“Neither fish nor fowl”in other languages
Something that fits no clear category.
English
French
Portuguese
Same idea, different pictures
All three come from the dinner table. French and Portuguese say neither meat nor fish, ni chair ni poisson, nem carne nem peixe, after the Church rules that sorted food into meat and the fish allowed on fast days. Something that was neither had no place on the menu.
English swapped the meat for fowl, poultry.
More sayings in other languages
- Neither here nor there
- When pigs fly
- Nip something in the bud
- No bed of roses
- No contest
- No pain, no gain
- No sweat
- Be at one's wits' end
- Not mince one's words