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vive la différence. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vive la différence, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
vive la différence in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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vive la différence, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from French, literally “long live the difference”, from vive (“long live”) + la (“the”) + différence (“difference, diversity”). Although correct and unremarkable French, it is not a stock phrase in French as it is in English.
Pronunciation
Phrase
vive la différence
- (often humorous) Used to express appreciation of diversity, especially between the sexes; sometimes referring to cultural diversity, and more rarely to diversity of opinion, as in "let's agree to disagree".
2001 November 1, Sandra Díaz with Marcelo Cabido, “Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes”, in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, volume 16, number 11, pages 646–655:
Usage notes
- Often used as a humorous exclamation (e.g., by a man appreciating an attractive woman).
- The term la différence is sometimes abstracted from this saying to refer to the difference between the sexes, or to heterosexual sexual interest implied to result from this.
Synonyms