a whole different ball game

Meaning: A completely different situation.

Language: English

Literally: (Already vivid in English)

Example: “Teaching kids to swim is fine; teaching adults is a whole different ball game.”

Category: Daily Life

Origin: American sports language, as if switching to a different game with different rules. It is common from the late 20th century.

Equivalents in other languages

not mince one's words — To speak frankly, even bluntly.
thick and fast — Rapidly and in large numbers.
one thing led to another — A series of events happened, each causing the next, often with a hint that something emba…
the end justifies the means — A good result excuses any way of achieving it.
sweet-talk — To persuade someone with flattery.
get on the wrong side of — To make someone angry or hostile toward you.

elbow grease — Hard physical work, especially scrubbing or polishing.
have a heavy heart — To feel sad or burdened.
in one's heart of hearts — In one's deepest private feelings.
promise the moon — To promise something impossible to deliver.
Indian summer — A period of warm weather in autumn; also a late, happy period in life.
an old hand — Someone with long experience at something.

Red lorry, yellow lorry. — The 'l/r' alternation drill — deceptively short, yet almost impossible to say fast withou…
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…