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Today a common extension is politics makes strange bedfellows, meaning that politicians form peculiar associations so as to win more votes. A similar term is odd couple , a pair who share either housing or a business but are very different in most ways.
Although strictly speaking bedfellows are persons who share a bed, like husband and wife, the term has been used figuratively since the late 1400s. This particular idiom may have been invented by Shakespeare in The Tempest (2:2), “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”.
The quote “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows” means that misery, or a difficult situation, requires “a man,” or any person, to deal with “strange bedfellows.” “Strange bedfellows” is any circumstance or person that one has to associate with that they would not normally.
[Thunder.] Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep. under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabout: misery. acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud...
make strange bedfellows. Of a pair of people, things, or groups paired together in a certain situation or activity, to be extremely different in overall characteristics, opinions, ideologies, lifestyles, behaviors, etc. The liberal comedian and the conservative pundit may make strange bedfellows, but the two are coming together all this month ...
Quick Reference. Early 17th-century saying meaning that difficult circumstances will bring together very different people. While the underlying idea remains the same, there has always been variation in the first word of the proverb (see politics makes strange bedfellows). From: adversity makes strange bedfellows in The Oxford Dictionary of ...
Feb 2, 2024 · [1] Pronunciation [ edit] Audio (AU) Noun [ edit] strange bedfellows pl (normally plural, singular strange bedfellow) ( idiomatic) An unusual combination or political alliance . Translations [ edit] ± unusual combination or political alliance. See also [ edit] in bed with. make common cause. unholy alliance. References [ edit] ^
