# All Slavic languages: neither fish nor fowl



## Encolpius

Hello what idiom do you use in your language? Here is some definition. 

*Czech*: ani ryba, ani rak [neither fish nor crayfish]


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## TriglavNationalPark

Slovenian: 

*ne tič ne miš* = neither a bird nor a mouse

NOTE: *tič* is a colloquial and somewhat archaic form of *ptič / ptica*. It's not common outside of this and some other specific phrases.


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## Duya

BCS:

_Niti smrdi nit' miriše_ 'Neither stinks nor smells nice'


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## itreius

Also, for BCS, regionally

_ni vrit ni mimo_ (neither in the butt, nor outside)


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## Provensalstinar

In *Czech*, we have another beautiful saying except the quoted one: _ani prase ani myš _(neither pig nor mouse).


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## LilianaB

Polish: Ni pies ni wydra.(neither dog nor otter) (really my a favorite) In Russian it is neither meat nor fish. I cannot type in the Cyrillic right now (Ni ryba ni myaso).


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## Encolpius

Provensalstinar said:


> In *Czech*, we have another beautiful saying except the quoted one: _ani prase ani myš _(neither pig nor mouse).



How common is that idiom today?


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## marco_2

LilianaB said:


> Polish: Ni pies ni wydra.(neither dog nor otter)



And apart from this "animal idiom" we also say *Ni to, ni sio *(literally: Neither this nor that) with the same meaning.


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## Azori

Encolpius said:


> Hello what idiom do you use in your language? Here is some definition.
> 
> *Czech*: ani ryba, ani rak [neither fish nor crayfish]


The same in Slovak: ani ryba, ani rak. I've also heard "mačkopes" (I suppose it comes from the words mačka = cat and pes = dog -> some kind of a cat-dog hybrid). I'm not really sure about its meaning as it does not seem to be very common, though. But I guess it could be used for something that is not clearly defined or for some odd mix.


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## LilianaB

marco_2 said:


> And apart from this "animal idiom" we also say *Ni to, ni sio *(literally: Neither this nor that) with the same meaning.


  You do? I have never heard that. I love the one about the otter.


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## DarkChild

In Bulgarian it's 

Ни рак, ни щука/ neither crab, nor pike (a kind of fish)


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## igusarov

More Russian.

Most common:
"ни рыба ни мясо" = "neither fish nor meat". LilianaB mentioned this one, here it is spelled in cyrillic.
"ни то ни сё" = "neither that nor this". I had no idea that Polish has this very idiom in this very form!

Used time from time:
"ни два ни полтора" = "neither 2 nor 1.5"
"серединка на половинку". This one is somewhat rare, could be translated as "middle in halves", but that's not quite precise.

Rare and somewhat obsolete idioms:
"ни пава ни ворона" = "neither peafowl nor crow"
"ни Богу свечка ни чёрту кочерга" = "neither a candle for the God, nor a poker for the Devil"

Edit:
numeric idiom is also used in Chinese: "不三不四" = "neither 3 nor 4".


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## Provensalstinar

Encolpius said:


> How common is that idiom today?



I admit that it is considerably rarer than _ani ryba ani rak_, but it is used in literature. E. g. Jaroslav Hašek uses this idiom several times.


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## swintok

In Ukrainian some forms are:

ні риба ні м'ясо (most common) - neither fish nor meat
ні пава ні ґава - neither peahen nor crow (also ні пава ні ворона)
ні се ні те- neither her not there
Ні Богові свічка, ні чортові кочерга - neither a candle for God nor a scourge for the devel
ні до села ні до міста - neither (belongs to) the village nor (to) the city
ні до ліса ні до біса - neither (belongs to) the forest not to the devil


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## marco_2

igusarov said:


> More Russian.
> 
> 
> 
> "ни то ни сё" = "neither that nor this". I had no idea that Polish has this very idiom in this very form!
> 
> _It is / was popular in central Poland so it could be borrowed from Russian though not necessarily - the pronouns *si / sien *existed in Polish but are obsolete in contemporary speech, however they are preserved in some expressions (*ni to, ni sio; ni taki, ni siaki; do siego roku *etc.)_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "ни Богу свечка ни чёрту кочерга" = "neither a candle for the God, nor a poker for the Devil"
> 
> _We have a similar expression: *Panu Bogu świeczkę i diabłu ogarek *(a candle for the God and a candle-end for the devil) but we use it in different situation - when someone tries to please two different people)_


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