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The more things change, the more they stay the same



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Passive sentence (The number of automobiles ... greatly increased) | searched or seeked
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The more things change, the more they stay the same #1 (permalink) Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:31 am   The more things change, the more they stay the same
 

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Can somebody explain to me what that line means?
Thank you.
Iloveyakumon
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The more things change, the more they stay the same #2 (permalink) Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:47 pm   The more things change, the more they stay the same
 

.
Basically that means that nothing ever really changes. Even when it seems that there have been a lot of changes, all of the "changes" are or produce only the same things as before.

By the way, that saying is so common that it even has its own acronym:
TMTCTMTSTS Laughing
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The more things change, the more they stay the same #3 (permalink) Mon Aug 27, 2007 17:37 pm   The more things change, the more they stay the same
 

Hi,

Out of interest this expression comes straight from the French: Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

Forgive the lack of accents.

Alan
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The more things change, the more they stay the same #4 (permalink) Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:50 am   The more things change, the more they stay the same
 

.
Speaking of French, the apostrophe seems to be malfunctioning on your keyboard too.
Oh, well... C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas? Wink
.
Yankee
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The more things change, the more they stay the same #5 (permalink) Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:08 am   The more things change, the more they stay the same
 

Merci

Alan
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The more things change, the more they stay the same #6 (permalink) Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:29 pm   The more things change, the more they stay the same
 

now i get it.
thanks for your help Smile
Iloveyakumon
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Passive sentence (The number of automobiles ... greatly increased) | searched or seeked
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