Listen to the author reading this blog post:
This week, in the second of two ‘Talking about differences’ posts, I’m looking at idioms and other phrases that are used for saying that things or people are different.
Starting with a very common phrase, someone or something that is nothing like (or not anything like) someone or something else is not at all similar to them:
It was described on the menu as ‘pesto’, but it was nothing like pesto!
That can’t be Ana in the photo – it doesn’t look anything like her!
We can say that there’s a world of difference between two things or situations to emphasize how very different they are:
Of course, there’s a world of difference between visiting a place for a day and actually living there.
If something is a far cry from something else, it is very different from it. This idiom is used, for example, to contrast wealth with poverty, or success with failure:
He lives in a shabby, one-bedroom apartment just outside the city. It’s a far cry from the mansion he used to inhabit.
If you say that a situation is a whole new/different ballgame, you mean it is very different from (and often more challenging than) another situation:
Previously, I only had three people in my team. Now, with twenty staff to manage, it’s a whole different ballgame.
If two people are (like) chalk and cheese (UK), they are completely different from each other, often in character. More poetically, two things or experiences that are completely different are sometimes said to be like night and day or as different as night and day. Often this suggests that one experience is very much better than the other:
You’d never guess they were brothers – they’re like chalk and cheese. / I mean, we’re chalk and cheese, but we get on really well.
Anyone would have noticed the improvement – it was like night and day.
The phrase apples and oranges is often used when people want to convey that two things are so different, they cannot usefully be compared:
Their styles are so different, it would be like comparing apples and oranges. / These are two entirely different products – it’s like apples and oranges.
Sometimes, people or things are so different, they’re the opposite of each other. The phrases polar opposites and poles apart are both used to emphasize that two people or things are the complete opposite of each other:
Politically, they’re polar opposites.
In their values and aspirations, they were poles apart.
Finally, to conclude this post, there is the expression opposites attract, meaning that we are naturally attracted to people who are very different from us. I’d be interested to hear below if you have the same expression in your language.
“Son dos polos opuestos…como el agua y el aceite… Como Dios y el el Diablo…these are some idioms that I find similar in Castellano (Argentina)@KateWoodford I ‘d like to thank you for the useful vocabulary and stuff that you share with us.It ‘s nowhere as useful as anyone!
Se parecen como un huevo a una castaña!!! Polos opuestos y el dia y la noche…. That is what I always heard when talking about big differences in Spanish (they take after each other like an egg to a chestnut) the rest are so similar to english idioms)
That’s very interesting – thank you!
In French, we use Torchons et Serviettes (dish cloth and napkins) as Apples and Oranges
Cotton
I love this! Thank you!
In portuguese .
Dias não são dias. Days isn’t days
We use thisterm when something bad hapenn, like an acidente and we arrive late at work. I apologize and só the Boss answer: Days isn’t days. Meaning no problem it’s not happen ever.
In azerbaijan,we say hadı and bıdı
In the Thai language, we say “as different as sky and chasm”.
That’s a lovely idiom – thank you!
thanks, it’s useful for me.
That’s good to hear – thank you!
In Poland we say “as different as ground and the sky”
That’s lovely – thank you!
“Focinho de porco não é tomada”, in Portuguese from Brasil, that means “pig snout is not outlet plug”. Because both have two holes but they are completely different.
What a wonderful phrase – thank you!
Thank you for the useful article
You’re very welcome! I’m glad you found it useful.
We say in Russian ‘as sky and earth’. I like English so much!
That’s very poetic – thank you!
In the Philippines, we usually tend to recognize the phrase “MAGKALAYONG AGWAT” which means partly different in status or disposition in life. If I were to translate it to English, it would be like “FAR APART”. I hope you acknowledge @Kate Woodford. Thanks a million!!!
That’s very interesting! Thanks so much for responding.