Siamese Twins
Preserved but no longer current.
Yoke-fellows, in- separables; so called from the original pair, Eng and Chang, who were born of Chinese parents about 1814 and discovered at Mekong, Siam, in 1829, and were subsequently exhibited as freaks. Their bodies were united by a band of flesh, stretching from breast-bone to breast- bone. They married two sisters, had offspring, and died within three hours of each other on January 17th, 1874.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Siamese Twins” mean?
Yoke-fellows, in- separables; so called from the original pair, Eng and Chang, who were born of Chinese parents about 1814 and discovered at Mekong, Siam, in 1829, and were subsequently exhibited as freaks. Their bodies were united by a band of flesh, stretching from breast-bone to breast- bone. They married two sisters, had offspring, and died within three hours of each other on January 17th, 1874.
Is “Siamese Twins” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.