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Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.
Émile Coué
Better and better
Binomial phrases are two words from the same grammatical category coordinated by the word ‘and’. They are extremely common in English and have a fixed order which cannot be changed. Here are some examples:
Bread and butter- Plain and simple
- Safe and sound
- Peace and quiet
- Lost and found
- Black and white
- Knife and fork
- Now and then
- Wait and see
- This and that
- Hands and knees
- Forgive and forget
- Ladies and gentlemen
- Thunder and lightening
- Bangers and mash (UK) – sausage and mashed potatoes.
- Ups and downs – the mixture of good and bad things in life.
- The ins and outs – all the details, or complicated facts.
- To um and ah – to be unable to decide what to do.
- To cost an arm and a leg – to cost a lot of money.
- Odds and ends – small things that are all different and not valuable or important.
In informal American English, the word and is sometimes dropped after the verbs go and come.
- Let’s go see if he’s home.
- Go jump in the lake! (= go away and stop annoying me).
- Come sit on my lap.
Cf. Letras traduzidas: Love Letter
Cf. A importância do contexto
Cf. Por que é tão difícil aceitar “Depende.” como resposta?
Referência: “Gems of Wisdom – Inspirational Messages to Enhance the Quality of Your Life and Improve Your English” de Jack Scholes – Disal Editora, 2007. Leia a resenha.
