Pairs #18

Herbs and spices. Plant-derived substances used to flavor food.

Here and now. At this time and in this place.

Big and bad. Impressive, daunting or aggressive.

Rise and fall. 1. The vertical up and down movement of the tide resulting from but not necessarily coincident with its flow and ebb. 2. A type of fictional story arc involving a character who gains the world but loses his or her soul.

Bit and bridle. Parts of traditional horse tack that (with the reins) help a rider control the horse’s head.

Rough and tough. Strong, both physically and psychologically.

Biscuits and gravy. (US) A breakfast dish composed of soft dough biscuits covered in sawmill gravy, sometimes with pieces of cooked sausage etc.

Pork and beans. A culinary dish that uses pork and beans as its main ingredients.

Short and sweet. Efficiently brief in duration, especially when referring to a task that becomes unpleasant when prolonged.

Show and tell. A school activity in which each student brings an item to school and gives a talk on it to the class.

Run and jump. 1. A defensive strategy in basketball. 2. (as Run & Jump) A 2013 Irish film starring Maxine Peake and Edward MacLiam.

Nook and cranny. (idiomatic) A place or part of a place, especially small or remote.

Shock and awe. A military strategy (technically called “rapid dominance”) based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight. (as Shock and Awe) A 2017 US film starring Woody Harrelson and James Marsden.

Plain and simple. Clearly, without any doubt or complexity.

Binge and purge. The cycle of binge eating and self-induced vomiting or use of laxatives characteristic of bulimarexia.

Town & Country. A US lifestyle magazine.

Cock-and-bull. The idiomatic expression “cock-and-bull story” refers to a far-fetched and fanciful story or a tale of highly dubious validity.

Well and good. (idiomatic) Basically good, but with some shortcoming or limitation.

Milk and honey. Prosperity and abundance, from God’s description of the Promised Land in Exodus 3:8 and elsewhere in the Bible, as “a land flowing with milk and honey”

Heaven and Hell. Places or states of eternal reward or eternal punishment, respectively, in many Christian sects.

Piss and vinegar. (US) Exuberance or enthusiasm, especially to an excessive degree; bravado; youthful energy.

Coat and tie. A dress code for men, requiring a sports coat or suit jacket and a tie.

Flotsam and jetsam. 1. (nautical) The remains of a shipwreck still floating in the water. 2. (nautical) That which has been discharged from a ship or boat, especially on the ocean or a sea, (flotsam unintentionally and jetsam intentionally). 3. (figuratively) A collection of miscellaneous items or fragments of little importance. 4. (figuratively) People considered to be of little worth.

Loud and proud. To be very vocal about something that one is proud of, committed to, or invested in.