using "phrases" in sentences

[Sugar13]

#@$%....like here I am about to request replacement of my battered office ID and I can't seem to make use of the the phrase "wear and tear" to aptly explain myself. Rather I'm stuck to make use of the term "damaged" instead, when I distinctively feel that by using said phrase my ID would be replaced without question. Do you get me?

How do you use such phrases? Are these in itself called compound adjectives? If so, can you give me other examples similar to it?

Thank you for your time.

[Esl_Expert]

Hello Sugar,

The word "damaged" is the past participle of the verb "damage", and it is also frequently used as an adjective.

The expression "wear and tear" contains the noun "wear" and the noun "tear", and it is a compound noun. In other words, this expression would be treated grammatically as one singlular noun. It is occasionally hyphenated: wear-and-tear.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wear+and+tear
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=wear-and-tear&r=66

I suppose a similar sort of noun would be "rock and roll", for example.