Appendix:English Siamese twins

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

Conjunction

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

With "and" as the conjunction

Adjectives

• alive and kicking
• black and blue
• black and white
• clean and tidy
• cute and cuddly
• drawn and quartered
• hale and hearty
• hard and fast
• high and dry
• high and mighty
• home and dry
• hot and cold
• loud and clear
• old and new
• pure and simple
• rough and tumble
• said and done
• sick and tired
• thick and thin
• warm and fuzzy

Adverbs

• by and large
• far and wide
• fast and loose
• here and there
• in and out
• off and away
• once and for all
• to and fro
• up and about
• up and down
• yes and no

Nouns

• airs and graces
• arm and a leg/an arm and a leg
• apples and oranges
• bells and whistles
• bit and bridle
• bits and bobs
• blood and guts
• bow and arrow
• boys and girls
• bread and butter
• cap and gown
• cat and mouse
• cats and dogs
• fingers and thumbs
• fish and chips
• flesh and blood
• hammer and sickle
• hammer and tongs
• heaven and hell
• intents and purposes
• king and queen
• knife and fork
• ladies and gentlemen
• law and order
• man and boy
• man and wife
• meat and potatoes
• milk and honey
• mum and dad
• nook and cranny
• nuts and bolts
• odds and ends
• Ps and Qs
• peace and quiet
• peanut butter and jelly
• peas and carrots
• pestle and mortar/mortar and pestle
• pros and cons
• shits and giggles
• signs and symptoms
• skin and bone
• song and dance
• spick and span
• spit and polish
• supply and demand
• sweetness and light
• tea and crumpets
• thunder and lightning
• tooth and nail
• trial and error
• vim and vigor
• ways and means
• wine and roses

Verbs

• crash and burn
• make and mend/make do and mend
• meet and greet
• read and write
• stop and go
• touch and go

With "or" or "nor" as the conjunction

Adjectives

• more or less

Adverbs

• sooner or later
• yes or no
• neither here nor there*

Determiners

• all or nothing

Nouns

• day or night
• neither fish nor fowl*
• come hell or high water/hell or high water
• neither hide nor hair*
• neither love nor money*/love or money
• rain or shine
• fight or flight

Verbs

• do or die
• kill or cure
• make or break
• sink or swim

Predicates

• take it or leave it

Other

• no ifs, ands, or buts
• 'one way or another

Structure

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

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

• blood, sweat and tears
• 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