Mutt and Jeff

noun

a very short and a very tall person who are paired as companions, teammates, or associates.

Origin of Mutt and Jeff

First recorded in 1915–20; after the characters in a cartoon strip of the same name created by U.S. cartoonist Harry C. “Bud” Fisher (1885–1954)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Word Origin and History for mutt and jeff

Mutt and Jeff

comic strip characters Augustus Mutt and Jim Jeffries, in U.S. cartoonist Henry Conway ("Bud") Fisher's strip, which debuted in 1907. Used allusively from 1917 in reference to "a pair of stupid men, affable losers," or to one tall (Mutt) and one short (Jeff).