The formulaic schema in the minds of two generations of native speakers

•Formulaic expressions form a significant portion of everyday verbal communication.•Schemata are fixed formulaic expressions with a mandatory open slot for novel words.•Schemata show interplay of fixed phrases and novel words.•Formulaic expressions are recognized by native speakers across two generations.

Schemata are expressions that are fixed except for slots available for novel words (I’m not a ____ person). Our goals were to quantify speakers’ knowledge, examine semantic flexibility in open slots, and compare performance data in two generations of speakers using cloze procedures in formulaic expressions, schemata open slots, fixed portions of schemata, and novel sentences. Fewer unique words appeared for the schemata-fixed and formulaic exemplars, reflecting speakers’ knowledge of these utterances; the most semantic categories appeared for schemata-open responses. Age groups did not differ. Schemata exemplify creative interplay between novel lexical retrieval and fixed formulaic expression.