AND

'And' is used to connect expressions that are grammatically similar, for example: 

Nouns: bread and butter

Verbs: They and danced all night. 

Clauses: I went home, and Mary stayed at the station. 

When there are more than two expressions, we usually put 'and' only before the last one. 

Bread, butter and cheese

They drank, sang and danced all night. 

I went home, Linsay went with me, and Mary stayed at the station. 

When expressions are joined by 'and', we often put the shortest first. 

big and ugly    cup and saucer

Some common expressions with 'and' come in a fixed order which cannot be changed. 

hands and knees (Not: knees and hands)    Knife and fork 

bread and butter    men, women and children    fish and chips 

When adjectives are used before a noun, they are sometimes joined by 'and' and sometimes not, depending on the type of adjective. For instance, we say 'a big black insect', but 'a black and yellow insect'. 

When two expressions are joined by 'and', words which come in both expressions (e.g. articles) can often be left out in the second expression. For instance, the bread and (the) butter, in UK and (in) USA.