Chalk and Cheese

Posted by Lewis on September 09, 2004

In Reply to: Chalk and Cheese posted by R. Berg on September 08, 2004

: : : : : ?What is the meaning of "There's no show without Punch"

: : : : : ?What is the origin of "As diferent as chalk from cheese"

: : : : Punch is the central character in a traditional (usually seaside) entertainment - at least in the UK. He is puppet, along with his wife Judy, a policeman, a dog, a crocodile and I think possibly several other characters. The origins of the 'Punch and Judy Show' are Italian I think but the phrase you used just means that it would not be much of a show without the central character.

: : : : I have no idea about chalk and cheese, I'm afraid, and I have checked in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and that was no help either - it just says it is a traditional phrase, helped in its popularity by the alliteration.

: : : CHALK AND CHEESE - "(U.S. equivalent) 'night and day.' Worlds apart. As different as chalk from cheese is the usual phrase, the equivalent of 'as different as night and day.' This is sometimes shortened to 'chalk and cheese': 'Why, they're as different as chalk and cheese." From British English: A to Zed by Norman W. Schur (Harper Perennial, New York, 1987).

: : the comment is based upon texture - chalk is dry and high-friction whereas cheese is pleasantly moist and smooth on the tongue.

: There are other differences. Chalk keeps better. Cheese makes excellent sandwiches but is hard to clean off a blackboard.

There was an amusing moment in a Britcom ("Men Behaving Badly") when one character has gone on a creative-writing course and reads out his story to a fellow student. He is describing two flat-mates using no imagination whatsoever and says (from memory)
"They were like chalk and cheese: the chalkiest chalk and the cheesiest cheese"
For some reason I found that quite amusing in its simplicity.
Funny what appeals to people.