A.W.A.D. - Paired Eponyms
with Anu Garg
Alphonse and Gaston
PRONUNCIATION: (AL-fons uhn GAS-tuhn)
MEANING: noun: Two people who treat each other with excessive deference, often to their detriment
ETYMOLOGY: After the title characters in a cartoon strip by cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper (1857-1937). Alphonse and Gaston are extremely polite to each other, to the extent that their "After you, Alphonse", "You first, my dear Gaston!" routine often gets them into trouble, such as when they can't evade a trolley which mows them down while each insists on letting the other go first.
USAGE: "A weeklong bout of Governor and public worker unions playing Alphonse and Gaston on contract proposals has the public frustrated about an end to the nonsense. No one really cares who goes first and no one cares if the offer is on or off the record, written or oral, engraved on fine linen or scribbled on a Post-it." Cynthia Oi; All We Really Want Are Some Solutions; Star-Bulletin (Hawaii); Jul 12, 2009
ETYMOLOGY: The term is first cited in a poem by the poet John Byrom (1692-1763) about the musical rivalry of the composers Giovanni Bononcini and George Frideric Handel where he called them Tweedledum and Tweedledee:
Some say, that Signor Bononcini,
Compared to Handel's a mere ninny;
Others aver, that to him Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a candle.
Strange! that such high dispute should be
'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
USAGE: "Voters often lament having to choose between tweedledum and tweedledee." Bruce Lambert and Elissa Gootman; Tweedledum, Tweedledee and Nassau? The New York Times; Oct 29, 2001
ETYMOLOGY: After the title character in the 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).
USAGE: "Nutritionists say carbohydrates are a classic Jekyll and Hyde -- they have two faces." Janice Tai; Let's Hear it for the Carbs; The Straits Times (Singapore); Jul 16, 2009
NOTES: The strip originated in 1907 and its principal characters were tall Mutt and short Jeff. Both we re lovable losers. The strip was wildly popular and inspired the idiomatic usage to refer to a pair of comically mismatched people. The term also applies to a pair of interrogators one of whom appears threatening while the other presents a sympathetic persona. The word is also used as a Cockney rhyming slang for 'deaf'.
USAGE: "Granted, not many of us use a banana to hook the handle of a pot that's slightly out of reach. But invention's become a necessity for my wife, Kathi Langston, who, at 5' 1", has to contend with the kitchen that I, at 6' 2", designed and built years ago. ... It's clearly our Mutt and Jeff combination that's getting in the way of a blissful relationship with our standard kitchen." Patrick Langston; The Long and Short of Living With an Imperfect Kitchen; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Mar 28, 2009.
Love and Marriage go together like a horse and carriage, so the song goes. They do, often, but not always. On the other hand, characters in this week's pairs do go together, at least in language.
This week's eponyms (a word coined after a person) feature two people who work together, well, like a nut and a bolt, or a rack and pinion, or yin and yang, or an axle and a wheel.
Alphonse and Gaston
PRONUNCIATION: (AL-fons uhn GAS-tuhn)
MEANING: noun: Two people who treat each other with excessive deference, often to their detriment
ETYMOLOGY: After the title characters in a cartoon strip by cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper (1857-1937). Alphonse and Gaston are extremely polite to each other, to the extent that their "After you, Alphonse", "You first, my dear Gaston!" routine often gets them into trouble, such as when they can't evade a trolley which mows them down while each insists on letting the other go first.
USAGE: "A weeklong bout of Governor and public worker unions playing Alphonse and Gaston on contract proposals has the public frustrated about an end to the nonsense. No one really cares who goes first and no one cares if the offer is on or off the record, written or oral, engraved on fine linen or scribbled on a Post-it." Cynthia Oi; All We Really Want Are Some Solutions; Star-Bulletin (Hawaii); Jul 12, 2009
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
PRONUNCIATION: (tweed-uhl-DUHM uhn tweed-uhl-DEE)
MEANING: noun: Two persons, groups, or things that resemble each other so closely that they are virtually indistinguishable
PRONUNCIATION: (tweed-uhl-DUHM uhn tweed-uhl-DEE)
MEANING: noun: Two persons, groups, or things that resemble each other so closely that they are virtually indistinguishable
ETYMOLOGY: The term is first cited in a poem by the poet John Byrom (1692-1763) about the musical rivalry of the composers Giovanni Bononcini and George Frideric Handel where he called them Tweedledum and Tweedledee:
Some say, that Signor Bononcini,
Compared to Handel's a mere ninny;
Others aver, that to him Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a candle.
Strange! that such high dispute should be
'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
The characters Tweedledum and Tweedledee make their appearance in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass as well. Ultimately the names are of imitative origins, from tweedle (to produce a high-pitched sound) + dum (sound of a low musical note) and dee (sound of a high musical note).
USAGE: "Voters often lament having to choose between tweedledum and tweedledee." Bruce Lambert and Elissa Gootman; Tweedledum, Tweedledee and Nassau? The New York Times; Oct 29, 2001
Jekyll and Hyde
PRONUNCIATION: (JEK-uhl uhn hyd)
MEANING: noun: Someone or something having a split personality that alternates between good and evil
PRONUNCIATION: (JEK-uhl uhn hyd)
MEANING: noun: Someone or something having a split personality that alternates between good and evil
ETYMOLOGY: After the title character in the 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).
USAGE: "Nutritionists say carbohydrates are a classic Jekyll and Hyde -- they have two faces." Janice Tai; Let's Hear it for the Carbs; The Straits Times (Singapore); Jul 16, 2009
Mutt and Jeff
PRONUNCIATION: (mut uhn jef)
MEANING: noun: A pair of people having dramatically different characteristics, such as height
ETYMOLOGY: After Mutt and Jeff, comic strip characters of the same name, created by cartoonist Harry "Bud" Fisher (1885-1954).
PRONUNCIATION: (mut uhn jef)
MEANING: noun: A pair of people having dramatically different characteristics, such as height
ETYMOLOGY: After Mutt and Jeff, comic strip characters of the same name, created by cartoonist Harry "Bud" Fisher (1885-1954).
NOTES: The strip originated in 1907 and its principal characters were tall Mutt and short Jeff. Both we re lovable losers. The strip was wildly popular and inspired the idiomatic usage to refer to a pair of comically mismatched people. The term also applies to a pair of interrogators one of whom appears threatening while the other presents a sympathetic persona. The word is also used as a Cockney rhyming slang for 'deaf'.
USAGE: "Granted, not many of us use a banana to hook the handle of a pot that's slightly out of reach. But invention's become a necessity for my wife, Kathi Langston, who, at 5' 1", has to contend with the kitchen that I, at 6' 2", designed and built years ago. ... It's clearly our Mutt and Jeff combination that's getting in the way of a blissful relationship with our standard kitchen." Patrick Langston; The Long and Short of Living With an Imperfect Kitchen; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Mar 28, 2009.
"The disgraced former president Richard Nixon was paid $US 1 million for a 1977 interview with David Frost. ...James Reston Jr., Frost's Watergate adviser: 'I was in army intelligence ... and the Mutt and Jeff, good cop-bad cop thing is usually two people, but Frost, he did both roles.'" Ian Munro; Stopping the Rot; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); May 3, 2008
Darby and Joan
(DAHR-bee uhn joan)
noun: A devoted old couple leading a quiet, uneventful life
[After a couple named in an 18th century poem in The Gentleman's Magazine (London).] In 1735 Henry Woodfall, a printer's apprentice, wrote a ballad titled "The joys of love never forgot: a song" about a happily married elderly couple. His inspiration for those characters was his own boss John Darby and his wife Joan:
"Old Darby, with Joan by his side,
You've often regarded with wonder:
He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed,
Yet they're never happy asunder..."
As you can imagine, he wrote this poem after Darby's death. This poemin turn became an inspiration for follow-up poems and eventually Darby and Joan became a metaphor. In the UK, clubs for old people are still called Darby and Joan clubs.
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"On the shores of holy Lake Manosarovar there is a nameless hotel run by a very elderly couple, a sort of Tibetan Darby and Joan." Karen Swenson; At Tibetan Hotels, Don't Expect the Light To Be Left On; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Dec 4, 2001.
Comments