ENGLISH
REFERENCE

never the twain shall meet

idiom
Meaning

Used to emphasize that two subjects are so different that they cannot coexist or agree with each other.


Origin

first recorded 19th c.

Coined by the English author and poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) in his poem The Ballad of East and West (1889).

Examples
SIMPLE

Their opinions are so different that never the twain shall meet.

CONTEXTUAL

The two political parties have such opposing views on the budget that it seems never the twain shall meet.

COMPLEX

Despite their shared history, the two scholars held such fundamentally incompatible philosophies that it was clear never the twain shall meet in their academic conclusions.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    a wild goose never laid a tame egg

    Most things are inherited and predetermined.

  2. 02

    first of never

    A nonexistent day; a day that will never come.

  3. 03

    I never did

    An exclamation of great surprise.

  4. 04

    I never miss

    I am aware of what is going on; I know what is happening.

  5. 05

    make ends meet

    To have enough money to cover expenses; to get by financially; to get through the pay period (sufficient to meet the next payday).

  6. 06

    meet a sticky end

    To die unpleasantly due to one's actions.

  7. 07

    meet halfway

    To compromise; to achieve a mutual accommodation.

  8. 08

    meet one's maker

    To die or to pass into the afterlife.

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