What is the difference between an expression and a phrase?


I'm trying to decide what tags I should be using and realized I did not know the difference between these terms.



Answer



Simply put, an expression is more like a saying, an idiomatic way of expressing something in less literal, less familiar terms:



How do you do? is just an expression: you don't expect someone to actually tell you how he is doing; he should just say how do you do? back, because it means little more than "hello".



A phrase is just any sequence of words, usually less than a sentence:




  • rip them out

  • even the Aztec women

  • before the Spaniards

  • reloading muskets

  • because they could never have continued their rituals without capturing large numbers of enemy soldiers (this one is dubious, because "clause" would be a more specific and thus better name)



A great many expressions are also phrases, like put behind bars or heaven forbid.


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