Word.ws English Dictionary

Alphonse and Gaston

Alphonse and Gaston proper noun: a situation where two people or entities are waiting for each other to proceed, so that neither can take action.

Proper noun

Alphonse and Gaston

  1. (attributive) A situation where two people or entities are waiting for each other to proceed, so that neither can take action.
    • I have noticed myself that even for a single cyclist Palo Alto motorists are too well-wishing, creating the Alphonse and Gaston syndrome that neither will proceed at minor intersections.1981, Bob Evatt, FLOWMAP, page 52
    • For years, China and the United States have engaged in a dangerous Alphonse-and-Gaston routine, using each other's inaction to shirk their responsibility.2009 September 23, New York Times, editorial

Origin of Alphonse and Gaston

From the name of an American comic strip and its characters, featuring a bumbling pair of Frenchmen with a penchant for politeness.

Questions about Alphonse and Gaston

What does Alphonse and Gaston mean?
Alphonse and Gaston means a situation where two people or entities are waiting for each other to proceed, so that neither can take action.
What part of speech is Alphonse and Gaston?
Alphonse and Gaston is a proper noun.

Words near Alphonse and Gaston in the dictionary

  1. alphins
  2. alphitomancy
  3. alphoid
  4. alphol
  5. Alphonse
  6. Alphonse and Gaston
  7. Alphonsian
  8. alphonsin
  9. Alphonsine
  10. Alphonsines
  11. alphonsins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Alphonse and Gaston (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Alphonse and Gaston.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alphonse_and_gaston. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.