English · Idiom Candidate

in the same breath

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To say two things that seem contradictory or opposite at the same time

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

nói hai điều mâu thuẫn cùng một lúc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: speaking simultaneously

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

TRIVANDRUM, INDIA – It is fashionable these days, particularly in the West, to speak of India and China in the same breath.

Tut, don't I know. " she added in the same breath, laughing as he laughed.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. 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 “in the same breath” mean?

To say two things that seem contradictory or opposite at the same time Literally: speaking simultaneously

Is “in the same breath” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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