Encyclopedia > Stock phrase

  Article Content

Stock phrase

A stock phrase is a spoken phrase which has little or no actual meaning of its own; it carries meaning only through custom or context.

Typical stock phrases are:

  • "Have a nice day" - which may be spoken by a convenience store clerk in the middle of the night

  • "No problem" - which may be used as a reply to "thank you" (Literally saying, "my labor was not significant")

  • "Whatever" - which may be used to indicate that the speaker doesn't wish to continue the conversation.

Certain stock phrases originate from TV, films, or video games, and soon become a part of popular culture.

Examples include "Where's the Beef?," "Everybody wang chung tonight[?]", or "All your base are belong to us".


To learn the meaning of a given stock phrase, consult a dictionary, such as the Wiktionary (http://www.wiktionary.org).


Similar to a stock phrase are catch phrase, slang, idiom, and jargon.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
North Haven, New York

... mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there are 743 people, 337 households, and 209 famil ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 23.9 ms