vive la différence
See also: vive la difference
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French, literally “long live the difference”, from vive (“long live”) + la (“the”) + différence (“difference, diversity”). Although correct and unremarkable French, it is not a stock phrase in French as it is in English.
Pronunciation edit
Phrase edit
vive la différence
- (often humorous) Used to express appreciation of diversity, especially between the sexes; sometimes referring to cultural diversity, and more rarely to diversity of opinion, as in "let's agree to disagree".
- 2001 November 1, Sandra Díaz with Marcelo Cabido, “Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes”, in Trends in Ecology & Evolution[1], volume 16, number 11, pages 646–655:
Usage notes edit
- Often used as a humorous exclamation (e.g., by a man appreciating an attractive woman).
- The term la différence is sometimes abstracted from this saying to refer to the difference between the sexes, or to heterosexual sexual interest implied to result from this.
Synonyms edit
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
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- English humorous terms
- en:Gender
- English pseudo-loans from French