(The difference between), subs. phr. (common).—No difference at all, save in sound; a distinction without a difference. [Encyclopædic Dictionary: The expression arose in the eighteenth century, when there was a dispute between the admirers of Bononcini and those of Handel, as to the respective merits of those musicians. Among the first were the Duke of Marlborough and most of the nobility; among the latter the Prince of Wales, Pope, and Arbuthnot.]
c. 1720. BYROM, Epigram on the Feuds between Handel and Bononcini.
| Some say, compar’d to Bononcini, | |
| That Mynheer Handel’s but a ninny; | |
| Others aver, that he to Handel | |
| Is scarcely fit to hold a candle: | |
| Strange all this difference should be, | |
| ’Twixt TWEEDLE-DUM AND TWEEDLE-DEE! |
