"exact same" and "same exact"

Status
Not open for further replies.

sunsunmoon

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
Argentina
Current Location
Japan
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary
exact same or US same exact
— used as a more forceful way to say “same”
▪ We grow the exact same vegetables in our garden every year. ▪ They showed up at the party in the same exact outfits.

Does "exact same" sound natural to AmE speakers? Does "same exact" sound natural to BrE speakers?
 
NOT A TEACHER...

I have never heard of such phrases, but I have heard of "exactly the same."

If I were the person who wrote these sentences, I would rather use "identicle."
 
Both examples sound OK to me.
 
NOT A TEACHER...

I have never heard of such phrases, but I have heard of "exactly the same."

If I were the person who wrote these sentences, I would rather use "identicle."

And I would rather use 'identical' ;-)

b

PS Spelling tip: words ending '-cle' often apply to small things - like a cuticle or a follicle or a cubicle. But by no means all such words do; and sometimes a not necessarily small thing like a muscle is named after a little metaphorical thing (musculus - a little mouse). Still, if you're wondering whether an ending should be '-cle' or '-cal', it's worth thinking how big it is. ;-)
 
Last edited:
PPS A more robust rule (fewer exceptions) is that words ending '-cle' are often nouns (for a similar reason - the Latin diminutive suffix -ulus: things that can take diminutive suffixes are often nouns. (Latin isn't everything, of course, but with this ending it often is!)

b
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top