📖 Meaning
To put different people or things together and discuss or treat them as equals. It implies the subjects are so different in quality or nature that they should not be mentioned in the same breath. Often used to emphasize that two things cannot be compared on the same level.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Book of Jin (晋书), in the Biography of Xi Jian (郗鉴传). When Crown Prince Minhuai was deposed, Xi Jian was praised for being gentle yet principled. The text contrasts him with Wu Qiu and others who compromised their integrity, declaring that such people cannot be mentioned on the same day as Xi Jian. The phrase thus became a way to assert that certain people or things are unworthy of comparison with others of far greater quality.
💡 Example Usage
这两人的贡献岂可同日而言，简直是天壤之别。
The contributions of these two people cannot be mentioned in the same breath; they are simply worlds apart.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 同日而言
- Pinyin: tóng rì ér yán
- Literal Translation: same, day, and, speak
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4