Preposition choice when refererring to twins

Let's say I have 2 sets of twins and I grab 1 twin from each set. If these 2 non-related twins introduced themselves both as being twins but not being related to each other, how would they say that?

Would they say "we're twins, but not...

  • to each other
  • with each other
  • ...something else??

Obviously, they could say that "we're twins but we're not related." But I'm wondering more about preposition choice in this case, so please address that aspect of the question.


Solution 1:

Words of duplication (twin, duplicate, replica) as well as words of kinship (parent, sibling, cousin) almost always take of. Occasionally, you see to, but that's for a poetic or archaic feel.

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

Solution 2:

If you must go with a preposition, I think it's a tossup between "to" and "of."
"We are twins, but not to/of each other."

However, consider some completely different alternatives.

"We are twins, but we are not each other's twins."
(Not quite grammatically correct, but gets the point across)

"We are twins, but we aren't twins."
(Comedic and intentionally confusing)

"We are two twins but not a twinned twosome."
"We are a pair of twins but not a twinned pair."
(Accurate, can be start of further wordplay)

"I'm a twin, and he's a twin, but we aren't twins."
"I'm a twin, and he's a twin, but our twins are in another room/country/screenplay."

[Also, consider familiarizing yourself with other great works in twin comedy such as "The Boys from Syracuse."]