• porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    A distinction is made actively, labelling things distinctly, with different names. A difference refers to some properties of the things not being the same. The phrase just means “to label things differently while they are not actually different”, and you could qualify it a bit to say “except maybe in degree”.

      • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Yes, of course their meanings overlap. Both of these words have several definitions. Even so, a distinction is more about the act of making a distinction, while a difference is more about how the things actually are.