ABSTRACT
Idiomatic expressions belong to the vast family of fixed phrases, cliches, proverbs, indirect speech acts, speech formulas, and so forth, that shares some degree of conventionalization of meaning yet at the same time differs in semantic as well as syntactic properties. As many authors have noted (Coulmas, 1981; Hoffman & Honeck, 1980; Honeck & Hoffman, 1980; Pollio & Bums, 1977), a large part of our everyday linguistic repertoire is formed by these “conven tionalized ways of saying things” (Fillmore, 1978, p. 170), so that the usage of idiomatic expressions seems to be governed by the following informal rule: “Speak idiomatically unless there is some good reason not to do it” (Searle, 1975). Not only is their meaning stipulated, but so also is their correct intonation (cf. Hockett, 1958, on politeness formulas), the context, and the linguistic as well as interpersonal functions.
