2]

#2 would become more natural if you added a word.

We will welcome you with arms wide open.

That word order sounds absolutely fine with the extra word. However, if you tried to use the same words using the construction in sentence #1, it would sound really odd - "We will welcome you with wide open arms". Nope! That sounds very strange to a native speaker.

These little nuances of word order (such as "fish and chips", never "chips and fish", "fruit and veg", never "veg and fruit") are the kinds of things you pick up when you live in an English-speaking country for quite some time.

 

[Tarheel]

@Hansman You know the expression, but you want to use it differently than what you know is right. That's what I don't understand. It's not an expression people use every day. Surely you don't want to screw it up the first time you use it. As already stated, you could say, "We welcome you with arms wide open." However, why would you try out variations on a theme before you've established what the theme is? Have you had occasion to use that expression?

 

[Kontol]

#2 would become more natural if you added a word.

Hello, emsr2d2. I'm wondering why you don't say "#2 will become more natural if you add a word?"

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello, emsr2d2. I'm wondering why you don't say "#2 will become more natural if you add a word?"

That's because it's a hypothetical.

 

[Kontol]

That's because it's a hypothetical.

Is it wrong if I say "#2 will become more natural if you add a word" in this case?

 

[emsr2d2]

Is it wrong if I say "#2 will become more natural if you add a word" in this case?

It wouldn't be wrong but I wouldn't word it that way and I will go so far as to say that the majority of native speakers wouldn't use your version either.