Q:

What does "of a kind" mean?

I'm not referring to "one of a kind" or "first of a kind" but "the two were of a kind".  This turns out to be remarkably un-Googlable so I am having difficulty providing examples.  In context I have always assumed it meant that two things were in a unique category unto themselves.

A:

"Two of a kind" means that there are two parts that make up the total. "The two were of a kind" is a little different because it doesn't imply that there are only two in that "kind", but that those two are in that "kind", where kind generally refers to a unique personality trait, state of mind, or way of looking at the world.

