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 of words used together in fixed order as an
idiomatic expression or
collocation. The words have a
semantic relationship usually involving 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. Idioms like rock and roll, the birds and the bees, and collocations like mix and match, and wear and tear have particular meanings apart from or beyond those of their constituent words. 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 is a
fossil word that never appears outside the phrase spick and span.[5] Some other words, like vim in vim and vigor,[citation needed] 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.
In law and official documents, there are many irreversible binomials and triplets consisting of near synonyms, such as the oft-heard terms and conditions[8] and cease and desist.[8] See the
Legal doublet article for a list.
Conjunction
The most common conjunctions in an irreversible binomial are and or or.
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.