redundant pairings - Wordsmith.org

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#11365 - 11/28/00 11:12 AM redundant pairings
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10463 Loc: this too shall pass	I came across the phrase "vim and vigor" the other day and, struck by its repetitive nature, was reminded of when "kit and caboodle" came up here a while back. have we covered (nearly) equivalent pairings?
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#11366 - 11/28/00 11:38 AM Re: redundant pairings
Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/06/00 Posts: 2788 Loc: Seattle, Washington, USA	A professor with whom I studied long, long ago told me that, when there appears to be a redundancy in such a pairing, it is often because one Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) word has been coupled with one Norman (Latin) word. He pointed to a dozen examples of this in the 1549 and 1552 Books of Common Prayer, although it was so long ago, I don't recall the examples.
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#11367 - 11/28/00 02:09 PM Re: redundant pairings
Jackie Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 11578 Loc: Louisville, Kentucky	This is not exactly the same, but...flesh and blood. Hale and hearty. Part and parcel? Hack and slash. Far and wide (maybe).
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#11368 - 11/28/00 03:12 PM Re: redundant pairings
Marty enthusiast Registered: 09/20/00 Posts: 347 Loc: Melbourne, Australia	Prim and proper. Neat and tidy. It occurs to me, though, that there may be a sub-class of these expressions where the words are (almost) always coupled, such as "spick and span". Then again, if they can't be used separately, perhaps they don't qualify as redundant pairings??
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#11369 - 11/28/00 03:13 PM Re: redundant pairings
of troy Carpal Tunnel Registered: 10/17/00 Posts: 5400 Loc: rego park	kith and kin? and in the negitive, neither fair nor foul? (so it what?) _________________________ my other obsession
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#11370 - 11/28/00 03:19 PM Re: redundant pairings
Max Quordlepleen Carpal Tunnel Registered: 08/12/00 Posts: 3409	Ship-shape and Bristol fashion?
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#11371 - 11/28/00 04:11 PM Re: redundant pairings
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10463 Loc: this too shall pass	>Ship-shape and Bristol fashion? now there's one that's not often heard in the Minnesota woods.
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#11372 - 11/28/00 09:19 PM Re: redundant pairings
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York	rack and ruin. (Bristol fashion?? Background, please)
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#11373 - 11/29/00 02:32 AM Re: redundant pairings
drum stranger Registered: 11/28/00 Posts: 11 Loc: Central BC, Canada	How 'bout rip and tear?
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#11374 - 11/29/00 02:52 AM Re: redundant pairings
Max Quordlepleen Carpal Tunnel Registered: 08/12/00 Posts: 3409	In reply to: (Bristol fashion? Background please) The following sounds plausible: "Bristol: Ship-shape and Bristol fashion means that everything is neat and tidy. This saying comes from two aspects of the old Bristol docks in the days before the Floating Harbour was established in the 1830s. Bristol had, and still has, one of the largest differences of water level between ebb and flood in the World, something like 10 metres. At low tide ships in the harbour, if not really properly constructed and laden, would either break their backs or their cargoes would shift. Because of this, Bristol ships were always first class in these respects, hence the saying. The Floating Harbour was constructed by Brunel in order to overcome the tide problem. " source: http://www.briggs13.fsnet.co.uk/book/b.htm
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