play emily brewster and one and the same text graphic

'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

Is it all the same anyway?


Is it 'one in the same' or 'one and the same'? Senior Editor Emily Brewster explains.

Transcript

Sometimes a word that sounds like the right word and feels like the right word isn't actually the right word, it's an eggcorn. The acrobat and the farmer who are the same person aren't "one in the same," they're "one and the same." You don't have to choose between being an acrobat and a farmer. You can be one and the same.

Up next

play emily brewster and one and the same text graphic
'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

play video title attorney generals
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

play video title words of the year 1066
Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

play how to use a dictionary
How to Use a Dictionary

 

The best way to find information in the dictionary

play video hopefully
Hopefully

 

We believe the popular usage of this word is correct

play video old school grammar humorsome
Old-School Grammar

 

Many of today's grammar rules can be traced to the opinions of one 18th century writer.

play fun funner funnest
Fun, Funner, Funnest

 

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'