and a partridge in a pear tree
Gift song's refrain
The closing line of each verse in "The Twelve Days of Christmas," a cumulative carol where gifts pile up through repetition.
The phrase has become shorthand for an absurdly long list: She wanted a new car, a vacation, jewelry, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Used alone, it signals mock exasperation at excess or signals you're done enumerating.
- twelve daysNearly two weeks
- twelveOne more than eleven
- drumsStruck membrane instruments
- drummersMusicians playing percussion
- pipersWind instrument players
lords · ladies · maids · turtle doves · turtle · doves · hens · calling · birds · golden · rings · geese · swans · pear tree · carol · gift · tree · festive