the order we say it

[webbo3]

why do we phrases in a certain order......i.e

back to front and not front to back

inside out and not outside in

upside down and not downside up.

they all mean the same whichever way you say them so why do we say them the way we do.....the first way ive done them on the question..

[jno]

good question... I'm not really sure (we do say 'I read the book from front to back' after all). But there's a book by Steven Pinker, Words and Rules, which considers why it's always ping-pong and flip-flop rather than pong-ping etc... and concludes it's all about tongue position and the way the brain learns language, so that certain phrases just feel better than others which mean the same. This may also be true of the phrases you ask about. (The book's technical and hard going, so I'm not recommending it to anyone, but it's interesting.)

[halfadaily]

I'd never thought about it before, but jno's answer seems logical. certain phrases and word combinations are easier to say one way than the other. If you think of some of the well known double acts over the years and reverse the order then they don't roll off the tongue ; Ball & Cannon, Wise & Morcombe, Hardy & Laurel or even Becks and Posh........

I'm sure that some phrases or name combinations do work the other way round. I believe writers say it flows well when something flows off the tongue easily.....although I'm sure any writers reading this will correct me if I've got the term wrong!

[gen2]

. . . and if we were to be using phrases like downside up and outside in, then as sure as anything, someone called 3boweb would be posting on here asking why we don't say upside down and inside out.

[lankeela]

In Shirley Valentine she refers to a meal of 'chips and egg' - now who in their right mind calls egg and chips 'chips and egg'??

[Narolines]

My grandmother - a Lincolnshire woman - always called it "chip & egg"; must be a northern thing. As a born & bred Midlander, I've always known it as egg & chips.

[yellowduck]

People say 'outside in' - it's not as common but people do say it x