distinction without a difference

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search




distinction without a difference (plural distinctions without a difference)

  1. 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.
    • 1831, James Fenimore Cooper, Homeward Bound, ch. 14:
      "'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.
    • 1880, Mark Twain, "Concerning the American Language, being part of a chapter which was crowded out of A Tramp Abroad":
      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.
    • 1964, "Obliterating the Effect," Time, 25 Dec.:
      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."
    • 1996, "Editorial: A setback for attempts to censor the Internet," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 13 June:
      "Obscene" is a higher standard than "indecent," although it seems like a distinction without a difference.
    • 2007, Cass R. Sunstein, "The Supreme Court's conservative divide," The New Republic Online, 29 June:
      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.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Almost always preceded by a.


See also[edit]