User:DCDuring/Siamese twins

Here are various common English collocations sometimes called Siamese twins. See also Category:English lexical doublets and hendiadys and hendiatris.

Conjunction edit

The most common conjunctions used in a phrase that constitutes Siamese twins are and or or.

With "and" as the conjunction edit

Adjectives edit

Adverbs edit

Nouns edit

Verbs edit


With "or" or "nor" as the conjunction edit

Adjectives edit

Adverbs edit

Determiners edit

Nouns edit

Verbs edit

Predicates edit

Other edit

Structure edit

The structure of any Siamese twins phrase has words that are related in some way or the other. The words comprising a Siamese twins phrase may be synonyms, antonyms, include alliterations or similar-sounding words. Other varieties of Siamese twins may also be possible.

Examples below are split into various tables; some may belong in more than one table but are listed only once.

With antonyms edit

  • back and forth
  • beginning to end
  • better or worse
  • black and white
  • chicken and egg
  • cops and robbers
  • coming and going
  • Cowboys and Indians
  • dawn till dusk
  • dead or alive
  • floor to ceiling
  • food and drink
  • give and take
  • give or take
  • heads or tails
  • hide and seek
  • high and low
  • hit or miss
  • hither and thither
  • in and out
  • life or death
  • long and short
  • near and far
  • now and then
  • pros and cons
  • rank and file
  • start to finish
  • sweet and sour
  • to and fro
  • top to bottom
  • up and down
  • victory and defeat
  • war and peace
  • wax and wane
  • yes and no


With synonyms edit

  • by hook or by crook
  • cease and desist
  • cheek by jowl
  • first and foremost
  • heart and soul
  • leaps and bounds
  • neat and tidy
  • six of one, half a dozen of the other
  • nook and cranny
  • null and void
  • peace and quiet
  • pick and choose
  • prim and proper
  • rant and rave
  • strait and narrow

With alliteration edit

  • bag and baggage
  • belt and braces
  • the birds and the bees
  • black and blue
  • bread and butter
  • cash and carry
  • chalk and cheese
  • fast and furious
  • fun and frolics
  • fur and feathers
  • hearth and home
  • hem and haw
  • kith and kin
  • Lend-Lease
  • part and parcel
  • pillar to post
  • rest and recreation (a.k.a. R'n'R)
  • rock and roll
  • rough and ready
  • safe and sound
  • sixes and sevens
  • spick and span
  • stars and stripes
  • sugar and spice
  • top and tail

With similar-sounding words edit

  • box and cox
  • chalk and talk
  • flotsam and jetsam
  • handy-dandy
  • hither and thither
  • hoi polloi
  • huff and puff
  • hustle and bustle
  • meet and greet
  • namby-pamby
  • pell mell
  • odds and sods
  • onwards and upwards
  • out and about
  • shout and clout
  • silly billy
  • time and tide
  • wear and tear
  • willy-nilly
  • wine and dine

With repetition edit

  • again and again
  • all in all
  • around and around
  • back to back
  • bumper to bumper
  • cheek to cheek
  • (on the) up and up
  • elbow to elbow
  • arm in arm
  • eye to eye
  • face to face
  • hand in hand
  • hand to hand
  • head to head
  • heart to heart
  • little by little
  • man to man
  • more and more
  • mouth to mouth
  • neck and neck
  • on and on
  • out and out
  • over and over
  • side by side
  • side to side
  • so and so
  • step by step
  • strength to strength
  • such and such
  • through and through
  • time after time
  • (from) time to time
  • toe to toe
  • wall to wall
  • wire to wire
  • woman to woman

Rhyming slang edit

  • Adam and Eve
  • apples and pears
  • bottle and glass
  • Brahms and Liszt
  • dog and bone
  • frog and toad
  • hand and blister
  • north and south
  • rabbit and pork
  • tit for tat
  • trouble and strife
  • two and eight
  • whistle and flute

Variants edit

Siamese twins occurring as a pair (that is, having two words occurring together) are also known as binomials. If the variant has three words occurring together, it is also known as a trinomial.

Examples of trinomials edit

  • blood, sweat and tears
  • bust, waist, and hip
  • cool, calm and collected
  • ear, nose and throat (E.N.T.)
  • here, there and everywhere
  • hither, thither and yon
  • hook, line and sinker
  • hop, skip and jump
  • judge, jury and executioner
  • lock, stock and barrel
  • mad, bad and dangerous
  • nasty, brutish and short
  • ready, willing and able
  • red, white and blue
  • sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll
  • tall, dark and handsome
  • the good, the bad and the ugly
  • Tom, Dick and Harry
  • shake, rattle and roll
  • stop, drop and roll
  • this, that, and the other
  • way, shape, or form