horse of another/different color, a

horse of a different color

A person or thing completely different or unique, especially in comparison to someone or something else. I've always found math to be pretty easy, but calculus is proving to be a horse of a different color. Most politicians would have resigned after a scandal like that, but this senator is a horse of a difference color.

See also: color, different, horse, of

horse of another color

A person or thing completely different or unique, especially in comparison to someone or something else. I've always found math to be pretty easy, but calculus is proving to be a horse of another color. Most politicians would have resigned after a scandal like that, but this senator is a horse of another color.

See also: another, color, horse, of

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

(a) horse of another color

 and a horse of a different color

Fig. another matter altogether. I was talking about trees, not bushes. Bushes are a horse of another color. Gambling is not the same as investing in the stock market. It's a horse of a different color.

See also: another, color, horse, of

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

horse of another/different color, a

A different affair altogether. This term was more or less invented by Shakespeare, who in Twelfth Night (2.3) wrote, “My purpose is, indeed, a horse of that colour,” meaning, my aim is indeed something like that. Eventually this was changed to difference rather than likeness, as in Anthony Trollope’s Last Chronicles of Barset (1867): “What did you think of his wife? That’s a horse of another colour altogether.”

See also: another, different, horse, of

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer