Paired Names
Very frequently found today, and often giving rise to complex explanations (see below, Puns, Jokes and Corruptions) The use of pairs of words in the name of an inn or tavern was rare before the mid-17th century, but by 1708 had become frequent enough for a pamphlet to complain of 'the variety and contradictory language of the signs', citing absurdities such as 'Bull and Mouth', 'Whale and Cow', and 'Shovel and Boot'. Two years later an essay in the Spectator echoed this complaint, deriding among others such contemporary paired names as 'Bell and Neat's Tongue', though accepting 'Cat and Fiddle'.
A possible explanation for doubling of names is the combining of businesses, for example when a landlord of one pub moved to another premises. Fashion, as in the rise of intentionally amusing paired names like 'Slug and Lettuce' and 'Frog and Firkin' in the late 20th century, may also be responsible.
Read more about this topic: Pub Names
Famous quotes containing the words paired and/or names:
“The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden;
They hurt me. I grow older.”
—Li Po (701–762)
“At present our only true names are nicknames.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)