oil and water do not mix
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
People with different natures or interests cannot get along
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Những người có tính cách hoặc sở thích khác nhau không thể hòa hợp
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: oil and water separate when combined
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “oil and water do not mix” mean?
People with different natures or interests cannot get along Literally: oil and water separate when combined
Is “oil and water do not mix” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.