History Main / DistinctionWithoutADifference

* ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' T. Sean Collins is a mercenary and calls himself such. He finds the tendency among his colleagues to use euphemisms like "freelance security consultant" to be a hypocritical way of whitewashing their profession.
* In Lawrence Block's ''Burglars Can't Be Choosers'' Ellie claims to be David Merrick's secretary over the phone to get some important information from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

* In Paul Robinson's ''In the Matter Of: The Gatekeeper: The Gate Contracts'', George Green is asked if he was rude to someone. He pulls a RulesLawyer and asks for the definition of "rude". His boss hands him an electronic dictionary and discovers he was, so he admits it. Later he tells his boss he was going to say no, he had been "curt" but he discovered it's essentially the same thing, so he said yes, he was rude.

* Literature/CiaphasCain, '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''', has an interesting take on this. Usually the reword puts someone in a better light. He, on the other hand, spends hundreds of pages explaining in detail how he is ''not'' a hero, that he doesn't charge the enemy, he's really retreating through them. You can bet each one of his stories has hundreds of these rewordings; being the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe, though, he ''is'' a badass, since that's a basic requirement just to still be alive.

* The ''Lasher'' series:

** As the author has asserted, Fourecks is NOT UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}. It just happens to share certain suspicious resemblances, turned UpToEleven.

-->'''Mona:''' I didn't lose my virginity. [[UpToEleven I obliterated all traces of its existence]].

* In ''WebAnimation/HunterTheParenting'', the vampire Kevin hates vampiric [[FantasticDrug blood bonds]], calling them effectively slavery. The blood-bonded detective Chapman disagrees, because he prefers to call it "indentured servitude.

'''Olive:''' Fine. It's not polite to look at someone for a really long time.\\

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E3HomerTheHeretic Homer the Heretic]]"
--->'''Marge:''' Are you actually giving up your faith?\\
'''Homer:''' No! No-no-no-no-no no! Well, yes.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E19SimpsonTide Simpson Tide]]", when Homer is accused of having defected to Russia:
--->'''Abe:''' My Homer is not a Communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, and a Communist, but he is ''not'' a porn star!

* Authoritarian and totalitarianism is sometimes used conjectuarlly since their methods are similar to each other (for example the use of oppression, lack of freedom of speech, censorship, forbids individualism) and in some cases (read: CCP) it's pretty accurate.

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': During the Future Trunks Saga, [[spoiler: Future Zamasu states that he and Goku Black are not friends, just kindred spirits working together on the same dream. Goku even lampshades that that's basically the same thing.]]

%%* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'': Happens all the time. Typically it's Orbot and Cubot making the exchange, though Sonic and Knuckles get a couple as well.

* When Augustus defeated all his opponents and stood as the sole ruling man in Rome, he was by all means a monarch. But instead of using the term king (''rex'' in Latin), which was totally despised in ancient Roman culture, and while trying to give an appearance of having preserved the republican institutions, he instead called himself ''Princeps Civitatis'' ("first citizen"). Meanwhile, he concentrated for life on his persona various titles and positions that held power, for example: ''primus inter pares'' ("first among equals", previously an honorific title for the most respected member of the senate), ''imperator'' ("commander", or more properly "he who holds the military rule"), ''pontifex maximus'' ("greatest priest", the most important position in the ancient Roman clergy), censor, tribune, and so on.

* Averted in ''Franchise/SpiderMan''. Whenever John Jonah Jameson (Jr.) is accused of MaliciousSlander against the titular hero, he usually retorts with an accurate legal distinction. "It is NOT! Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel."

* Videogame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries: Batman tries to convince the captured Penguin to give up his masters plan.

%%* In ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'', Oblina practically uses one as a CatchPhrase, usually after someone disregards her advice and later [[LaserGuidedKarma pays for it]]: %%"I'm certainly not going to say 'I told you so'-- but I told you so!"

In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E19SimpsonTide Simpson Tide]]", when Homer is accused of having defected to Russia:

-->[[ItMakesSenseInContext I don't make the rules for crack baby basketball]]. I just think them up and then write them down.

-->"I'm not drinking and driving, I'm driving while I'm drinking. Right, boys?"

** when Naruto accuses Jiraya of being a pervert, Jiraya replies that he's not a pervert but a ''super''-pervert.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': The protagonist Leon makes some statements like this about gambling, while gambling, such as "I hate gambling, but I love winning". What this really means, is that he’ll only gamble if he can be FixingTheGame in his favor.

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'', the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney version:]]

* ''WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}}'': In Jim Sterling's second crack at Kobra Studios' ''Second Warfare'' (after they suggested that he had been criticising the game "poorly" by missing features like a flashlight and grenade launcher, both of which turned out to be equally hideous-looking and borderline nonfunctional) has him make this gem of a comment:

-->-- '''The TF2 Team''', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''

-->-- '''[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 The TF2 Team]]'''

* ''{{Series/Elementary}}'' has this exchange after Joan Watson is taken captive by Le Milieu[[note]]Bonus points for ''almost'' referring to the trope by name[[/note]]:
--> '''Marchef (the Le Milieu lieutenant who’d chloroformed and kidnapped Watson):''' You are very beautiful. For a cop.\\
'''Watson:''' I’m not a cop.\\
'''Marchef:''' “Not a cop”. Then why did I find an NYPD identification card in your purse? Why did I find this? ''(produces the card in question)''\\
'''Watson:''' I’m a consultant. I work ''with'' the police.\\

-->'''Luke:''' What, you just said it and walked away?
-->'''Jess:''' No. I got in my car and left.
-->'''Luke:''' You just dropped the bomb and ran?
-->'''Jess:''' I drove!

-->"But I resent the implication\\

and somehow did itself!"

* ''{{VideoGame/Cyberpunk 2077}}'': Saul insists that the Aldecaldos' main source of income is "logistics", not "smuggling", but when pressed for a distinction, he shrugs and admits that given the type of "logistics" they mostly get called upon to do, there really isn't one.

-->'''Courier:''' In the meantime, you'd rule Vegas as some kind of dictator?\\

** Also, from the Old World Blues DLC:

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has the Machine Faction and "machines," which are a really just salvaged machina, but which are called that in order to avoid a term which still holds negative connotations for some in Spira. A random NPC woman even comments "A machine? It's just a machina."
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' made the same mistake as ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' further down -- originally, the AntiGrinding came in the form of a "Fatigue" system which reduced experience as your session grew longer, and players hated it. An update changed it to a limited "rested bonus" that accumulated while logged out, and this time players loved what was essentially the same mechanic.

* In ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', the game calls several of the flashy kills that require a bit of setup "Opportunities". The [[VideoGame/Hitman2 following game]] changes the name to "Mission Stories", despite being identical in every way except the name.
* In ''Gizmos: Riddle of the Universe'' Kurt suggests reporting a crashed NASA unmanned spacecraft to the Gizmo Land government.

* In ''VideoGame/Hitman2'', the [="MK.II"=] line of weapons are functionally identical to their [=non-MK.II=] counterparts, save for a tiny little square pink sticker with the number "2" on it. The exception is the ICA Executive Briefcase MK.II (which is some SelfDeprecation on this trope, and has a massive worn out "2" sticker on the lid, and the homing speed is super-slow, a nod to the games' "Slow Homing Briefcase" bug).

** Mortelli claims that his tryst with a prostitute in Las Vegas isn’t a secret.
--->'''Mortelli:''' “[My wife] just hasn’t asked the right questions."
** Lainie, Cecilia, and their family hate when people call them “rich.” They prefer to say that they own a lot.
* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', Ms. Walsh has trained to teach children who are “intellectually disabled,” not “retarded.” Justified in that school systems are more politically correct than most other environments, and in that schools do not want to discourage the parents of children who need special education from eschewing it due to social stigma.

* ''The American Civil War WebAnimation/OverSimplified'' gives us this gem:
--> '''General George B. [=McClellan=]:''' I didn't lose! I merely failed to win!

* ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxhound''
-->'''Ocelot:''' "Torture" is such an '''inelegant''' word. I'm an artist. Their testicles are my canvas.

** Another video, dealing with ''Film/TheLastAirbender'', backs down from a section title card saying that one of the problems is Creator/MNightShyamalan, deciding to look at the department heads and see if there's a weak link. Cue the amended title card, which reads "M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN IS THE WEAK LINK".

* ''WebVideo/TheWarpZone'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vi8v5jmZGQ "Mandalorian Couples Therapy"]], when Boba Fett accuses the Mandalorian to be part of a cult.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAddamsFamily1992'': "The Day Gomez Failed" has Gomez, [[TheAce who's tired of being great at everything]], try to fail at something for once, only to succeed with blinding colors at everything he attempts in spite of himself. His quest to fail at something is finally stopped by Morticia telling him that he's been failing at ''failing'', which is good enough for him.

'''Darwin:''' You're not weak! You just lack upper body strength, lower body strength, and mental strength!\\
\\

* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'': In "Piggy's Time Machine", when Miss Nanny scolds Piggy for being impatient for her birthday, Piggy insists that she's not impatient, she just wants her birthday to happen now.

--> '''Lawyer:''' Just whatever you do, don't talk to any lawyers!
--> '''Pickles:''' But aren't YOU guys lawyers?
--> '''Lawyer:''' Heavens, no! We're ''attorneys!''
* ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'': Lampshaded in an episode where Adam thinks that Lola the llama is trying to steal Ingrid's life.
-->'''Windsor:''' It does appear that Ingrid is a victim of an APA: Aggressive Pack Assimilation. It's when a wayward and oftentimes mentally unstable animal with no pack to speak of attempts to circumvent the normal and customary rituals for joining a group by simply disposing of the weakest member and taking their place.\\
'''Adam:''' So, Lola's stealing Ingrid's life? That's what I said.\\
'''Windsor:''' Yes, but my description was wordier.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E19SimpsonTide Simpson Tide]]", when Homer is accused of having defected to Russia:

** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E19StormOverRyloth Storm Over Ryloth]]": When Commander Axe asks Ahsoka why they're retreating, she replies that they're "not retreating. [They're] following orders." Those orders are to retreat.

* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': In "Plunder and Lightning", Don Karnage insists that he and his crew will not be ''robbing'' Cape Suzette, they'll be ''plundering'' it. The difference being, in his mind, that when a pirate is the one doing the stealing and looting it becomes more dashing and romantic.

'''Din Djarin:''' What? I'm not in a cult! I'm just part of an isolated group of people who live by a stringent set of rules and morals that must be followed absolutely and unquestioningly and if you ever break the rules, you're ruthlessly cast out and shunned by the rest of the... okay, I might be in a cult.

* Common in politics from every side, "It's not a cut, it's an efficiency dividend", "We're not raising taxes, we're indexing them to inflation", "It's not a new tax it's a levy/co-payment/tax adjustment", "It's not a broken promise, circumstances changed which meant we couldn't fulfill our original commitments", "[[RefugeInAudacity It's not a lie, it's an alternative fact]]".