Adam & Eve, ladies & gentlemen?

 

Adam & Eve, ladies & gentlemen?

You may recall last week's post

https://anupamaexcursions.blogspot.com/2021/09/sometimes-words-too-want-company.html

Let me not keep the list of word pairs started last week unfinished. Funny thing is that once the order is accepted in lexicon, you use it as it is and not reverse it e.g., the bard wrote Romeo and Juliet, but we cannot say Juliet and Romeo and we always say ladies and gentlemen and not the other way round.

Yes, I should put a disclaimer. This list is by no means complete. As language grows and evolves, expressions become more and more timely and contemporary. Without much ado I come to these binomial expressions which I have again tried to put in categories. Most of these are nouns.

People

It all started with Adam and Eve who were man and woman but there was no mention of love and marriage. Logically we are their children, so aren’t we all kith and kin (relatives)?

Boys and girls, bride and groom, man / husband and wife, mom and dad, mother and father, sister and brother, are flesh and blood and thus have emotions which guide them till they live. It is no surprise then that there are family feuds and sometimes victim and murder comes in the list. Count he and she or me and you also in the people category.

Some other living beings also get the honour of making it to the list.

In Physics, work is done when an object is moved a distance so in horse and chariot/carriage/buggy, horse pulls these carriages or simply does work. Dog and bone are inseparable and it is tough to part a dog from his bone. On the other hand cat and mouse are rivals and heavy rain is called (raining) cats and dogs.

Now why would an important activity in every creature’s life just be called (the) birds and (the) bees? Wikipedia has a possible answer: …it may have been inspired by words like these from the poet Samuel Coleridge(1825): 'All nature seems at work ... The bees are stirring—birds are on the wing ... and I the while, the sole unbusy thing, not honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.'

The Young and The Restless was a TV series. Does anyone know if Beauty and the Beast was even a pair before the film came?

Body parts

When we mention hearts and mind we push the knowledge of human anatomy in a corner and express emotions and feelings.

Tooth and nail brings to mind the images of tiger and other big cats that fight aggressive battles for food, mate and territory.

An arm and a leg means something costing or someone paying for a very expensive item/service. I will not risk attempting it, but wonder if it cheaper and safer to just rob a bank. The end result, however, might be aches and pains for a very long time after that.  

 

Eyes and ears are important sensory organs and one can be someone’s eyes and ears (to observe the goings–on on somebody else’s behalf) or be all eyes and ears (giving full attention) when somebody is talking or giving instructions. One can also keep his eyes and ears open which would mean he/she is alert - to anything important or to imminent danger.

 

Objects

Generally objects that are used together are mentioned in pairs like bow and arrow, lock and key, bricks and mortar, cloak and dagger, hammer and nail, pen and pencil, pen and paper, tables and chairs, toys/fun and games but sun and moon are actually opposites.

Way back in 1974, Joan Baez wrote, gave music to and sang Diamonds and Rust, a song reportedly about her relations with Bob Dylan. Dylan, however, went on to marry someone else.

Sitting too long in a position and the legs or feet go numb? That tingling sensation you get when you get up and blood starts to circulate again is called pins and needles.  

Even if you try to be brave and quote the old saying sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, don’t painful memories of hurtful words keep stinging for years?
Chalk and cheese mean opposites but chalk and blackboard come together and the Hindi film Chalk n Duster brought forth a new pair of words.

Some articles of clothing can also be included in this list. Shoes and socks are a combination, shirt and tie are a must in formal attire. Similar combinations include skirt and blouse and nearer home sari and blouse or salwar and kurta/ kurta and pyjama.

Stars and stripes is the name for the US national flag because it has 50 stars and 13 stripes depicting the number of states and the number of original states respectively, in the country.
Stars and Stripes is also the name of a US newspaper which reports news about the military and their communities. Meanwhile, The Stars and Stripes Forever, the official national march of USA, is a song written by ‘march king’ John Philip Souza.

My love for needlework never makes me forget my attachment to needle and thread, yarn and needle.

Feast and famine means either too much or too little of something but I would rather talk of food and drink, something you must be looking forward to during the weekend when you go to a bar and grill to wine and dine; you may want to go out of town and stay in a bed and breakfast place, or just stay at home and finish pending work.

Peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwich seems to be a staple snack for children in the west, something like our very own paratha-sabzi (Indian griddle-fried bread and veggies). Funnily, you can find recipes for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the internet.

To me meat and potatoes sounds better than meat and cheese because it has both proteins and carbohydrates, what this actually means is something simple and basic, which has no pretentions, but is important. Similarly, bread and butter means livelihood or something basic which concerns all. Don't we use the basic combo dal-roti to convey the same meaning?

Milk and cookies is the combination we are told Santa loves to have before he leaves Christmas presents. Isn’t it too much to eat in a night or does he carry some back to the North Pole, I often wonder.

Everyone has a favourite, be it fish and chips, ham/bacon and eggs, Mac & cheese, liver and onions, hamburgers and hot dogs. I prefer sweet and sour to hot and spicy food. Peas and carrots  denotes things that go well together like our own gajar-matar.

For dessert you can have strawberries and cream or apples and oranges if these fruits are in season or pick up a fruit and nuts chocolate.

Famous dialogue of Mr Portokalos, heroine's father

                                              in My Big Fat Greek Wedding

I would skip cheese and crackers and rather have wine and cheese than cake and ice cream.

Every woman wants to have a peaches and cream complexion. Salt and pepper is also used for hair when there is a mix of grey and black hair on the head.

According to Collins Dictionary beer and skittles in British English (often used with a negative) informal is an easy time; amusement. Life is not all beer and skittles.

Trick or treat is the age-old customary phrase children use when dressed in their scariest best, they go asking for candy on Halloween.

Photo: nbcchicago.com

Incompatible people do not mix just like oil and water do not. Fire and Ice, Robert Frost’s poem, is believed to convey that the world could end either way - through fire or ice i.e. through desire or hate. Yet the pair is also used to convey the sense of two people being opposite in nature and temperament.

To eat most of the above, we might need cup and saucer, plate and bowl or knife and fork after cooking them in pots and pans.

Exceptions like blood, sweat and tears (something that needs very hard work to attain or achieve), lock, stock and barrel (everything) are trios of words. So is hook, line and sinker meaning without hesitation or reservation: completely. as in fell for the story hook line and sinker.  (Merriam Webster)

I have put my body and soul in putting these odds and ends, bits and pieces together for this list. Perhaps you can share it with teachers and students or students and teachers (here, whichever order you prefer) whom you know.

                                                                                           -Anupama S Mani