The phrase Tom and Jerry has a several meanings:

• Tom and Jerry was originally a pairing of names from Pierce Egan's Life in London, or Days and Nights of Jerry Hawthorne and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom. Egan was a noted chronicler of London low life of the Regency Period (1810-1820), when the rich young bucks of London like Tom and Jerry were notorious for roistering in the streets, breaking windows, and assaulting passers-by.

• A Tom and Jerry shop was a low beer hall in the 19th century, a name derived both from Egan's work and from the older name Jerry shop that predated Egan.

• The verb to Tom and Jerry means "to engage in riotous behavior".

• A Tom and Jerry is a cocktail.

• Tom and Jerry was a series of early sound cartoons produced by Van Beuren Studios in the 1930s featuring a Mutt and Jeff-like pair

• Tom and Jerry was a series of cartoons produced by MGM featuring a hapless cat (Tom) endlessly chasing a clever mouse (Jerry).

• Tom and Jerry was the original stage name of folk duo Simon and Garfunkel.

• The "Tom and Jerries" is occasionally a nickname in Great Britain for the Transport and General Workers Union.