neither

*neither rhyme nor reason

Cliché without logic, order, or planning. (Describes something disorganized. *Typically: be ~; have ~.) There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to Gerald's filing system. The novel's plot had neither rhyme nor reason.

See also: nor, reason, rhyme

If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.

Prov. You cannot do two things successfully at the same time. Vanessa: If I want to pursue my acting career, I'll have to take more days off to go to auditions. But I want to get ahead in the office, too. Jane: If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.

See also: after, catch, if, run, two

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Prov. It is difficult to be friends with someone who owes you money or with someone to whom you owe something, so it is better not to borrow or lend in the first place. After losing several of my favorite books because I didn't have the nerve to insist that my friends return them, I learned that it is best to neither a borrower nor a lender be.

See also: nor

Neither can I 

1. I cannot do that either. (Any subject pronoun can be used in place of I.) Bill: No matter what they do to them, I just can't stand sweet potatoes! Bob: Neither can I. John: Let's go. I cannot tolerate the smoke in here. Jane: Neither can I.

See also: can

neither does someone

[does] not either. Susan does not own a cat, and neither does Mary. Bill doesn't want to see a movie tonight, and neither do I.

See also: does

neither fish nor fowl

Cliché not any recognizable thing. The car that they drove up in was neither fish nor fowl. It must have been made out of spare parts. This proposal is neither fish nor fowl. I can't tell what you're proposing.

See also: fish, fowl, nor

neither here nor there

Cliché of no consequence or meaning; irrelevant and immaterial. Whether you go to the movie or stay at home is neither here nor there. Your comment—though interesting—is neither here nor there.

See also: here, nor

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be neither fish nor fowl

if something is neither fish nor fowl, it is difficult to describe or understand because it is like one thing in some ways but like another thing in other ways The hovercraft has always suffered from the fact that it is neither fish nor fowl.

See also: fish, fowl, nor

be neither one thing nor the other

if you say that something is neither one thing nor the other, you think it is bad because it is a mixture of two different things that do not combine well together I prefer a book to be either fact or fiction - this one's neither one thing nor the other.

See also: nor, one, other, thing

neither here nor there

if a fact is neither here nor there, it is not important Whether they go or not is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.

See be neither fish nor fowl

See also: here, nor

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me neither (spoken)

I also would not “I'd never go there alone at night.” “Me neither.”

Usage notes: used to agree with a negative statement

neither here nor there

not of any importance Whether we take the train or drive is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.

See also: here, nor