What’s a Pigeon Pair?

Nancy in Newport, Kentucky, says friends used to refer to her young son and daughter as a pigeon pair. Doves and pigeons tend to have two chicks at a time, and at one point, it was believed that these offspring consisted of one male and female. Shakespeare alluded to a dove’s golden couplet, meaning such a pair. In Dutch, siblings are referred to with terms that translate as “a rich man’s wish” or a “king’s wish,” or even a koningspaar, which means “royal couple.” In French, they’re souhait de roi, or “king’s wish.” In Scots, a doos cleckin, or “dove’s hatching,” is a set of twins, usually fraternal. A pigeon pair refrigerator is a single-door refrigerator that stands beside a matching single-door upright freezer. This is part of a complete episode.