...I mean, he went to business Scool, so I thought he was savvy like that. We were partners in crime--a kind of toxic twin type of scenario--Knight Ridder quoting designer Richie Rich
I get 20,000 hits but no defs. Can anyone help without laborious rearch opening each hit sequentially--Thanks kindly all
tell you what, dale; you stop using ~ in place of whatever it is you're thinking about, and I'll do your search for you...
In this case it's "toxic twin". I suspect something like "evil twin".
eta: Deal! See edited post
From context I took toxic twins to mean a pair of people that get on well with each other, have a lot in common, very close-knit, etc, but to the rest of society are maybe misanthropic or at least outrageous. "Evil twin" implies that one of a pair is evil and the other is not, whether we're talking about actual twins or just a person and their doppleganger.
I think you're closer than I am, Alex. He did say, "We were partners in crime--a kind of toxic twin type of scenario …" That kind of implies that they shared the toxicity.
well, I think Alex has the close of it, but it does get used in a couple of different ways. there are also a couple of different music groups and djs and blogs, etc., etc.
the most interesting use I found was here:
the lesson of butterfliesQuote:
Viceroy butterflies have long been thought to be the leading example of an evolutionary play known as Batesian mimicry. The Viceroy was thought to be a nontoxic copy of the Monarch. The coloration similarity increased the odds against being eaten. Thus members of this species take advantages of lessons predators have already learned about avoiding their toxic twin.
The case of the Viceroy and Monarch appears to be more complex. The red-winged blackbird is a natural butterfly predator. It was used in an experiment as a taste tester. The birds were fed the bodies of Viceroys, Monarchs and other butterflies known to be the blackbird's favorites. The birds eagerly ate 98 percent of the other butterflies but only 41 percent of the Viceroys and 46 percent of the Monarchs. This suggests that the Viceroys taste just as bad as the Monarchs. Since the wings had been removed, the similar color or Batesian mimicry is not all that has evolved. This experiment suggests that the two foul-tasting butterflies may have used another ploy to evolve into look-alikes. By doubling their numbers, these similar butterflies more quickly taught predators avoidance. The Monarch and Vicerory doubled their protection.
the first paragraph seems to imply that a "toxic twin" is one that carries some trait or behavior that affects others who are similar, though don't necessarily carry that same trait or exhibit the same behavior. the second paragraph however, muddies that idea for me, a bit.
so, I don't know that we're any closer to a "definitive" definition.
The butterfly example (which was very interesting btw) is using the term toxic in a more literal way. The butterflies are literally foul-tasting though not downright poisonous. The original example you provided seemed more figurative. Then again, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie spring to my mind as toxic twins, and they frequently exhibit terrible taste (or none at all), so maybe there's a connection.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie spring to my mind as toxic twins, and they frequently exhibit terrible taste (or none at all), so maybe there's a connection.
Heh, heh, heh.
I'm slowly cocluding that "toxic twin" is one of those expressions that doesn't have a very specific meaning but can be dropped anywhere it remotely seems to fit
Incidentally what's the term for such vernacular
The Viceroy is the official state butterfly of Kentucky. [throwing in the odd fact e]