Reduplicative
doublets
Reduplicative doublets are
a small class of idioms in which a word is repeated after the conjunction and; such repetition is intended to provide
an emphatic boost to a statement.
Here are fifteen such
constructions with definitions and sample sentences.
1. Again
and again: repeatedly
(“I practiced the manoeuvre
again and again so that I didn’t have to think about what I was doing”)
2. By
and by (or by-and-by): later, or eventually
(“I think he’ll come around
to our way of thinking by and by”)
3. Done
and done: done thoroughly and satisfactorily
(“The team avenged its loss
with a decisive victory — done and done”)
4. Ever
and ever: always, or seemingly so
(“I had to wait for ever
and ever for my car to get fixed”)
5. Half
and half: in equal parts; also, a food or drink made of two often equal
ingredients, or a mixture of cream and milk, or a person of dual nationality or
mixed ethnicity
(“She likes half and half
in her coffee”)
6. Hot-and-hot: multiple
courses of food served individually as soon as cooked
(“The catered meal was
served hot-and-hot”)
7. Less
and less: increasingly less, progressively decreasing, or decreasingly true
or prevalent
(“I’m less and less
confident of success as the days pass”)
8. More and more: increasingly
more, progressively increasing, or increasingly true or prevalent
(“It’s getting more and more difficult to find
in stores”)
9. Neck and neck: very close in a
contest or race, suggesting two horses whose necks are side by side
(“The candidates are polling neck and neck
lately”)
10. On
and on: continuously
(“The speaker droned on and
on beyond her allotted time”)
11. Out-and-out: complete or
utter
(“That’s an out-and-out
lie!”)
12. Over
and over: repeatedly
(“He said it over and over,
to make sure I understood”)
13. So-and-so (or so and so): a placeholder name for a person (often
initial-capped), a placeholder word for one or more things, or a euphemism for
an offensive epithet
(“I talked to So-and-so —
that guy over there”)
14. Such-and-such: a placeholder
for a thing or action
(“If you were to go to
such-and-such a place, you’d find the building”)
15. Through
and through: see out-and-out
(“He’s a loser through and
through”)
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