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One and (in?) the same

Posted by Mark on August 07, 2001

In Reply to: One and (in?) the same posted by Bruce Kahl on August 07, 2001

: : "In" does not make the cold, hard, logical sense that "and" does, and when I used the phrase in an article, I had to come down on the side of "one." I just have a nagging feeling I've also heard it the other way. Anyone have an inkling what I might be confusing it with? Perhaps if the phrase also appears a lot with "in," it's just the result of good old American lazy diction.

: I never heard your phrase used as in "One IN the same", I only have heard it used as in "One AND the same."
: Maybe it just sounds that way if you say it very quickly--oneandthesame--and the "nd" part slurs to sound like "in".

I'd say this is a case of elliding the full pronounciation of "and," as you see in the case of other folksy locutions such as "peaches 'n cream." But you might have an argument about it if you asked down at the trailer park....

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