neither fish nor fowl

Etymology
Possibly a variant of, itself a variant of which is attested from the 16th century. According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1895), the latter term referred to three types of food generally consumed by the different classes in society: fish by the clergy, flesh by the common people, and red herring by the poor. Thus if something was neither fish, flesh, nor red herring, it was good for no one.

Adjective

 * 1)  Not easily categorized; not rightly belonging or fitting well in a given group or situation; also, not having the advantages of the various options.

Usage notes
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the term was primarily used literally. See, for example, ;

Translations

 * Arabic: لا السمك ولا الطيور
 * Bulgarian: ни рак, ни риба
 * Catalan: ,
 * Chinese:
 * Cantonese:
 * Mandarin:, , , ,
 * Czech: ani ryba ani rak
 * Danish: hverken fugl eller fisk
 * Dutch:, mossel noch vis
 * Faroese: hvørki fuglur ella fiskur
 * Finnish: ei lintu eikä kala, outolintu
 * French: ,
 * Galician: nin arre nin xo
 * German: weder Fisch noch Fleisch
 * Hebrew: לא בשר ולא חלב
 * Icelandic:, viðrinislegur
 * Irish: níl sé ina ghruth ná ina mheadhg
 * Italian: né carne né pesce
 * Japanese: 海の物とも山の物ともつかない, 海の物とも山の物ともつかない
 * Latin: homō nūllīus colōris
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål:
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese: nem carne nem peixe
 * Romanian: nici cal nici măgar
 * Russian:, ни бо́гу све́чка, ни чёрту кочерга́, , ни то́ ни сё
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Roman: ni pirka ni kanjac, ni riba ni meso
 * Spanish: ni chicha ni limonada, ni de aquí ni de allá
 * Swedish: varken fågel eller fisk