To play Box and Cox means to participate in an arrangement in which you and someone else take turns occupying the same space at different times. This British expression derives from Box and Cox (Bookshop|Amazon), an 1847 farce by John Maddison Morton, in which a London landlord leases an apartment to two men, unbeknownst to each other. By day, the apartment is occupied by John Box, and by night it is leased to a fellow named James Cox. This is part of a complete episode.
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