BIGpedia - List of famous pairs - Encyclopedia and Dictionary Online

The following is a list of famous pairs listed alphabetically. For a list of pairs by category see Lists of pairs.

Pairs are actual persons (living or dead), places, or things, unless identified otherwise.

Pairs are human beings unless otherwise noted.
Twins (see list of twins) and twin cities are not included.

Each pair is listed once only, and is sorted alphabetically by the name listed first. If a pair is not listed under one name, it may be listed under the other.

A

Aa-Al - Am-Au

Aa-Al

Aachen & Aix-la-Chapelle (geographical; juxtapositions) (German and French names for the same town)
Abbott & Costello (colleagues; entertainers)
Abélard & Heloise (couples)
Abercrombie & Fitch (commercial partners)
Adam & Eve (Biblical; couples)
Addison & Steele (colleagues; writers)
Adenine & thymine (scientific; complementary) (DNA base pair)
Roberto Alagna & Angela Gheorghiu
Albireo (astronomical; juxtapositions) (the double star Beta Cygnus)
Alcock & Brown (colleagues; aviators)
John Alden & Priscilla (couples) A real couple (but Priscilla's memorable line, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"" is the fictional creation of Longfellow)
Ali and Frazier, (rivals), boxers
Ali and Norton (rivals; boxers)
Allemande left & Grand right and left (sequences) (frequently paired square dance maneuvers)
Allen and Farrow (couples)
A&P (supermarket chain, stands for "Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company")
A&W (Root beer- named after inventors Allen and Wright)

Am-Au

American Falls & Horseshoe Falls (geographical; juxtapositions)
Amoeba & Paramecium (complementary) Prototypical protozoans studied in elementary biology classes
Amos & Andy (fictional; companions)
Anderson & Webster (colleagues; comedians)
Andrade and Trevi (controversial couple, entertainers, accused of crimes)
Andy and Grant Flower, Zimbabwe cricket players
animus & anima (conceptual)
Ant & Dec (colleagues; entertainers)
Anthony and Dayanara (couples)
Antigua & Barbuda (geographical; juxtapositions)
Antony & Cleopatra (couples)
Anna & the King of Siam (colleagues) (Anna Leonowens and King Mongkut )
Apples & oranges (proverbial/idiomatic; conceptual; opposing; food)
Arguello and Escalera (rivals; boxers)
Assault and battery (criminal acts commonly committed together)
Asterix and Obelix (cartoon friends)
Fred & Adele Astaire (colleagues; entertainers; siblings)
Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers (colleagues; entertainers)
Atlas & Gazetteer (equipment; complementary)
Austria-Hungary (historical double monarchy)
Autobot & Decepticon (fictional; rivals)

B

Ba - Be-Bi - Bl-Bo - Br-Bu

Ba

The Babbitt & the Bromide
Bangers & Mash (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food) (Sausages & mashed potato)
Battledore & Shuttlecock (equipment; complementary)
Bacon & eggs (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Baddiel & Skinner (colleagues; comedians)
Bambi & Thumper (fictional; companions)
Barbie & Ken (fictional; couples)
Barnes & Noble (commercial partnership)
Barnum & Bailey (commercial partnership)
Baskin-Robbins (commercial partners)
Bass & treble (conceptual; technical; antitheses)
Bathroom & W.C. (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) (British usage) The two essential hygienic plumbing facilities.
Batman and Robin (fictional; colleagues)

Be-Bi

Beaumont & Fletcher (colleagues; playwrights)
Beany & Cecil (fictional; companions; animated cartoons; television)
Beavis & Butt-head (fictional; companions)
Bed and breakfast (proverbial/idiomatic)
Beer and skittles (proverbial/idiomatic)
Ben & Jerry (commercial partners)
Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears (colleagues; couples)
Beren & Lúthien (fictional; lovers) Creations of J. R. R. Tolkien
Bert & Ernie (fictional; companions; puppets; television) Creations of Jim Henson, possibly named after characters in It's a Wonderful Life
Betty and Veronica (fictional; friends and rivals, mostly friends)
Big-endian & Little-endian (fictional; opposing factions) Creations of Jonathan Swift. Satirized homoousia & homoiousia. Also: (technical; conceptual; opposing) computer science terms
Bill and Ben, The Flowerpot Men (fictional; companions)
Bill & Ted (fictional; companions)
Bird and Magic (rivals; colleagues)

Bl-Bo

Blackadder & Baldrick (fictional; companions)
Black & Decker (commercial partners)
Black & white (proverbial/idiomatic; conceptual; opposing)
Block & tackle (equipment; complementary)
B&Q (Block & Quayle - British DIY chain of stores)
Boardwalk & Park Place (complementary; juxtapositions)
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Bobby & Jack Charlton (English football (soccer) players.)
Bolsheviks & Mensheviks (opposing factions)
Bonnie & Clyde (colleagues; couples; criminals)
Bootsie and Snudge
Bosnia & Herzegovina (geographical; juxtapositions)
Bow & Arrow (equipment; complementary)

Br-Bu

Brace & bit (equipment; complementary)
Brahms & Wagner (idols of opposing musical factions in Vienna during the 1870s)
Bread & butter (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Bread & Roses (Proverbial of women's labor issues, from slogan of the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts strikers)
Bread & water (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Breaking & Entering (legal term)
Brighton & Hove - also Brighton & Hove Albion (geographical; juxtapositions)
Charlie Brown & Snoopy (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Charles M. Schulz
"Daddy" Browning & "Peaches" Heenan (couples; scandalous)
Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett (couples)
Bubble & Squeak (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food) (dish made from leftover potatoes and cabbage)
Buck & Bubbles (colleagues; entertainers)
Geoffrey & Margaret Burbidge (scientists, colleagues; couple)
Burke & Hare (colleagues; criminals)
George Burns & Gracie Allen (colleagues; entertainers; couples)
Aaron Burr & Alexander Hamilton (rivals/opponents)
Buster Brown & Tige (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Richard F. Outcault

C

Ca-Ce - Ch-Co - Cr-Cy

Ca-Ce

Caesar & Cleopatra (couples)
Cain & Abel (mythological/legendary; Biblical; siblings; rivals/opponents)
Calvin and Hobbes (fictional; companions; comic strips) Creations of Bill Watterson
Cannon & Ball (complementary; comedians)
Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons (fictional; rivals)
Carriage return & Line feed (technical; complementary) Standard line break in Digital OSes, CP/M, MS-DOS, and Windows
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (colleagues; companions; criminals) (Subject of motion picture Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid)
Castor & Pollux (astronomical; juxtapositions); also (mythological/legendary; twins) The twin stars in Gemini; see also Dioscuri; see also Leda and the Swan
Castro and Mendez (colleagues, rivals)
Cats & dogs (proverbial/idiomatic; rivals/opponents)
Cavaliers & Roundheads (opposing factions)
Cav & Pag (complementary) (Cavalleria Rusticana and I_Pagliacci, short operas frequently performed together)
Cease-and-desist letter (proverbial/idiomatic) (Legal idiom)

Ch-Co

Chacon and Limon (rivals, boxers)
Iris Chacon and Charytin, (colleagues, rivals)
Iris Chacon and Elin Ortiz (couples)
Chalk & Cheese (proverbial/idiomatic; rivals/opponents) British phrase, "as different as chalk and cheese"
Chang & Eng (twins) The eponymous "Siamese twins"
Charytin and Elin Ortiz (couples)
Chas 'n Dave
Cheech & Chong (colleagues; entertainers)
Cherubim & Seraphim (Biblical; complementary) Frequently paired; the two lowest orders of angels.
Chip and Dale
Chocolate and peanut butter
Christopher Columbus & Queen Isabel (colleagues)
Click & Clack (colleagues; entertainers) ("the Tappet brothers") (Tom and Ray Magliozzi)
Cloak and Dagger (idiom) refers to covert operations, also a comic book duo
Coat & tie (proverbial/idiomatic; equipment; complementary) (The two required articles constituting formal dress)
Conservative & Labour (opposing factions)
Joel and Ethan Coen (brothers, filmmakers)
Corned beef & Cabbage (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food) Proverbial lower-class Irish main course
Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon (colleagues) (crossword puzzle authors)
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner (cartoon characters; adversaries)

Cr-Cy

Crips & Bloods (rivals)
Crosse & Blackwell (commercial partners)
Cruise and Kidman (couples, formerly)
Cruz and Knight (couples)
Pierre & Marie Curie (colleagues; couples; scientists)
Currier & Ives (commercial partners) (lithographers)
Cut & Paste (technical; complementary)
Cyril & Methodius
cytosine & thymine (complementary) (DNA base pair)

D

Dallas & Fort Worth (geographical; juxtapositions; twin cities)
Dalziel & Pascoe (fictional; colleagues; detectives) Creations of Reginald Hill
Damon & Pythias (mythological/legendary; companions)
Matt Damon & Ben Affleck (entertainers, colleagues)
Danger Mouse & Penfold
Dante and Virgil (epic poets, fictional companions) Dante makes Virgil his guide through Hell (logical since Virgil described the Roman underworld in his Aeneid) in Inferno
David & Goliath (mythological/legendary; Biblical; rivals/opponents)
Day & Night (proverbial)
Death & Taxes (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) (proverbial pairing of two inevitabilities)
Del and Rodney (fictional; brothers)
De La Hoya and Corretjer (couples)
Democrat & Republican (opposing factions in the U.S.)
Dick & Jane (fictional; siblings) (in the Scott, Foresman primary readers, very widely used in the U.S.)
Big Diomede Island & Little Diomede Island (geographical; juxtapositions)
The Dioscuri (mythological/legendary; twins; rivals/opponents)
The Big Dipper & the Little Dipper (astronomical; complementary)
Divide & conquer (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
Dodge & Plymouth (corporate twin automobile marques; same company, same chassis, different model names and body styles)
Doom and gloom (proverbial)
Dorothy & Toto (fictional; companions)
Drum and bugle corps (equipment; complementary) Marching band musical complement.
Dempsey and Makepeace (fictional; colleagues)

E

Ebony & Ivory (proverbial/idiomatic; juxtapositions)
Echevarria and Vigoreaux, (couples, she went to jail accused of ordering his murder)
Eckert & Mauchly (colleagues; also commercial partners)
Elsie and Elmer (fictional; couples; mascots) Cows, trademark of Borden dairy circa 1938 on.
England & Wales (geographical; juxtapositions)
ENQ & ACK (technical; complementary)
Emilio and Gloria Estefan (entertainers, couples)
Éowyn & Faramir (fictional; couples)
Evan & Jaron
Chris Evert & Martina Navratilova (rivals; opponents; athletes) Tennis legends.
Exchange & Mart
Edison & Swan (rivals/opponents and commercial partners)

F

Faber & Faber, Ltd. (commercial partners) British publishing firm.
Douglas Fairbanks & Mary Pickford (colleagues; entertainers)
The Falcon and the Snowman (film title)
Farrelly brothers -(Peter and Bobby) (brothers, filmmakers)
Basil Fawlty & Sybil (fictitious)
Ferrante & Teicher (colleagues; entertainers) (duo-pianists)
Fife & Drum (equipment; complementary) Traditional military instrumental pair
Fight or flight (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
Fire and Brimstone (idiomatic) Punishment in hell, used idiomatically to describe especially emphatic and threatening sermonizing
Fish & chips (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau & Gerald Moore
Flanders & Swann (colleagues; entertainers)
Flanagan & Allen
Flotsam & Jetsam (proverbial/idiomatic/legal)
Fools & Horses
Fortnum & Mason (commercial partners)
French & Saunders
Fick and Frack (complementary, entertainers, body parts)
Friend or foe (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
Frodo Baggins & Sam Gamgee (fictional; companions)
Funk & Wagnalls (commercial partners)

G

Gallagher & Lyle
Gallagher & Shean (colleagues; entertainers)
Gary and Phil Neville (English football (soccer) players.)
Bill Gates & Paul Allen (colleagues; business partners) Founders of Microsoft Corporation
Gatti and Ward (rivals; boxers)
George & Ira Gershwin (colleagues; siblings; songwriters)
Gilbert & George (colleagues; entertainers; couples) (performance artists)
Gilbert & Sullivan (colleagues; songwriters)
Gin & tonic (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; beverages)
Gin & Vermouth (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; beverages)
Goofus & Gallant (fictional; rivals/opponents)
Gog & Magog
God and the Devil (rivals)
Good & evil (conceptual; juxtaposition)
Peter and Rosemary Grant
Great Pyramid & Sphinx (juxtapositions) Ancient Egyptian monuments of Giza
Guanine and cytosine (scientific; complementary) (other DNA base pair)
Gumby & Pokey (fictional; companions; television; animated cartoons)
The Globe & Mail
Goodson & Todman (colleagues) (television game-show producers)

H

Ha - He-Ho - Hu

Ha

h and Chi Persei (astronomical; juxtapositions)
Hagar & Helga
Hagbard and Signy (the Romeo and Juliet of the Vikings)
Hagler and Hearns (rivals; boxers)
Haim and Feldman (entertainers, the two Coreys)
Hale & Dorr (commercial partners) (Boston law firm)
Hale & Pace
Ham and eggs (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Hannity and Colmes (television commentators)
Hansel & Gretel (mythological/legendary; siblings)
Warren G. Harding & Nan Britton (couples; scandalous)
Hardy & Littlewood (colleagues) Mathematicians in the field of number theory.
Harlequin & Pierrot (fictional; archetypes; complementary)
Harry and David (commercial partners) Pioneering mail-order food merchant (pears, Fruit-of-the-Month club)
Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort (fictional character rivals)
Harvard & Radcliffe (institutions; complementary)
Harvard & Yale (institutions; rivals)
Hatfields and McCoys [1] (rivals/opponents)

He-Ho

Heaven & Earth (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
Heaven & Hell (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
He-Man & She-Ra (fictional; colleagues)
He-Man & Skeletor (fictional; rivals)
Hennes & Mauritz Swedish clothing manufacturer
Hero & Leander (mythological/legendary; couples)
Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay (colleagues)
Hinge & Bracket (colleagues; entertainers)
Hiroshima & Nagasaki (geographical) (First, and to date only, targets of nuclear attack)
Hobbs & Sutcliffe
Hollywood and Vine (geographical; intersections)
Homer & Jethro (colleagues; entertainers)
Homer & Marge (fictional; couples)
Holmes and Cooney (rivals; boxers; later friends)
Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson (fictional; colleagues; companions)
Sherlock Holmes & Professor Moriarty (fictional; rivals/opponents)
Holyfield and Tyson (rivals; boxers)
homoousia & homoiousia (concepts; opposing)
Horn & Hardart (commercial partners)

Hu

Hubie and Bertie characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
Rock Hudson & Doris Day (colleagues; entertainers; movies) (fictional; couples) Played couples in battle-of-the-sexes comedies such as Pillow Talk
Albert and Allen Hughes (brothers, filmmakers)
Rod Hull and Emu (ventriloquist & dummy)
Huntley & Brinkley (colleagues)

I

The Iliad & the Odyssey (literary; complementary)
Incubus & Succubus
Itchy & Scratchy (fictional; rivals; characters in The Simpsons)
Iztaccihuatl &Popocatepetl (geographical; juxtapositions) (Mexican volcanos named after mythical lovers)
Izzy and Moe (colleagues)

J

Jack & Jill (proverbial/idiomatic; fictional; companions)
Jagger & Richards (colleagues, songwriters, Rolling Stones)
Jarndyce and Jarndyce (fictional; commercial partners) (legal case in Charles Dickens' novel, Bleak House)
Agents Jay and Kay (fictional; colleagues)
Jay & Silent Bob (fictional; companions)
Jeeves & Wooster (fictional; companions)
Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings (couples; scandalous)
Jekyll & Hyde (fictional)
Joel and Brinkley (couples)
Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak (colleagues; commercial partners) The proverbial "two Steves in a garage" who founded Apple Computer, Inc.. (with assistance from Mike Markkula)
Johnson & Johnson (commercial partners)
Martin and Osa Johnson (film makers)
Irène Joliot-Curie & Frédéric Joliot (scientists, couple)
Joseph & Mary (Biblical; couples)
The Jukes & the Kallikaks (conceptual; opposing)
Jules & Vincent (fictional; companions)
Jules et Jim (fictional; companions)
Juno & the Peacock; see also Aesop, Alfred Hitchcock, Sean O'Casey (fictional; couples)

K

Kenan & Kel (colleagues; Nickelodeon show)
Ken & Barbie (toy dolls)
Kermit & Miss Piggy (fictional; companions)
Kernighan & Ritchie (colleagues) Computer scientists
Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding (rivals; opponents; athletes) Figure-skaters. Famous because of Harding's 1994 participation in a conspiracy to disable Kerrigan.
Kirk and Spock (fictional; colleagues)
Keuffel & Esser (commercial partners) (slide rule manufacturer)
King & Country (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
King and Queen
Kruder & Dorfmeister (partner DJs)

L

La-Li - Lo-Lu

La-Li

Lady & The Tramp (fictional; couples)
Lancelot & Guinevere (mythological/legendary; couples)
Land's End and John O'Groats (geographical; promontories at opposite extremities of Great Britain)
Last Will and Testament (a person's stated wishes for the distribution of their assets after death)
Laurel & Hardy (colleagues; entertainers; animated cartoon)
The Law & the Prophets
Lea & Perrins (commercial partners)
Leda & the Swan (mythological/legendary; couples)
Leicestershire & Rutland (geographical; juxtapositions)
Left & right (conceptual; opposing)
Lennon and McCartney (song writers)
Leonard and Duran (rivals; boxers)
Leonard and Hearns (rivals; boxers)
Leopold & Loeb (colleagues; criminals)
Les Paul and Mary Ford (colleagues; couples; entertainers)
Lewis & Clark (historical; colleagues)
Lewis and Holyfield (rivals; boxers)
Lineweaver & Burk
Lindwall & Miller
Little & Large
Life or death (conceptual; antitheses)

Lo-Lu

Lone Ranger & Tonto (fictional; colleagues)
Louis and Schmeling (rivals; boxers)
Love and Death (movie title by Woody Allen)
Lucy & Desi (colleagues; couples; rivals/opponents; commercial partners; entertainers)
Auguste and Louis Lumière (brothers, filmmakers)
Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne (colleagues; couples; entertainers; theatre)

M

Ma - Me-Mo - Mu

McDonnell and Douglas (commercial partners)
McGwire and Sosa (athletes, friendly rivals, both of whom broke Roger Maris' home run record in 1998)
Aimee Semple McPherson & Kenneth G. Ormiston (couples; scandalous)

Ma

Mad dogs & Englishmen (proverbial/idiomatic; 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.
Madonna and Sean Penn (couples)
M & M's
Marc Antony and Pussyfoot characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
Large Magellanic Cloud & Small Magellanic Cloud (astronomical; juxtapositions)
Mahler & Bruckner (complementary) Symphonic composers who are frequently paired and seem to appeal to similar musical tastes.
Mainyu & Mazda (mythological/legendary; conceptual; rivals/opponents)
Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis (entertainers; colleagues; actors) created a successful stage comedy duo
Mantle and Maris (baseball teammates, chased Babe Ruth's home run record in 1961)
Marks & Spencer (commercial partners)
Marx & Engels (colleagues)
Mary & her little lamb (fictional; companions) (Sarah Josepha Hale's nursery poem, "Mary had a Little Lamb")
Mary & Joseph (biblical; complementary; couples)
Mason & Dixon (colleagues)
Masters & Johnson (colleagues; scientists)

Me-Mo

Meat & Potatoes (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Merrick and Rosso (Australian comedians)
Mexicali & Calexico (geographical; juxtapositions; twin cities)
Michaelis & Menten (colleagues; scientists)
Michelson & Morley (colleagues; scientists)
Mills & Boon (commercial partners) British publisher of romance novels.
Wilbur Mills & Fanne Foxe (couples; scandalous) (Senator caught with stripper, in the "tidal basin" incident)
Mississippi-Missouri (geographical; juxtapositions) Conjoined river systems
Mizar & Alcor (astronomical; juxtapositions) (the "horse and rider")
Modesty Blaise & Willie Garvin
Moet et Chandon (champagne manufacturer)
The Monitor & the Merrimack (rivals/opponents)
Montague & Capulet (fictional; rival families)
Mom and pop (conceptual; complementary)
Morecambe & Wise (colleagues; entertainers; comedians)
Mork & Mindy (fictional; companions; television)
Morse & Lewis
Motherhood & apple pie (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) The two primary undisputed American values

Mu

Mum and dad (conceptual; complementary)
Mums and Dads (investors of modest means; Andrea's regular greeting to her radio listeners)
Mutt and Jeff (fictional; companions; comic strip) Creations of Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher ; it was the first well-known daily comic strip. Hence also (idiomatic/proverbial) for any tall-short pair of men.
Mutt & Jeff (colleagues; spies)
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (fictional; colleagues; television)

N

Nancy & Sluggo (fictional; companions; comic strip) (Creations of Ernie Bushmiller)
Napoleon & Josephine (couples)
Nature or nuture (proverbial/idiomatic; opposing)
Neandertals & Cro-Magnons
Evelyn Nesbit & Stanford White (couples; scandalous)
Newfoundland & Labrador (geographical; juxtapositions)
North Island & South Island (New Zealand)
nuts & bolts (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)

O

Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh
Olmedo and Porcel (entertainers)
One Man & His Dog
Oranges and lemons (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) (Nursery rhyme)
Orkney & Shetland (geographical; juxtapositions)
Orthanc & Minas Morgul (Tolkien's (fictional; geographical; juxtapositions; rivals/opponents) Two Towers)
Orthoclase & Plagioclase (complementary) (minerals found together in feldspar)
Oscar and Lucinda (Peter Carey book title)
Donny and Marie Osmond (siblings, entertainers)
Othello & Desdemona (fictional; couples; theatre) (creations of William Shakespeare)
The Owl & the Pussycat (fictional; couples)

P

Pa-Pl - Po-Pu

Pa-Pl

Paolo and Francesca (mythological/legendary; lovers) from Dante's Inferno
Pat and Patachon
Paul & Silas (early Christian leaders)
Peaches & cream (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
peanutbutter & jelly
Pelleas et Melisande (mythological/legendary; couples)
Penn & Teller (colleagues; entertainers; illusionists)
Penrod & Sam (fictional; companions) Creations of Booth Tarkington
Pepsi and Coke (proverbial, market rivals)
Peter Pan & Wendy (fictional; companions) Creations of J. M. Barrie
Phil and Grant Mitchell (fictional; brothers in EastEnders)
Phileas Fogg & Passepartout (fictional; travelling companions) (Creations of Jules Verne)
Philemon & Baucis (mythological/legendary; couples)
Phobos & Deimos (astronomical; juxtapositions) Satellites of Mars
Piston & Cylinder (equipment; complementary)
Pinky & the Brain (fictional; cartoon mice)
Pinky and Perky (fictional; children's television puppet pigs)
Plankton & Nekton
Plug & Socket (equipment; complementary)

Po-Pu

Pompeii & Herculaneum (geographical; juxtapositions) Adjacent cities destroyed in the A. D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Porgy & Bess (fictional; couples) Title of and characters in DuBose Heyward's novel, on which the Gershwin opera was based
Postman Pat & Jess (fictional; children's television character and cat)
Press & Journal
Posh & Becks
Pride & Prejudice (literature; juxtapositions) a novel by Jane Austen
Procter & Gamble (commercial partners)
Proton & neutron (scientific; complementary)
Pryor and Arguello (rivals; boxers)
Pyramus & Thisbe (fictional; couples)
Punch & Judy (fictional; archetypes; couples; rivals/opponents)
Punt & Dennis (colleagues; entertainers)
Pupienus & Balbinus

Q

Strange & Charm Quarks (complementary)
A.B. and Selena Quintanilla (siblings, entertainers)
Quisp & Quake

R

Ra-Ri - Ro - Ru-Rw

Ra-Ri

Pierre-Esprit Radisson & Médard des Groseilliers
Ramadhin & Valentine (cricket players, subject of song)
Rand & McNally (commercial partners)
The Raw & the Cooked
Ray and Cruz (musicians, Christian salsa)
Redgrave & Pinsent (colleagues; athletes)
Reeves & Mortimer
Regis & Kathie Lee (colleagues; entertainers; television)
Regis & Kelly
Ren & Stimpy (fictional; colleagues; animated cartoon)
Rhode Island & Providence Plantations (geographical; juxtapositions) (Rhode Island's official name)
Rhubarb & Custard (foods; complementary; fictional character; companions)
Ring and KO Magazine (sister publications)

Ro

Robinson and LaMotta (rivals; boxers)
Robinson and Turpin (rivals; boxers)
Rocky and Bullwinkle (fictional; colleagues; animated cartoon)
Rocky and Mugsy characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
Rod & reel (equipment; complementary)
Rodgers & Hammerstein (colleagues; songwriters)
Rodgers & Hart (colleagues; songwriters)
The Two Ronnies (colleagues; comedians; Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker)
Roy Rogers & Dale Evans (colleagues; couples; entertainers; singers; motion pictures)
Rolls & Royce (commercial partners)
Romeo & Juliet (fictional; couples) Creations of William Shakespeare
Romulus & Remus (mythological/legendary; siblings)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern (fictional; companions) Creations of William Shakespeare, also used by Tom Stoppard
Roy & HG Australian comedy-based sporting commentators (or sporting-based comedians)
Le Rouge & le Noir (conceptual; opposing; famous title) Stendhal's novel; red army uniforms vs. black church robes
Rowan & Martin (colleagues; entertainers; comedians; television)

Ru-Rw

Ruler & compass (technical; equipment; complementary) The two instruments whose use is permitted in formal geometrical constructions.
Russell & Whitehead (colleagues; mathematicians)
Ruth & Naomi (mythological/legendary; Biblical; companions)
Rwanda & Burundi (geographical; juxtapositions)

S

Sa-Sh - Si-Sm - So-Su

Sa-Sh

Saint Kitts and Nevis (geographical; juxtapositions)
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (geographical; juxtapositions)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (geographical; juxtapositions)
Salt & pepper (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Salt & vinegar (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary; food)
Samson & Delilah (mythological/legendary; Biblical; couples)
San Diego & Tijuana (geographical; juxtapositions; twin cities)
São Tomé and Príncipe (geographical; juxtapositions; twin islands)
Sapphire & Steel (fictional; colleagues)
Scylla & Charybdis (See also Scylla & Charybdis) (mythological/legendary)
Sears & Roebuck (commercial partners)
Sellar & Yeatman (colleagues; authors; humorists) Authors of 1066 and All That
Sense & Sensibility (literature; juxtapositions) a novel by Jane Austen
Serbia and Montenegro (the residual country following the collapse of Yugoslavia)
Shadows and Fog (movie title by Woody Allen)
Shave & a haircut (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
Shaw Brothers (filmmakers)

Si-Sm

Siegfried & Roy (colleagues; entertainers)
Silk & Satin (proverbial pairing of two lustrous, luxurious fabrics)
Simon & Garfunkel (colleagues; entertainers)
Simon & Schuster (commercial partners)
Sirius & Sirius B (astronomical; juxtapositions) (binary star system)
Siskel & Ebert (colleagues) (Print and television movies reviewers) (Siskel 1946-1999)(Ebert& Roeper aren't really a "famous pair" yet)
Skull & Bones (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) Name of Yale secret society.
Skull & Crossbones (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) Symbol of death, piracy, and poison.
Slap & Tickle
John Smith & Pocahontas (couples)
Smith & Jones (fictional; colleagues)
Smith & Wesson (commercial partners) (gunmakers)
Smoke & mirrors (proverbial/idiomatic) The illusionist's elements
Smothers Brothers (colleagues; entertainers)

So-Su

King Solomon & the Queen of Sheba (mythological/legendary; Biblical; couples)
Somerville and Ross
Sonny & Cher (colleagues; entertainers; couples)
Sons and Lovers (novel by D H Lawrence)
Sooty & Sweep
Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons
SpongeBob & Patrick (fictional; colleagues)
Square & compass (symbols; juxtapositions) (Masonic emblem)
Stalagmites & Stalactites (conceptual; complementary; opposing)
Sticks & stones (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary) Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
Stallone and Nielsen (couples)
Starsky & Hutch (fictional; colleagues)
Steptoe and Son (fictional; companions)
Steve and Mark Waugh, Australian cricket players and twin brothers
John Stockton and Karl Malone, NBA legends; teammates for nearly 20 years
Strauss & Howe
Strunk and White (editors)
Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress", German literary movement)
Superman & Wonder Woman (fictional; colleagues)
Chris Sutton & Alan Shearer (English football players, known as SAS)

T

Ta-To - Tr-Ty

Ta-To

Tarzan & Jane (fictional; couples)
Terms and Conditions (legal term)
Tex & Jinx (colleagues; entertainers)
Thelma & Louise (fictional; companions)
Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond in the original Belgian) twin-like detectives in the Tintin comic series
Thompson Twins, a New Wave band best known for their ballad "Hold Me Now"—but for their most successful years, they were a trio, not a pair.
Thunder & lightning (proverbial/idiomatic; complementary)
Strom Thurmond & Essie Butler (couples; scandalous) Biological parents of mixed-race Essie Mae Washington-Williams
Tintin & Snowy (fictional; companions)
Tom & Jerry (fictional; rivals/opponents; animated cartoon); also (proverbial/idiomatic).
Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (fictional; companions)
Tommy and Tuppence (fictional; created by Agatha Christie)
Tool & Die (equipment; complementary)
Tonsils & Adenoids (anatomical; juxtapositions) (Customarily removed together; routine surgical procedure for children in the U. S. in the 1940s and 1950s).
Torvill & Dean (colleagues; entertainers) (figure skaters)

Tr-Ty

Travolta and Preston, (couples)
Trinidad & Tobago (geographical; juxtapositions)
Tristan & Isolde (fictional; couples)
Troilus & Cressida (fictional; couples)
Trylon & Perisphere (juxtapositions) Iconic monuments of the 1939 New York World's Fair
Trueman & Statham
Tunney and Dempsey, (rivals; boxers; later friends)
Turks & Caicos (geographical; juxtapositions)
Town Mouse & Country Mouse
Tracy & Hepburn (colleagues; entertainers; couples)
Tudors & Stuarts
Tweedledum & Tweedledee (idiomatic/proverbial; 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
Tyne & Wear (geographical; juxtapositions)

U

Uday & Qusay (siblings)
Ulna & Radius (juxtapositions; complementary)
Uranium-235 & Uranium-238 (complementary) (Almost inseparable isotopes)

V

Van & Schenck (colleagues; entertainers; vaudeville)
Victoria & Albert (couples); see also Victoria and Albert Museum
Vieques and Culebra (geographical; juxstapositions)
Vijay and Anand Amritraj , tennis players

W

Wallace & Gromit (fictional; companions; motion pictures; animation) Fictional creations of Nick Park
Wachowski brothers - (Andy and Larry) (filmmakers, brothers)
War & Peace (conceptual; literature; juxtaposition)
Waring & Gillows (English furniture makers)
George Washington & Abraham Lincoln (complementary) Portraits frequently paired in U. S. classrooms; two highest rankers in the American Presidential pantheon
Wayne & Garth (fictional; companions)
Wayne & Shuster (colleagues; entertainers)
Watson and Crick (colleagues; scientists)
Weber & Fields (colleagues; entertainers)
Harvey Weinstein and Robert Weinstein (brothers, filmmakers)
Whigs & Tories (rivals; factions)
Venus and Serena Williams (siblings; athletes; tennis)
Wilbur & Orville Wright (colleagues; siblings)
Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin (fictional; colleagues; detectives) Creations of Rex Stout
The Woodies , tennis players Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde
Woodward & Bernstein (colleagues; journalists)
Peg Woffington & Christie Johnstone
One and Two World Trade Center, New York (geographical; juxtapositions)

X

Xerxes I & Esther (mythological/legendary; Biblical; rivals/opponents)
Xylem & Phloem (technical; complementary) Botanical circulatory elements

Y

Yin & Yang (conceptual; complementary and opposing)
York & Lancaster (rivals/opponents)

Z

Zager & Evans (colleagues; entertainers; musicians; rock band)
Zenith & Nadir (concepts; opposing)
Zeno & Chrysippus (see also Stoicism)
Zero & One (concepts; opposing; complementary)
Zeus & Ganymede (mythological; couples)

List of famous pairs

A