pigeon pair
nounEtymology From a folk belief that pigeons raise two eggs at the same time, a male and a female.
1
A pair of twins, one male and one female.
2
Two siblings, one male and one female.
- “He has two kiddies, a pigeon pair.”1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 373:
- Oh, please not twins! Just a pigeon-pair, a son and then a daughter.2014, Colleen McCullough, Bittersweet, page 71:
2 more examples
- Their first child, a son, was Albert Lewis, born 1893, and he became known to all of us who can remember this wonderful man, as Lew Davey. The second child was a daughter, Cora Annie, born 1895. […] There were two other children (both stillborn) and, to quote Lew, “It is sad to remember that what should have been a family of four, ended up a “pigeon pair”.2014, Margaret Dwyer, Jewels Along The Newell, page 62:
- “I 'ave a wife and pigeon pair,” he said. “What's a pigeon pair?” I asked him. “Don'cher know a pigeon pair? That's one of each. A pigeon pair, we calls it at 'ome.2018, Tom Treanor, One Damn Thing After Another: