This is a list of proverbial or idiomatic pairs or pairs employed in common spoken or written usage. For a complete listing of pairs see Lists of pairs. For a list sorted by name see List of pairs by name.

• Apples and oranges (conceptual; opposing; food)
• Bacon & eggs (complementary; food)
• Bathroom & W.C. (complementary) (British usage) The two essential hygienic plumbing facilities.
• Bed and breakfast (
• Black & white (conceptual; opposing)
• Bread & butter (complementary; food)
• Bread & Roses (Proverbial of women's labor issues, from slogan of the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts strikers)
• Bread & water (complementary; food)
• Breaking & entering (legal term)
• Bubble & Squeak (complementary; food) (dish made from leftover potatoes and cabbage)
• Cats & dogs (rivals/opponents)
• Cause and effect
• Cease & desist (Legal idiom)
• Chalk & cheese (rivals/opponents) British phrase, "as different as chalk and cheese"
• Cloak & dagger (idiom) refers to secretive acts
• Coat & tie (equipment; complementary) (The two required articles constituting formal dress)
• Corned beef & cabbage (complementary; food) Proverbial lower-class Irish main course
• Death & taxes (complementary) (proverbial pairing of two inevitabilities)
• Divide & conquer (complementary)
• Fight or flight (opposing)
• Fish & chips (complementary; food)
• Flotsam & Jetsam (complementary; legal)
• Friend or foe (opposing)
• Gin & tonic (complementary; beverages)
• Gin & Vermouth (complementary; beverages)
• ham and eggs (complementary; food)
• Heaven & Earth (opposing)
• Heaven & Hell (opposing)
• Jack & Jill (fictional; companions)
• Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak (colleagues; commercial partners) The proverbial "two Steves in a garage" who founded Apple Computer, Inc.. (with assistance from Mike Markkula)
• King & Country (complementary)
• Mad dogs & Englishmen (complementary; title) Noel Coward song title, referring to creatures that "go out in the mid-day sun" in tropical climes; also motion picture title, name of singing group, name of advertising agency.
• Motherhood & apple pie (complementary) The two primary undisputed American values
• Mutt & Jeff (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher ; it was the first well-known daily comic strip. Hence also proverbial for any tall-short pair of men.
• Nature or nurture (opposing)
• nuts & bolts (complementary)
• Oranges and lemons (complementary) (Nursery rhyme)
• Peaches & cream (complementary)
• Salt & pepper (complementary; food)
• Salt & vinegar (complementary; food)
• Shave & a haircut (complementary)
• Skull & Bones (complementary) Name of Yale secret society.
• Skull & Crossbones (complementary) Symbol of death, piracy, and poison.
• Silk & Satin (proverbial pairing of two lustrous, luxurious fabrics)
• Smoke & mirrors (The illusionist's elements
• Sticks & stones (complementary) Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
• Thunder & lightning (complementary)
• Tom & Jerry (fictional; rivals/opponents; animated cartoon); also (
• Tweedledum & Tweedledee (complementary) Proverbial for an trivial difference; originally creations of John Byrom, referring to musical controversy; also (fictional; twins) creations of Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass

See also

• List of proverbs
• List of idioms