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Neither here nor there

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Neither here nor there means irrelevant, insignificant, or unrelated to the main issue; in argumentative discourse, it dismisses tangential points, focusing attention on pertinent matters and logical relevance.

Detailed Definition
Neither here nor there means irrelevant, unimportant, or not central to the matter under discussion. In poetry, the idiom can express dismissal, emotional avoidance, or philosophical uncertainty. Its spatial language is suggestive: something belongs to no clear place, neither present nor absent, neither one category nor another. A poet may use it to mark marginal details, but also to question who decides what matters. It is useful in poems about displacement, ambiguity, and the overlooked significance of supposedly minor things.
Example
Example in poetry:
A philosophical poem might say the colour of the door is neither here nor there when grief is inside; In debate verse, the speaker dismisses a petty detail as neither here nor there; The phrase means irrelevant to the main issue; A poet can use it to move attention back to what matters.
Additional Notes
Neither here nor there means irrelevant, unimportant, or not central to the matter. In poetry, it can suggest evasion, emotional displacement, or the strange state of belonging nowhere. The phrase is spatial: meaning is imagined as having a proper place, while this detail occupies neither position. Students may use it to explore exile, liminality, indecision, or the way speakers dismiss details that may actually matter deeply.
Also Known As
irrelevant
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