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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

much of a muchness en · X

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Of two or more things, having little difference of any significance between them.
    • There are small trees and large shrubs which are much of a muchness, and it may not be possible to say whether an individual plant is a tall member of the shrub layer or a short tree. 2000, Patrick Whitefield, How To Make A Forest Garden, Permanent Publications, UK, page 13
    • As to any existing dearth of materials for comedy, I hold it to be merely imaginary; for I believe that on a fair comparison, the manners and morals of the present age and those of the past, would prove much of a muchness. 1819, The London Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, Etc, page 683:
    • In fact, he said, in spite of all efforts to lift the popular taste, things were much of a muchness with the old days when in popular novels the villain, had to be foiled, the hero had to triumph and the lovers had to be united. 1926 October 2, “Chats with Office Callers”, in Henry Ford, W. J. Cameron, editors, Dearborn Independent Magazine October 1925-December 1926, page 28:
    • The majority are much of a muchness so, unless you are desperately trying to find a way to waste money, I’d rarely venture into high double digits. 2019 October 6, Funmi Fetto, “Smoky eyes get a contemporary colour revamp”, in The Guardian:
    • “He was not,” answered a juror. “Old Peter Goodwin could not have been more than five feet five, and Dorothy was all of that, I should think. When they came to meeting together, they looked much of a muchness.” 1850, James Fenimore Cooper, “The Ways of the Hour”, in Precaution / The Ways of the Hour, facsimile edition, published 2010, page 30:
    • There were many legislative and political battles to be fought before the fundamental idea that all people were much of a muchness was translated into a culture of equal rights for all, but gradually rights were extended from landowners, to rich men, to not so rich men, to all men, and then to women. 2000, Steve Bruce, Sociology: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, page 80:
    • Nonsense! Every man thinks the girl he wants to marry different from every other. But she's nothing of the kind. Women are very much of a muchness, especially the pretty ones. I have not patience with this ranting about the equality of the sexes, It is not only irreligious but vulgar. 1906, William Somerset Maugham, The Bishop's Apron: A Study in the Origins of a Great Family, page 172:
    • The songs are much of a muchness (or littleness), all sounding forgettably alike. 1987 March 30, John Simon, “Theater: Railway Disaster”, in New York, page 97:
    • Private houses in London are apt to be much of a muchness. The door opens on a dark hall; from the dark hall rises a narrow staircase; off the landing opens a double drawing-room, and in this double drawing-room are two sofas on each side of a blazing fire, six armchairs, and three long windows giving upon the street. c. 1931, Virginia Woolf, “Portrait of a Londoner”, in The London Scene, published 2004, page 75:

Relateds

six of one, half a dozen of the other · distinction without a difference · same difference

Translations (20)

de dasselbe in Grün (little difference between multiple things) · fi kuin kaksi marjaa (little difference between multiple things) · fr kif-kif (little difference between multiple things) · fr c’est du pareil au même (little difference between multiple things) · pt farinha do mesmo saco (little difference between multiple things) · ru одинаковые (little difference between multiple things) · fr bonnet blanc, blanc bonnet (little difference between multiple things) · cs to samé v bleděmodrém (little difference between multiple things) · cs na jedno kopyto (little difference between multiple things) · pt cara de um, focinho de outro (little difference between multiple things) · cmn 差不多 (little difference between multiple things) · es tres cuartos de lo mismo (little difference between multiple things) · hu egykutya (little difference between multiple things) · hu nagyjából egyforma (little difference between multiple things) · cmn 大同小異 /大同小异 (little difference between multiple things) · nl lood om oud ijzer (little difference between multiple things) · cs prašť jako uhoď (little difference between multiple things) · de dieselbe Couleur in Grün (little difference between multiple things) · cmn 半斤八兩 /半斤八两 (little difference between multiple things) · pl mniej więcej to samo (little difference between multiple things)