Meanings
- idiomaticUsed to emphasize that two subjects are so different that they cannot coexist or agree with each other.
In Silverstein's terms, Frank is an "excitement seeker" and the lover is a "home builder." Never the twain shall meet. Again, for a while I saw the conflict between the two in the movie as a refreshing examination of a problem many gay couples (of both sexes) face. But […]
1981 December 27, Charles Bonnell, “Throwing In The Towel”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 23, page 5
Origin
Coined by the English author and poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) in his poem The Ballad of East and West (1889).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
never the twain shall meet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20the%20twain%20shall%20meet
“never the twain shall meet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20the%20twain%20shall%20meet. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “never the twain shall meet,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20the%20twain%20shall%20meet.
Source: never the twain shall meet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.