Dictionary

distinction without a difference en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (qualifier:set phrase) A linguistic or conceptual distinction which is of no practical importance or which has no effect on meaning; a perceived difference where there is no actual difference.
   • The Bush Administration attempted to distinguish the current case from Flast. . . . Judge Richard Posner, writing for the court of appeals, responded that this was a distinction without a difference. In the end, all money is appropriated by Congress. 2007 June 29, Cass R. Sunstein, “The Supreme Court's conservative divide”, in The New Republic Online:
   • I said . . . I did not speak English at all—I only spoke American. He laughed, and said it was a distinction without a difference. I said no, the difference was not prodigious, but still it was considerable. 1880, Mark Twain, Concerning the American Language, being part of a chapter which was crowded out of A Tramp Abroad:
   • "Obscene" is a higher standard than "indecent," although it seems like a distinction without a difference. 1996 June 13, “Editorial: A setback for attempts to censor the Internet”, in Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
   • [Attacking European Jews while claiming to avenge Palestinian deaths], of course, collapses the distinction between Israeli Jews and those from European countries, making a mockery of the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. For the terrorists, it is a distinction without a difference. 2018, The Jews: A History, John M Efron, Steven Weitzman, and Matthias B Lehmann:
   • "'The Active Inquirer' is the present name, though when we supported Mr. Adams it was called 'The Active Enquirer,' with an E." "A distinction without a difference; I like that," interrupted Captain Truck. 1831, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 14, in Homeward Bound:
   • The fact that the sit-in convictions were under state rather than federal law, ruled last week's majority, is "a distinction without a difference." 1964 December 25, “Obliterating the Effect”, in Time:

Forms

Relateds

of a piece · all the same · much of a muchness · all one · same difference

Translations (2)

he אבחנת פנטום (perceived, but not actual difference) · fi merkityksetön ero (perceived, but not actual difference)