Pair Parallelism
rogersgeorge on March 14th, 2017
In English (and other languages) we have pairs of words that go together. If you use one, you should use the other. Some pairs that come to mind are:
either—or
neither—nor
both—and
not only—but also
on the one hand—on the other hand (some wags add “on the third hand”)
Greek has one called the “men—de” construction. Okay, here’s the Greek; I know you’re curious: μεν … δε.
See how funny it seems when someone gets it wrong? (Second cell.) The comic is Curtis, by Ray Billingsley.
Do any other pairs come to mind? Share in the comments.
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