Neither fish nor fowl: non-ethnic: not of the same kind. It's neither this category nor that category, and it just doesn't make sense.

Pinyin: bù lún bù lèi

[Synonyms]: neither three nor four, neither monk nor layman, neither donkey nor horse.

[Antonym]: sit upright and serious.

[Idiom example] After hearing this, Mrs. Wang already knew the purpose of her visit. Seeing that what he said was nondescript, it was inconvenient to ignore him. (Chapter 67 of "A Dream of Red Mansions" by Cao Xueqin, Qing Dynasty)

[Common usage]: Commonly used.

[Grammar usage]: used as predicate, attributive, complement; metaphor for irregularity and irregularity.

Extended information

Idiom allusion:

Once, Xue Pan brought two large boxes of things from Jiangnan to his mother Aunt Xue and sister Xue Baochai. One box contains silks, satins, foreign goods and other household items, while the other box contains pens, ink, paper, inkstones and various small handicrafts. Aunt Xue took out the things from the box, sorted them out one by one, and asked people to send them to Jia Mu, Mrs. Wang and other places.

Baochai returned to the room and looked at the gadgets one by one. Except for keeping them for himself, he coordinated them one by one and distributed them to the sisters in Jia's family. She didn't forget Huan. Lin Daiyu's is different from others and is twice as thick. After sorting them out one by one, they were sent to various places.

When Aunt Zhao saw that Baochai had given Jia Huan something like this, she liked it very much and thought: "No wonder others say that Bao Yatou is a good person, a good person, and very generous. Now it seems that it is true! Her brother can How many things did she bring? She delivered them from door to door, not missing anything, and she didn't even think about me, who was unlucky, and she didn't even look at our mother. Are you still willing to give us something?"

Aunt Zhao thought while playing with those things. Suddenly, she remembered that Baochai was a relative of Mrs. Wang. Why not sell it to Mrs. Wang? So she took the things and walked into Mrs. Wang's room, stood beside her, and said with an apologetic smile: "Miss Bao just gave this to Brother Huan. It's hard for Miss Bao to think so thoughtfully at such a young age. She is really a girl from a wealthy family." It's so generous, why don't you ask for respect? No wonder the old lady and my wife praise her and love her all the time. I didn't dare to put it away on my own, so I brought it to my wife to see, and she also liked it."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang already knew Aunt Zhao’s intention. Seeing that what she said didn't seem like this or that, but he couldn't ignore her, he said, "Just take it and give it to Brother Huan to play with."

Aunt Zhao I was very happy when I came, but I wiped my nose with dust. I was angry in my heart, but I didn't dare to show it, so I had to leave in silence.