风马牛不相及

風馬牛不相及

fēngmǎniúbùxiāngjí

idiom #76,561

Meanings

1 to have absolutely nothing to do with each other
2 completely unrelated; apples and oranges

Characters

wind; (here) animals in heat / wandering

to reach; come into contact

Examples

HSK 2

他的回答和问题风马牛不相及。

Tā de huídá hé wèntí fēngmǎniúbùxiāngjí.

His answer had absolutely nothing to do with the question.

HSK 3

你举的例子跟我们讨论的话题风马牛不相及。

Nǐ jǔ de lìzi gēn wǒmen tǎolùn de huàtí fēngmǎniúbùxiāngjí.

The example you gave is completely unrelated to what we're discussing.

HSK 7-9

这两件事风马牛不相及，你别硬扯在一起。

Zhè liǎng jiàn shì fēngmǎniúbùxiāngjí, nǐ bié yìng chě zài yīqǐ.

These two things have nothing to do with each other - stop forcing them together.

Tips

history

From 《左传·僖公四年》: the Duke of Chu says of Qi, 君处北海，寡人处南海，唯是风马牛不相及也 - 'Your realm is the North Sea, mine the South; even horses and cattle in heat couldn't find each other's territory.' 风 here means animals in heat wandering off.

usage

Very common in modern speech to dismiss a false analogy or irrelevant comparison. Often follows 跟/和…风马牛不相及.

Stroke Order

风 fēng

马 mǎ

牛 niú

不 bù

相 xiāng

及 jí