Alphonse and Gaston

American  

Or Alphonse-and-Gaston

adjective

1. marked by a ritualistic courtliness in which two often competing participants graciously but stubbornly defer to each other.

   a kind of Alphonse and Gaston act in which each man insisted the other go through the doorway first.

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Etymology

Origin of Alphonse and Gaston

After the title characters of a cartoon strip by American cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper (1857–1937), which first appeared in 1905

Example Sentences

Girardi, Brian Boyle and Ryan McDonagh stood in a tight triangle, playing Alphonse and Gaston with the puck.

From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2012

Amid elaborate bowing, scraping, and après-vous-ing, Alphonse and Gaston never managed to make it through an open doorway.

From BusinessWeek • Jun. 2, 2011

In 1901, William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal launched a cartoon featuring two overly polite friends named Alphonse and Gaston.

From BusinessWeek • Jun. 2, 2011

Comments a Stevenson assistant: "This is the greatest Alphonse and Gaston act since�well, Alphonse and Gaston."

From Time Magazine Archive

A loud and persistent squealing caused Van Lennop to raise his eyes from his book and look out upon the pole corral wherein the vociferous Alphonse and Gaston were confined.

From The Lady Doc by Lockhart, Caroline