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Glite Dictionary
gruesome twosome

gruesome twosome

1 9.1
Two people who cause trouble together
  • noun
  • /ˈɡruːsəm ˈtuːsəm/
  • Slang
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  • The police are investigating the gruesome twosome responsible for the recent vandalism.

Examples

  • The gruesome twosome were at it again, playing practical jokes on their classmates.

  • Those two have built a reputation as the gruesome twosome in the office.

  • Everyone avoided the gruesome twosome at the party because of their history of causing chaos.

  • Everyone knows that Jake and Tom are the gruesome twosome of the neighborhood!

  • The teacher warned the students about the gruesome twosome who always caused chaos during recess.

  • After their prank went viral, the internet dubbed them the gruesome twosome for their troublemaking antics.

  • Whenever the gruesome twosome was around, trouble was sure to follow.

Surface Forms

gruesome twosome singular
gruesome twosomes plural

Morphology

gruesome + twosome

The meaning is directly derivable from 'gruesome' (causing horror/disgust) + 'twosome' (a pair): a learner who knows both words can infer a pair that is unpleasant or causing trouble. The expression is a rhyming nickname rather than a conventionalized idiom, so there is no unpredictable idiomatic shift.

Etymology

The phrase gruesome twosome comes from the clear image of two people acting as a scary or nasty pair: gruesome means frightening or unpleasant and twosome means a pair. So, if two people always cause trouble together, people call them the gruesome twosome, meaning 'a pair who cause trouble'.