世博习惯用语【23】Six of one and half a dozen of the other 半斤八两

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Six of one and half a dozen of the other

Definition: two things are almost the same; two people or groups are equally responsible

【世博精解】

这个惯用语非常类似于汉语中的“半斤八两”，不过我们论重量，他们论数量罢了。不过在意义上还是稍微有些不同的，six of one and half a dozen of the other可以用在两个方面。一是和“半斤八两”近意，表示两件事情实际上一样，e.g. I say she's a stewardess. She says she's a flight attendant. It's six of one and a half dozen of the other. Stewardess和flight attendant虽然叫法不同，但其实是一回事。它还有第二种用法，用来表示双方都有错、都要负责,e.g. Lisa’s always accusing Jane of starting arguments, but if you ask me, it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other. 关于六，还有一个非常简单的惯用语：be at sixes and sevens, 也就是乱七八糟了！

Example dialog:

A: It makes no difference for us to vote or not vote for the new president. 对新总裁的任命投票或者不投票对我们并没有什么重要的意义。

B. You are so right! It’s a case of six of one and a half dozen of the other. 对极了!投不投票都差不离。