📖 Meaning
To be as different as water and fire. It describes two things or people that are completely opposite and fundamentally incompatible with each other. The idiom emphasizes a stark contrast or irreconcilable difference.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from Qing dynasty scholar Qian Yong's work 'Lüyuan Conghua' (履园丛话), in the section discussing poetry. It describes the heated disagreement between the prominent official and poetry critic Shen Guiyu and the historian Yuan Jianzhai over their views on poetry. Their contrasting literary opinions were likened to the opposition of water and fire, utterly incompatible and unable to coexist.
💡 Example Usage
这两人的性格判若水火，根本无法共事。
The two people's personalities are as incompatible as water and fire, making it impossible for them to work together.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 判若水火
- Pinyin: pàn ruò shuǐ huǒ
- Literal Translation: distinguish, as if, water, fire
- Category: Logic
- Characters: 4