Mutt and Jeff

American  

noun

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

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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

Frozen in tableau against Mr. O’Connor’s exquisitely barren set, with its lone tree and single, time-smoothed boulder, they are Mutt and Jeff in limbo.

From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2018

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

The artist explained that the name alludes in part to "Mutt and Jeff," the first daily newspaper comic strip, created by Bud Fisher in 1907.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2015

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

Besides, our famous shadows, Mutt and Jeff, were parked across the street, faithful as hound dogs in their vigilance.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals