chalk and cheese

English
Some cheeses look superficially like chalk.
The surface of chalk may look like cheese, but it is actually harder than most cheeses.

Alternative forms

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.

Interesting to note that lime chalk and cottage cheese forms a glue-like material used in the restoration of ancient half-timbered houses, perhaps suggesting an alternative original meaning.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun

chalk and cheese (uncountable)

  1. (British, New Zealand, idiomatic) Said of things that are very different, though possibly superficially alike.

Synonyms

Translations

References
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