Goose, gander and gosling are three sounds but one thing. (Strauss, 1994 p. 104)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Different aspects are essentially the same thing
Literally: family of geese
Examples
The company's three subsidiaries are like a goose, gander and gosling, all serving the same purpose
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Goose, gander and gosling are three sounds but one thing. (Strauss, 1994 p. 104)” mean?
Different aspects are essentially the same thing Literally: family of geese
Is “Goose, gander and gosling are three sounds but one thing. (Strauss, 1994 p. 104)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.