(idiomatic) match between persons equal in shrewdness

the usual, ordinary

always, invariably, all the time / usually / (with a negative verb) never

wit matching wit; a match between persons equal in shrewdness mobilizing all the tricks each can muster

discussion / dispute, argument / debate

discuss / to argue, to dispute / to debate

a fight, battle, or by extension, a war / a match, competition, contest, or race / any conflict or strife / (archaic) an army or military; troops

he / distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that / boyfriend

distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon / particularly, male personal third person pronoun: he / by extension from he: boyfriend

he; boyfriend