Some common expression for "oil and water don't mix"

[Silverobama]

What are some common ways to express "oil and water don't mix"?

A context: A guy called Alan reported to me (I'm the admin of some local English clubs) that a guy called Jack Wong was trying to take sexual advantages of young women and Alan thought that they were oil and water don't mix, so he reported what Jack was trying to do to me. How can I express this idea naturally or better?

How about "Alan and Jack are oil and water but don't mix"?

Please help me with a natural expression.

 

[Edward B]

"Oil and water don't mix" can be used when there are personality clashes, but not when a truthful report has been recieved.
It should not be used in the situation you described.

 

[emsr2d2]

What are some common ways to express "Oil and water don't mix"?

It's a set phrase so we don't have other ways of expressing it. If it's the right saying for a situation, we use it.

A Context: A guy called Alan reported to me (I'm the admin of some local English clubs) that a guy called Jack Wong was trying to take sexual advantages advantage (sexually) of some young women.

Note my corrections above. It's always "take advantage of", not "take advantages of". Note that I was going to remove the name of the person Alan is accusing but I have (for now) assumed you've had the sense to not use the real name of the accused. Since that person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, their real name should not be bandied around in public.

and Alan thought that they were oil and water don't mix, so he reported what Jack was trying to do to me. How can I express this idea naturally or better?

By using "oil and water don't mix" after "they were", you seem to be trying to use the whole phrase as an adjective. That doesn't work. You could say "Alan thought that they were like oil and water". People who know the full phrase will understand it. I don't really get what Alan was trying to say. Who are "they"? Is it Alan and Jack? Is it Jack and the women?

How about "Alan and Jack are oil and water but don't mix"?

No. See my notes after the previous quote box.

Please help me with a natural expression.

I can't. Edward B already explained that the phrase is used when people just don't get on (ie a personality clash). It doesn't fit this very serious context at all.

I hope you'll be limiting your use of the forum while you take on the almost full-time job of investigating this claim of sexual harassment and taking the appropriate action if it turns out to be true. You're going to be very busy with statements to the police etc.

 

[Silverobama]

"Oil and water don't mix" can be used when there are personality clashes, but not when a truthful report has been recieved.
It should not be used in the situation you described.

Note that I was going to remove the name of the person Alan is accusing but I have (for now) assumed you've had the sense to not use the real name of the accused. Since that person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, their real name should not be bandied around in public.

I don't really get what Alan was trying to say. Who are "they"? Is it Alan and Jack? Is it Jack and the women?

I can't. Edward B already explained that the phrase is used when people just don't get on (ie a personality clash). It doesn't fit this very serious context at all.

I hope you'll be limiting your use of the forum while you take on the almost full-time job of investigating this claim of sexual harassment and taking the appropriate action if it turns out to be true. You're going to be very busy with statements to the police etc.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions, emsr2d2. I've been an organizer of some local English clubs for many years but since the clubs are for everyone, I don't have the opportunity to get to know all of them. We have some online chat groups and some regular meet-up times and venues for people to meet up and I took at a look at all three groups just now and noticed that we had around 1400 members. I don't know, nor the other organizer knows all the members because most of them joined the chat group and then leave.

Such things are not uncommon in these English clubs or I could say are common in every English clubs and since every participant is an adult, I don't think I am powerful enough to help the police to investigate, the only thing I did was to remind the people in those groups because adults have their own rights to choose what they want while Alan's reporting of this case requires attention of the organizers because we don't want our English clubs to become a place where people can have casual sex.

I also beg to disagree with both you and Edward B. I was using the reported speech, telling what Alan was trying to tell me, why is the phrase inappropriate?

A guy called Alan told me that his friend XX asked him to go to some English club with him but later Alan was told by this friend that he was looking for casual sex. Alan thought he and his friend weren't compatible so he chose to reported this to me.

Please enlighten me.

 

[SoothingDave]

What exactly is the "oil" and the "water" in your scenario?

Is someone actually trying to assault or harass women, or are you taking offense at the idea that someone might use a gathering to try to meet a young lady?

 

[emsr2d2]

Let me get this straight. Your friend Alan has a friend called Jack, who invited Alan to go to an English club. Alan found out that Jack was going to the club to proposition women for casual sex. Alan decided that he and Jack are very unalike, in fact they are "like oil and water". Alan doesn't want to be friends with Jack because they have different attitudes towards women. He also decided to come to you to report that Jack isn't going to English clubs to practise his English. He's going because he wants to pick up young women for casual sex.
Is that all correct?

If so, it's not that the phrase itself is inappropriate for the situation. Alan clearly feels that he and Jack are not alike, they are "like oil and water" (which are two things that can't be mixed together - the oil will always float to the top). The problem is that the sentence is not grammatical. Alan could have said something like "Jack and I are like oil and water and, as you know, those two things don't mix". That's sort of paraphrasing the actual saying whilst keeping the sentence grammatical.
Alternatively, the exact phrase could be used as part of a dialogue. For example:

Helen: Hi, Alan. Have you seen Jack recently?
Alan: No. I don't hang out with him anymore.
Helen: Oh. Really? What happened?
Alan: Let's just say that oil and water don't mix.

 

[Silverobama]

Is that all correct?

Yes.

Helen: Hi, Alan. Have you seen Jack recently?
Alan: No. I don't hang out with him anymore.
Helen: Oh. Really? What happened?
Alan: Let's just say that oil and water don't mix.

Much appreciated.

Are the following sentences natural if I want to rephrase, what Alan said in Chinese, someone who was interested in what was going on after I posted the reminder in my chat groups?

1)We're poles apart.
2)We are on completely different wavelengths.
3)We have fundamentally different values.

 

[Skrej]

There's the expression 'like chalk and cheese'. Note that it's exclusively BrE.

Are the following sentences natural if I want to rephrase, what Alan said in Chinese, someone who was interested in what was going on after I posted the reminder in my chat groups?

1)We're poles apart. Apparently this expression is fairly common, but I'm more used to hearing 'polar opposites'. I'm not sure if it's just more common in BrE, or just not used in my part of the US. It's not incorrect, however.
2)We are on completely different wavelengths.
3)We have fundamentally different values.