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{{trope}}
[[File:Columns a and b.png|framethumb|400px|Dinner and a trope for three, please.]]
 
{{trope workshop}}
'''One from Column A and Two from Column B''' is a [[Stock Phrase]] dating from the middle 20th Century. It is used to suggest either a combination of two or more elements or explanations, or to describe a situation where there are a large but limited number of options available in strictly controlled combinations.▼
{{tropestub}}
▲A [[Stock Phrase]] dating from the middle 20th Century. It is used to suggest either a combination of two or more elements or explanations, or to describe a situation where there are a large but limited number of options available in strictly controlled combinations.
 
The phrase comes from menus from mid-20th century Chinese restaurants, where full-course dinners being ordered ''prix fixe'' "family style" (or as individual combination entrees) would be presented in the form of two or more columns of items, with instructions to pick, for example, "[[One from Column A and Two from Column B]]"
 
This usage was popularized by comedian [[Buddy Hackett]], whose "Chinese Waiter" stand-up routine was a famous and expected part of his act from 1952 through the early 1970s, and the earliest occurrences of the phrase in other contexts (in the mid to late 1950s) explicitly referenced Hackett's act. By 1958, though, the phrase [[Memetic Mutation|had entered the meme pool]], and it was no longer necessary to footnote Hackett.
 
Ultimately, it became so familiar that presenting choices from "Column A" and "Column B" in any context (business, mathematics, etc.) came to be called a "Chinese menu" system. Although that usage seems to have started to fade since the beginning of the 21st century, the more generalized sense remains and can be frequently found online and in print, indicating that it's nowhere near [[Discredited Trope]] territory.
 
A common variant is "A little from Column A, [and] a little from Column B".
 
{{examples}}
<!-- Please keep all of the section headers on the page until everybody agrees that the trope is ready to launch. -->
== [[Advertising]] ==
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
 
== [[Comic Books]] ==
 
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* A variation shows up in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' pseudo-crossover ''[[Xendra]]''. Willow mentions that she cloned a computer from Wolfram & Hart to use as a cover for some hacking and is asked if she used magic or technology.
{{quote|"Both!" Willow grinned. "Some from Column A and some from Column B."}}
* Similarly, in ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13896460/1/The-Worm-Turns The Worm Turns]'' by "Greyff", [[The Bet (fan work)|Toltiir]] describes [[Worm|Taylor Hebert]]'s final choice for empowerment by him as "She basically did the 'take one from Column A, take three from Column B' approach".
 
== [[Film]] ==
* Played with in the song [https://youtu.be/Qx91ff77yzM?t=66 "Friend Like Me"] from [[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Disney's 1992 film ''Aladdin'']], when the Genie emphasizes just how unlimited the scope of Aladdin's wishes can be with:
{{quote|''Try one from Column A,
''Try '''all''' of Column B!}}
:Unfortunately the animators apparently had never heard the phrase, so they animated actual DorianDoric columns instead of a menu.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
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* ''Right From Wrong: Instilling A Sense Of Integrity In Your Child'' by Michael Riera and ‎Joseph Di Prisco uses the phrase to descibe how an eleven-year-old child's moods fluctuate.
* Todd G. Buchholz's 1996 treatise ''From Here to Economy: A Shortcut to Economic Literacy'' uses it to describe how policymakers initially interpreted the economic choices presented by A.W.H. Phillips' work tracking the relationship between inflation and unemployment, and explicitly calls it a "Chinese menu".
* A 2015 article from the (Delaware) ''Cape Gazette'' exploring Chinese restaurants in the Delaware Cape Region is entitled [https://www.capegazette.com/article/one-column-and-one-column-b-and-pass-hot-mustard/88771 "One from Column A and one from Column B: And pass the hot mustard"]. In this case, the phrase is being used self-referentially to describe the variety of options for Chinese dining in the area.▼
 
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
 
== [[Music]] ==
 
== [[New Media]] ==
<!-- Note: Both Web Original and New Media are for works that originated online. The distinction is that New Media works allow for feedback and audience participation - if a work doesn't allow for this, then it's a Web Original, not New Media. -->
* A 2007 ''New York Times'' "City Room" blog article about the intersection of Jewish and Chinese food had the title [https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/hot-dogs-from-column-a-pastrami-egg-rolls-from-column-b/ "Hot Dogs From Column A, Pastrami Egg Rolls From Column B"].
 
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''"’Ay, Marco, gimme a chocolats, vanillas, wonton & egg roll."
''"No, no! You get only one from column 'A' and two from column 'B'..."}}
 
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
 
== [[Periodicals]] ==
▲* A 2015 article from the (Delaware) ''Cape Gazette'' exploring Chinese restaurants in the Delaware Cape Region is entitled [https://www.capegazette.com/article/one-column-and-one-column-b-and-pass-hot-mustard/88771 "One from Column A and one from Column B: And pass the hot mustard"]. In this case, the phrase is being used self-referentially to describe the variety of options for Chinese dining in the area.
 
== [[Pinball]] ==
 
== [[Podcast]]s ==
 
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
 
== [[Puppet Shows]] ==
 
== [[Radio]] ==
 
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* As noted in the main text, [[Buddy Hackett]] had a 1952-vintage [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf1tCQErbzE stand-up routine about a Chinese waiter taking an order from a table full of (non-Chinese) patrons] through which the phrase entered the popular usage, even though the phrase in the routine is actually "two from column A, one from column B".
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
 
== [[Theatre]] ==
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
 
== [[Visual Novel]]s ==
 
== [[Web Animation]] ==
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
 
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Right here on [[This Very Wiki]], in a passage inherited from [[TV Tropes]] (and still there as of this writing) on the page [[Combo-Platter Powers/Playing With]]:
<!-- Note: Both Web Original and New Media are for works that originated online. The distinction is that New Media works allow for feedback and audience participation - if a work doesn't allow for this, then it's a Web Original, not New Media. -->
{{quote|'''Parodied:''' Alice is seen before she becomes Amazing Girl, literally picking her powers from a menu. "I'll have one from Column A, two from Column B, ooh, prehensile hair sounds good, and that comes with complimentary [[Most Common Superpower]], right?"}}
 
** And the third example section on [[Our Lawyers Advised This Trope]] uses a common variant: "A Little From Column A, A Little From Column B".
== [[Western Animation]] ==
 
== Other Media ==
 
== [[Real Life]] ==
 
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]
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