A: Who put them there?
B: I don’t know. Your daughter, I imagine.
A: Obviously my daughter, obviously. All the same, it is extraordinary not even to ask my opinion.
Question: I don’t know why the phrase “all the same” is used in this sentence. What does it mean here?
Thank you!!!
“All the same” is used to say, “let’s transition from what you think is the most significant thing to what I think is the most significant thing,” shifting the topic, shifting the center, and elevating the intensity and directness of the conversation.
It’s close to saying, “that may be true, but here’s what I want to move on to…” “All the same” rather literally maps to, “that may be true, but…”
What is a dog?
A canine species scientifically classified as Canis lupus familiaris, is a domesticated mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Canidae. With a well-developed sense of olfaction and superior hearing capabilities, it has evolved as a social predator and has been domesticated for thousands of years by humans, serving as a loyal companion and performing various utilitarian roles such as herding, hunting, and providing security. This species exhibits a wide range of physical and behavioral characteristics, with marked variation present within individual populations as a result of selective breeding practices and geographic differentiation. Its anatomy comprises of a muscular and bony skeleton, digestive system adapted to omnivorous dietary habits, and a complex central nervous system capable of processing sensory information and exhibiting diverse behavioral responses. In conclusion, Canis lupus familiaris, commonly referred to as the “dog”, is a highly adaptable and social species, displaying unique morphological and behavioral traits as a result of millennia of interaction with humans.
You could substitute - “Regardless” or “Nevertheless” for “All the same”.
Indeed, where “nevertheless” is fairly high register, “regardless” is semi-formal, and “all the same” is rather casual and conversational.
I would say it could mean "even so’
If you simply google “all the same” you’ll get your answer.
The result of my googling:
All the same: in spite of this; nevertheless.
“she knew they had meant it kindly, but it had hurt all the same”
But if @lily had googled this trivial thing by herself, gmeyer wouldn’t get the opportunity to explain a1 term with c2 gibberish 
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. I’m gonna be that bad guy…
@lily,
you shouldn’t use people to google for you. Especially for simple terms. English is already completely digitalized. Just type what you need to know into
Google.com, or
Synonyms and analogies in English | Reverso Dictionary or
Reverso Context | Translation in context - Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Chinese, English
This is just becoming hilarious, and you’re starting to look stupid, I’m sorry.
All the same, it’s good to be nice.
Being nice is commenting under the for months overdue and already answered and perfectly googleable questions?
Or showing off with the knowledge of how to combine complex and confusing sentences in your native language, instead of actually answering the simple a1 questions? I mean, all those “let’s transition from”, “shifting the topic, shifting the center, and elevating the intensity and directness of the conversation” and “rather literally maps to”.
It’s neither good nor nice. It’s rather cringy if anything… But, whatever (all the same).
Not sure what the problem is. People enjoy helping. Sure, lily could learn to use online resources, which would help her in the future, but these forums for specific language are not extremely active, so it’s not like she’s crowding them. Any one explanation may be more helpful than others, so lily has several to choose from: if one is confusing, she can turn to another one.
@miriaml5,
why should there be a problem? I don’t see one. You’ve mentioned several points, but I guess it’ll be a broad philosophical TL;DR If I go to answer them all.
In short, I do what I think is right thing to do and criticize things that I consider absurd, pointless and so on.
It’s the world of plural “truths” and if one doesn’t make an effort to express and promote their point/truth at least sometimes, they’re gonna find themselves in the world they don’t like. So that’s my general take on life. Here on the forum, I think, it is more valuable to say to Lily what I’ve said than pretending that there’s nothing out there to check a vocabulary term or a phrase and we’re still living in the 00-x.
I probably wouldn’t say that if this was some general forum out there, where users help each other psychologically, where one asks something trivial and others come and feel themselves needed and helpful.
S.I. has a made a very good point.
Most unfortunately, lilyyang has been posting here for years and years using the same flawed material which is full of errors, misspellings, mistranslations, or even subtitles that appear not reflect the dialogue,
I advised lilyyang about 3 years ago to move on to other sources of material or to complement this with other sources of learning - to no avail.
Here’s an example from just over two years ago: You Don't Have.... - Language Forum @ LingQ
At least “all the same” is entirely correct.
Interesting that lilyyang is being referred to as female - I always assumed lilyyang was male - not too sure why.
I usually resorted to the Merriam-Webster dictionary and encyclopedia for reference before the internet era mass-scaled digitalization on the internet. However, nothing replaces personal interaction with others in language learning.
The other day, I had a little trouble wrapping my head around a quote from the Wednesday Addams family show on Netflix; “I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation.” I kept thinking “void of,” as in “completely lacking,” and “meaningless,” should have been “meaningful.” So I read it to be, “I find social media to be soul-sucking void of meaningful affirmation.” Finally, I sorted out that the little detail lies in the trivial English article “a.” How hilarious! Sometimes it’s more about engaging oneself in learning by asking questions and finding out the nuance, subtlety, and different shades of meaning in words than a standard definition you can find from any resources or sample sentences that use other interchangeable terms. How about other similar but unreplaceable words with different usages?
I hope people will not refrain from asking questions because of the omnipresence of googleable factual information or the habit of stipulating that there’s nothing new under the sun. There’s no such thing as a stupid question, even less so being a silly person asking a question in doubt.
One problem is our assumption about the language level of the audience or audiences in question. I am sure other users can benefit from the discussion as well. Another problem is the thought that every same or similar circumstance applies to others because of what we have experienced. I will undoubtedly find myself at the end of my wits of having to explain how to make a toaster from scratch to an indigene from an imaginary realm governed by different physical laws or elucidate how human emotions work for Data to process without the slightest doubt.
What’s your take on the following question?
So the early bird gets the worms from a can that someone opens up?
One googleable conclusion is not to be an early worm.
I did look the phrase “all the same” up in the dictionary before asking the question here. However, I found the meaning is quite different from what I’ve learned so far. I just want to know the usage, if people do use it in daily life or it’s British, American English something like that.
In this context, “all the same” means “nevertheless” or “despite that.” The speaker is acknowledging that it is their daughter who put the items there, but still finds it surprising that their opinion was not even sought in the matter. The use of “all the same” emphasizes the speaker’s surprise and dissatisfaction with the situation.
this answer ist from ChatGPT.
This is essentially why I brought up the register, that “all the same” is fairly informal and casual. It is phrase used around the English-speaking world and without really distinction of class or subculture.
While some may consider such discussion of vocabulary C2 gibberish, I find this kind of information about idiomatic phrases among the most useful. In communication, how to use idiomatic phrases seems to be quite important, beyond what they mean in their dictionary definitions.
I find language much about how to communicate well, and even in a broader context, how to represent yourself well.
