Lazyweb, go!

[jgrafton]

I got into a small discussion about the English idiom "same difference" this evening, and I'm curious as to the etymology of this strange idiom. Can any of you explain from where it originated?

Comments

[meshach.livejournal.com]

I think it apeared around middle school. That's all I know.

[psifenix.livejournal.com]

It's probably a semantic corruption of "It doesn't make a difference." Frequently-occuring conversational expressions like that generally tend towards shorter forms. Even though "same difference" is not actually semantically congruent with "it doesn't make a difference" in a literal sense, people know from context that they are used the same way. Linguistic nonprescriptivism, go!

[x13xgreen.livejournal.com]

I don't like that idiom at all. I don't know if there is any correct usage of it.

[gregh1983]

Dictionary.com says:

No difference at all, the same thing, as in She's my sister, or stepsister -- same difference. This jocular colloquial phrase dates from about 1940.

I will try checking the OED when I get to campus.

[27thletter.livejournal.com]

Rhode Island.