Etymology

vive la différence

Today it means: Used to express appreciation of diversity, especially between the sexes; sometimes referring to cultural diversity, and more rarely to diversity of opinion, as in "let's agree to disagree". Full definition →

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The story

Borrowed from French, literally “long live the difference”, from vive (“long live”) + la (“the”) + différence (“difference, diversity”). Although correct and unremarkable French, it is not a stock phrase in French as it is in English.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.