same difference
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (AU) (file)
NounEdit
- (idiomatic) A distinction which makes no difference; a distinction which does not matter.
- 2011, Constance Briscoe, The Accused, →ISBN, p. 274 (Google preview):
- "When you say she was a tart, do you mean a whore?"
- "It's the same difference," Betty said.
- 2011, Constance Briscoe, The Accused, →ISBN, p. 274 (Google preview):
Usage notesEdit
- Often used in a grammatically incomplete form, as a pro-sentence, meaning "That is a distinction which makes no significant difference." For example:
- 2000 July 31, Lev Grossman, "Report From MacWorld Expo," Time:
- Apple as a company has been as much about design as about technology. Is it in danger of putting form ahead of function? Same difference, says Jobs.
- 2000 July 31, Lev Grossman, "Report From MacWorld Expo," Time:
SynonymsEdit
- as broad as long
- same thing
- distinction without a difference
- potayto, potahto
- six of one, half a dozen of the other
- tomayto, tomahto