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chalk and cheese

Said of things that are superficially alike but very different in substance.

Etymology:

  • Attested in variant form since 1393. The surface of some cheeses, particularly unaged ones, looks similar to chalk – white, crumbling – but in substance cheese is much softer than chalk.
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Submitted on July 10, 2018

Translation

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Tiza y queso

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to chalk and cheese

cat-and-mousebygones be bygones, and fair play for t…cheese downcat and dog lifechalk outcarrot and stickcat and mousechildren should be seen and not heardcheese offcaught between the devil and the deep b…chalk upcease and desistby leaps and boundschew the meat and spit out the bones

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