strange bedfellows

1. Unlikely companions or allies; often used in the phrase “politics makes strange bedfellows.”

Idioms and Phrases

A peculiar alliance or combination, as in George and Arthur really are strange bedfellows, sharing the same job but totally different in their views . 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.” 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. This term gained currency with Neil Simon's Broadway play The Odd Couple and, even more, with the motion picture (1968) and subsequent television series based on it, contrasting housemates Felix and Oscar, one meticulously neat and obsessively punctual, the other extremely messy and casual.

Example Sentences

“There are a lot of strange bedfellows corroborating each other and people from the highest levels to the lowest levels.”

From Salon

It immediately prompted controversy in swaths of the country with high property values, and created strange bedfellows among Republican and Democratic lawmakers from these states.

From Los Angeles Times

Since China is its biggest trading partner, Brazil is comfortable maintaining close relations with Beijing, even if the Brics grouping provides it with some "strange bedfellows", as Mr Zeidan puts it.

From BBC

Politics, the cliché goes, makes strange bedfellows.

From Seattle Times

“Cigar” tells a wild tale with shootouts and chases and a couple of strange bedfellows: a Black revolutionary on the run and a well-coiffed Hollywood power player looking to bankroll him.

From New York Times