Something else which occurred to me while ill was the prevalence of (mostly noun; sometimes verb) combinations of the form “this and that“. When I started writing them down I realised there are dozens in daily use which we never think about; they’ve just become a part of the language as if they were simple nouns.

Here is an example for each letter of the alphabet.

Alpha & omega
Bacon & egg
Cat & mouse
Dog & bone
Elephant & Castle
Fish & chips
Gin & tonic
Hither & yon
Ice & lemon
Jack & Jill
Knife & fork
Law & order
Mutt & Jeff
Nip & tuck
Oil & vinegar
Pick & mix
Quality & substance
Rock & roll
Sixes & sevens
Time & tide
Uncle & aunt
Venus & Mars
Wear & tear
X & Y
Young & old
Zig & zag

I got a list of 134 without trying too hard. How many can you think of? Can you beat me?