# Norwegian: six of one, half dozen of the other



## Grefsen

A fairly common expression used in English to compare two things that are almost the same or equal is "six of one, half dozen of the other." While watching an English Premiere League football (soccer) match yesterday morning I heard one of the match commentators say "six and two threes" to mean that the referee could have decided to call a foul on either of two players.

I hadn't heard this British before and it got me thinking about "six of one, half dozen of the other" and now I'm wondering if  there is a similar expression used in Norwegian to mean "two things that  are said differently, but mean basically the same thing"?

På forhånd takk!


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## oskhen

Grefsen said:


> A fairly common expression used in English to compare two things that are almost the same or equal is "six of one, half dozen of the other." While watching an English Premiere League football (soccer) match yesterday morning I heard one of the match commentators say "six and two threes" to mean that the referee could have decided to call a foul on either of two players.
> 
> This got me thinking about these expressions and I was wondering if there are perhaps a similar type expressions used in Norwegian to mean "two equivalent choices or situations"?
> 
> På forhånd takk!



The closest I can think of is saying that a choice is "pest eller kolera" - plague or cholera, indicating that both alternatives are (equally) bad. But a google search indicates that English has the same expression.


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## Grefsen

oskhen said:


> The closest I can think of is saying that a choice is "pest eller kolera" - plague or cholera, indicating that both alternatives are (equally) bad. But a google search indicates that English has the same expression.


This is close, but not quite what I'm looking for.  Here is an example of how the expression "six of one, half dozen of the other" is used in English:


> "I say she's a stewardess. She says she's a flight attendant. It's six of one, a half-dozen of the other." Although something has been said in two different ways, they ultimately mean the same thing.


*Six of one, half dozen of the other*


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## basslop

I agree that oakhen's answer is not quite what you're looking for. In a small break in a busy day at work I cannot find anything similar in Norwegian.

We have some regarding time though, like: ".... Arbeidet vil foregå mellom ti tretti og halv elleve....". But again this is not quite what you are asking for.


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## Tjahzi

*Swedish* has "(Is the glass) half full or half empty(?)". (_Är glaset_)_ havlfullt eller halvtomt_(_?_).


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## hanne

In Danish we've got "det er hip som hap", which also means that it's more or less the same, and doesn't matter one way or the either, but again isn't quite the same as in English. ("hip" and "hap" are not "real" words, so don't worry about what they mean )

(I think we're slowly arriving at the united conclusion that an expression similar to the English one doesn't exist in any of the Scandinavian languages )


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## oskhen

hanne said:


> (I think we're slowly arriving at the united conclusion that an expression similar to the English one doesn't exist in any of the Scandinavian languages )



I think you're right. "Hipp som happ" and "halvfull/halvtomt" is in Norwegian too, but as said: they're not exactly the same as the English expression.


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## Tech12

What about "det er samme ulla"?


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## oskhen

Tech12 said:


> What about "det er samme ulla"?



Yeah, but then you could just as well say "det er samme sak". I have the impression that's not exactly what Grefsen had in mind. But of course, it does basically mean "that's the same thing"/"those are the same".


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## brikken

"To sider af samme sag"


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## Havfruen

Another English expression with very similar meaning to the original is "same difference". Perhaps it helps suggest a translation?

I find in google "_samme forkjellen" ( or "samme forskel"_ in Danish)
Native comments?


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## Havfruen

brikken said:


> "To sider af samme sag"



I think this would be "two sides of the same coin".


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## brikken

Havfruen said:


> I find in google "_samme forkjellen" ( or "samme forskel"_ in Danish)
> Native comments?



Yes, you're right. I've heard the expression "Forskellen er den samme", which is obviously meant in a funny way.


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## hanne

I think Grefsen was looking for a quite specific expression when he asked his question, and I think we've agreed that such an expression doesn't exist in Norwegian. The rest of the discussion may be entertaining, but it could go on forever and isn't really leading us anywhere, so I'm closing the thread.


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