Free and fixed order of coordinates
In simple coordination, the coordinates can generally be reversed:
(a) You can have eggs and bacon (b) You can have bacon and eggs
(a) We can go by bus or by train. (b) We can go by train or by bus.
However, there are a number of expressions in which the order is fixed by convention, such as bread and butter, in and out, fast and furious, now or never, over and above, sooner or later, time and again, up and down, wait and see, young and old.
There are also many others which, while not rigidly fixed, are conventionally used in a preferred order: black or white, bride and groom, common or garden, hope and pray, knife and fork, men and women, salt and pepper.
