six of one, half a dozen of the other
- idiom
- Informal
:
es lo mismo
- Whether you travel by train or by bus, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other in terms of time.
Examples
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Choosing between the blue shirt and the red shirt is really just six of one, half a dozen of the other.
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For most people, doing it now or later is six of one, half a dozen of the other.
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To be honest, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other which restaurant we go to tonight.
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It's all six of one, half a dozen of the other!
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Whether you choose to stay in or go out, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
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In my opinion, getting a pizza or making pasta is six of one, half a dozen of the other.
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She said that taking a taxi or an Uber is really six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Synonyms
20
6.2
A situation where two results have the same chance
4
6.0
A phrase people use to say two things do not matter
Two choices that are about the same and make no difference
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
six + of + one, + half + a + dozen + of + the + other
The phrase literally juxtaposes 'six' and 'half a dozen', which are numerically identical, so a learner who knows the constituent words can compute the equivalence and infer that the two options make no real difference. This is a compositional numeric comparison rather than an arbitrary idiom, so the pragmatic meaning 'virtually the same' is directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Six of one, half a dozen of the other comes from the simple idea that six and half a dozen are the same number. So when someone says 'six of one, half a dozen of the other', they mean there is 'no real difference' between the two choices.