You can define things like
data Symbolic n
= Constant n
| Variable String
| Symbolic n :+ Symbolic n
| Symbolic n :* Symbolic n
deriving (Show)
GHCi> let v = Variable; c = Constant
GHCi> c 2: * v "a": + c 3
(Constant 2: * Variable "a"): + Constant 3
What the first phrase refers to.