DEFINITIONS

Alphonse and Gaston

or Al·phonse-and-Gas·ton

adjective

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.

Content related to Alphonse and Gaston

andRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
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Why Do “Left” And “Right” Mean Liberal And Conservative?During election seasons the words left and right denote political affiliation more than spatial direction. But where do these associations come from? The left hand has long been associated with deviance. The word “sinister” originally meant “to the left” in Latin. The word “left” comes from the Old English word lyft, which literally meant “weak, foolish.” To avoid the negative and superstitious associations of the …
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019