# Word pairs that describe something in both orders. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043 "2014-09-20T20:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/1 "2014-09-20T20:46:36Z")
So far all I can come up with is milk chocolate and chocolate milk. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/2 "2014-09-20T20:51:24Z")
“House cat” and “cat house.” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/3 "2014-09-20T20:53:51Z")
“Library school” and “school library”. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/4 "2014-09-20T20:55:43Z")
“Police state” and “State Police.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/5 "2014-09-20T21:02:05Z")
“jumper cable” and (sometimes) “cable jumper” ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/6 "2014-09-20T21:02:49Z")
“Piano player” and “player piano.” ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/7 "2014-09-20T21:04:47Z")
“Whale sperm” and “sperm whale” ---
**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:** [September 20, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/8 "2014-09-20T21:08:56Z")
board game _and_ game board cable TV _and_ TV cable recording studio _and_ studio recording teapot _and_ pot tea (maybe that doesn’t count since teapot is one word) Cheese head _and_ head cheese (unless Cheesehead is also one word) (if the above two count, then) bookcase _and_ casebook Soda Club (a brand name of the syrups for those home soft drink makers) _and_ club soda box lunch _and_ lunch box I can probably come up with more later. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/9 "2014-09-20T21:11:09Z")
“queen size” and “size queen.” 😃 ---
**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:** [September 20, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/10 "2014-09-20T21:11:19Z")
> [@Blue\_Mood](#): > > “Piano player” and “player piano.” good one ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/11 "2014-09-20T21:14:44Z")
“off-hand” and “hand-off” ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/12 "2014-09-20T21:16:43Z")
Butthead and head butt ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/13 "2014-09-20T21:20:15Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > “queen size” and “size queen.” 😃 Also a good one. Can’t believe I was stumped after one example. Guy at work was selling candy bars for his son’s school and I read milk chocolate backwards. Tried to come up with other examples and was like ‘Fuck it. I’ll ask the SDMB when I get home.’ ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/14 "2014-09-20T21:21:35Z")
black eye and [eye black](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_black) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/15 "2014-09-20T21:50:39Z")
Fish (or meat, or whatever) market and Market fish (what the sales manager for Birdseye does). You use a sheep pen to pen sheep (and a cattle prod to prod cattle). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/16 "2014-09-20T21:56:05Z")
If we’re choosing a color, I’d give the green light to light green. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/17 "2014-09-20T21:58:42Z")
Batman. Man-bat. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/18 "2014-09-20T22:51:32Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Batman. > Man-bat. [xkcd](http://xkcd.com/1004/) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/19 "2014-09-20T22:58:20Z")
House boat and boat house ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043/20 "2014-09-20T23:13:30Z")
Which show dog won the dog show? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-pairs-that-describe-something-in-both-orders/699043.md?page=2)