oil and water don't mix
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.51 in modern English
32
Scrabble Score
18
Letters
3
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
proverb
Black people and white people should not form relationships; an admonition against interracial relationships.
Dated; Derogatory; Offensive
proverb
Some people, things, or characteristics do not go together.
proverb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see oil, water, don't, mix.
Example Sentences
- "I don't think you quite realise, Benneville, what it means to be married to a native woman. It will mean that you lose friends, home, and everything that is worth living for to an Englishman. You would not be likely to make friends with the other natives. Oil and water don't mix. . ."
- "Less dramatic than open bigotry, but equally problematic, is the ignorance displayed by shop stewards and officials subscribing to what Barker (1981) has called the 'new racism' , the 'reasonable', and ' acceptable' racism of the 'I'm not racist but . . . oil and water don't mix' kind."
- "She say that when nigger people step out o' they place and start for rub shoulders with Bacra, trouble just 'round the corner. She say oil and water don't mix, and she going beat me if I keep company with you."
- "And the Mennonite boys don't consider her suitable. As you know, oil and water don't mix."
- "Oil and water don't mix because oil is nonpolar and water is polar."