Mutt and Jeff
Americannoun
Etymology
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)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They make a great Mutt and Jeff team: Grady tall and pale and measuring his words, Esposito short and deeply tan and antic.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2015
And his chemistry with the shorter, sweeter Teller remains based, ingeniously and reassuringly, in comic archetypes: that of Mutt and Jeff, or Laurel and Hardy.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2015
That's not inappropriate, and once Christopher Salazar arrives as hero John Worthing, the contrast between his benign gravitas and Hunter's febrile acerbity is drolly amusing, a Victorian-era Mutt and Jeff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2014
It is also said to be a reference to the daily comic strip Mutt and Jeff, which had first been published in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1907 with just a single character, A Mutt.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 24, 2012
We were Mutt and Jeff in the war.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
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