# Is there a linguistic law on whether form "A and B" or "B and A" is more likely to be adopted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-linguistic-law-on-whether-form-a-and-b-or-b-and-a-is-more-likely-to-be-adopted/702567 "2014-10-26T13:41:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-linguistic-law-on-whether-form-a-and-b-or-b-and-a-is-more-likely-to-be-adopted/702567/21 "2014-10-27T06:58:34Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Actually, for comedy teams the standard convention is that the straight man goes first: Burns & Allen, Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Rowan & Martin, et al. There are exceptions (Burns & Schreiber, although I was never sure who was supposed to be the actual straight man.) > > Heck, we even had a thread about it, [once upon a time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=222307). No way Eric Morecambe was the straight man to Ernie Wise, though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-linguistic-law-on-whether-form-a-and-b-or-b-and-a-is-more-likely-to-be-adopted/702567/22 "2014-10-27T07:32:45Z")
I read about an interesting linguistic tidbit recently. The general rule in English is that a commonly used pair of contrasting terms will put the one that is closest to the speaker first and then work outwards from the speaker. So we say this and that, here and there, now and then, near and far, us and them, me and you. But there are some exceptions like past and present and you and I. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-linguistic-law-on-whether-form-a-and-b-or-b-and-a-is-more-likely-to-be-adopted/702567/23 "2014-10-27T09:18:11Z")
Of course aesthetics and rhythm matter. Sometimes other concerns override, but if rhythm didn’t matter, Poe couldn’t have made “The Raven” sound so creepy by violating the typical rhythm. “Once upon a midnight dreary,” is four trochees in a row, and “quoth the raven ‘Nevermore,’” is trochee-trochee-anapest. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-linguistic-law-on-whether-form-a-and-b-or-b-and-a-is-more-likely-to-be-adopted/702567/24 "2014-10-27T14:24:07Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Not quite the same issue, but a very closely related one, I think: there are rules, of a sort, about [adjective order in English](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_good_word/2014/08/the_study_of_adjective_order_and_gsssacpm.html). The “rules” are loose, complex, and exception riddled, but, nevertheless, there is some consistency in the way English speakers order adjectives, and it sound not exactly incorrect, but a bit “off” if they are not followed. > > … As in the famous example “the French red big bus”. Native English speakers typically see something wrong with it, but it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what is wrong with it. “The big red French bus” sounds a lot more natural. Hundreds of them come down from Montreal every summer to major tourist traps on the US east coast. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-linguistic-law-on-whether-form-a-and-b-or-b-and-a-is-more-likely-to-be-adopted/702567.md?page=1)