The phrase "a certain phrase" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to a specific phrase that is not named or when the speaker wants to keep it vague.
Example: "In his speech, he mentioned a certain phrase that resonated with the audience."
Alternatives: "a particular phrase" or "a specific phrase".
There will be a certain phrase or two we will come up with and emphasize this week".
If only Blair and Brown had listened to him, Hutton suggests more than once, we wouldn't be in the state we're in – to coin a certain phrase.
Roberts also excels as an average Joe who suddenly becomes sexual catnip to passers-by when he says a certain phrase.
I have seen some students get marks "capped" because they haven't included a certain phrase or diagram, even though their overall work was of a high standard.
As online commenters try to put Mr. Jobs's life in perspective, a certain phrase has come up, whether at tech sites like Slashdot or Gizmodo: "Bill Gates put a computer on every desk.
Sometimes you're just relaxing and a melody pops into your head, along with a certain phrase: "Shower the people you love with love," or "I've seen fire and I've seen rain".
Reflecting their training at Oberlin and Juilliard, the members of 2 Foot Yard, a violin-cello-guitar trio that will appear on July 2, bring a certain phrasing and detail of tone to their interpretations, said Carla Kihlstedt, the group's violinist.
When Cee Lo Green released the brilliant video for his brilliant single "Fuck You" last summer, I tweaked the Times for its timidity in covering this viral phenomenon built around a "certain crude phrase".
By Blake Eskin June 10 , 2011When Cee Lo Green released the brilliant video for his brilliant single "Fuck You" last summer, I tweaked the Times for its timidity in covering this viral phenomenon built around a "certain crude phrase".
"If I find that a certain musical phrase is very nice, probably the first thing I am going to do in my office is I am going to pick up the guitar and try to imitate that phrase until I can get it right," he said.
The singer is peeved at a girl who has left him and concludes that "If I'd been richer, I'd still be with ya" and though "there's pain in my chest, I still wish you the best... ...... followed by a certain crude phrase, and an "ooh, ooh, ooh".
