Grammar question - should you say bacon and eggs or eggs and bacon?

Question

I say eggs and bacon but my friend insists that it's bacon and eggs.

(as in you don't say chips and egg)

Is there a right or wrong to this and if so why?

I think I get the point - it's all about the plural coming last. THX TEAM

Answer 1

Bacon and eggs flows off the tongue better than eggs and bacon. Likewise with egg and chips. Think its maybe to do with having the plural at the end.

Answer 2

First, as some have noted, this isn't a matter of "grammar", but of usage.

And no, it probably is NOT about the singular vs. plural word. Nor do any of the other 'one-size fits all' rules work.

The problem here is that such expressions (words that are paired, tripled, etc) OFTEN have a traditionally fixed order but:
1) sometimes the order is more 'fixed' than other times
2) there is no ONE rule for the order that becomes the common expression for any given pair
3) the order MAY be changed because of other elements in the sentence, like the addition of an adjective before one word in a pair ("GREEN eggs and ham"! I think it is more common if only one of them takes a modifier for that one to go first.)

Look at the expressions listed below and note the different reasons for their orders (when it's possible to know or at least guess at a reason!)
- some of them are ordered alphabetically (this is probably the LEAST common reason)
- some are ordered by SOUND... what's easiest to say or seems to have a 'natural rhythm'
- some pairs, esp. when the words are nearly synonymous begin with the more common or general word, followed by the more specific and/or less familiar one (e.g., 'rest and relaxation')
- some are in chronological order
- some are in 'logical' order -- this is a catch-all category, since the logic applied in each case may differ

For the example you give, I think the order is probably based on the logic of listing the 'main course' (often meat) first, followed by a side-dish or condiment, etc. Thus we usually say "bacon and eggs" and "HAM and eggs"), though 'eggs and sausage' maybe more common than the other way round (see, there is NOT just one simple rule!) though it also doesn't seem as fixed an order as the others.

For further examples of FOOD pairs in their 'standard order' see below.

A SHORT LIST OF ARBITRARY PAIRS, etc:
- flesh and blood
- body and soul
- men and women BUT ladies and gentlemen
- father and mother BUT mom and dad
- black and blue
- red, white and blue
- apples and oranges
- cats and dogs, cats and mice (cat-and-mouse)
- large and small
- cars and trucks
- comings and goings
- north (and) south. .. east and west
- beginning and end
- wine, women and song
- odds and ends

FOODS:
- burger and fries
- fish and chips
- spaghetti and meatballs
- tea and toast
- jam and bread
- peanut butter and jelly
- macaroni and cheese
- wine and cheese

BTW, one quick way to check which order MAY be the "preferred" (or standard), run a web search for each form of the expression (putting quotes around the whole) and see which has the most hits. Not foolproof but of some help.

Answer 3

I can't see how there can be a wrong or right way - it's probably down to where you come from, what people locally are more likely to say. Bacon & eggs sounds more British, whereas perhaps eggs & bacon is US. However, if you put bacon first, and say the 'and' properly, you'd have to take care not to say 'deggs', as in bacon an deggs. Eggs an' bacon is slightly easier to say and it doesn't matter if you drop the 'd'. What it comes after might have a bearing, so 'He had eggs and bacon..', again, you'd have to take care (if you were in a play, for example) not to say deggs. If you were a Cockney and dropped the aitches, you'd end up with 'E a deggs & bacon'. Not nice. Better then to stick with bacon & eggs ('cept you might get 'bacon a' neggs')!

Phew, now can we discuss world peace or something?!

Answer 4

Grammatically both are correct. Bacon and eggs has a better "flow" because the "n" at the end of bacon elides with the "n" in "and." Also, rhythmically, it's like an eighth note triplet followed by a quarter note as opposed to a dotted-eighth & sixteenth followed by two eighth notes. Definitely a smooter rhythm.

Answer 5

I'm not sure if there's a really correct way of saying this but it only makes sense to say it "eggs and bacon" seeing that the eggs the course meal and bacon is the side dish.

Answer 6

The only conceivable way in which I can see a case of one way being preferable to the other is if, as in the case of egg and chips/ fish and chips/ pork and beans the first item is seen as the main element of the concept with the second being an accompaniment... I would guess common usage might also prevail... either way it certainly isn't a grammar question, because, grammatically either is absolutely fine, as, indeed would be 'chips and egg'.

Answer 7

well I'm pretty good an English but I'm no professor or anything but the order that list (in this case food) is not a grammar issue. Its only your preference. It would be incorrect if you said in a sentence "I are want to eat bacon and eggs". The error is evident. But in regard to the order of listing items it does not matter. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

I reckon if u have more than one egg, its eggs and bacon

but in a different situation its different like

Can I have a bacon and egg roll please.

I think if u are having more than one egg then, eggs and bacon lol

Answer 9

The more you have of the two ingredients, that goes first. For example, pork, chicken, and beef sausage is made mostly from pork, some chicken, then a lesser portion of beef. So you are correct if you have two eggs and a strip of bacon, and your friends will be correct if it's one egg and like 5 strips of bacon, which is not very usual.

Answer 10

Bacon and eggs def where I come from. I don't think thats a grammar thing so much as how its said where you grow up.