I know meaning of every single word in this phrase but I can't grasp the meaning; Could you help me, please?

" Such is the universal law, which no man can ever outwit, and with regard to the railroad even we may say it is as broad as it is long." Walden

So many thanks in advance.

• 3

This is an idiom. As Paul says, it indicates that the outcome is the same. Usually we say this when we're trying to weigh the pros and cons of two different things.

Should we take the highway or the road by the park? The park road is a more direct route but the speed limit is higher on the highway, so the travel time is the same either way. It's as broad as it is long.

All idioms have been editorially reviewed, and submitted idioms may have been edited for correctness and completeness.

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A: "We can either file the return now, or wait until September." B: "It's as broad as it is long, seeing as we're not being charged this year." A: "Do you prefer the white or the red car." B: It's as broad as it's long. I'll only have it for a day."

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You can also use it to mean that two ways of doing something will bring similar results, so no way is greater than the other. People use this idiom when they cannot choose between two things or actions since they are equal. Its synonyms are another, equal, and equivalent.

Example Sentences

1. Can we go today or tomorrow? It is as broad as it is long, so you choose.
2. Do you prefer the blue or green sofa? It is as broad as it is long, and I will only have it for a year.
3. We can fill the tank now or wait until later. It’s as broad as it is long, seeing that we will have to fill it anyways.
4. Emmy couldn’t decide between the two wedding dresses. The choice was as broad as it is long.
5. Arthur couldn’t select which formal suit to purchase; he supposed the choice was just about as broad as it was long.

Origin

The idiom “as broad as it is long” was posted in October 2009 by Victoria S Dennis in response to S Baker, who was asking about the meaning of this expression. The idiom simply means that arguments of both sides of what is being discussed are of the same value.

A phrase with the same meaning is six of one and half a dozen of the other. These two phrases do not have a named originator. But as broad as it is long had already been established in 1984 since it first appeared in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable in this year.

Tax experts concurred [đồng tình]. Mark Lee, chairman of the Tax Advice Network, said: “It’s as broad as it’s long.” Richard Rose, a tax partner at BDO, the accountancy firm, said: “You get to the same answer.”

The play is as broad as it’s long – which is a good three hours – but, while it’s not one of Miller’s greatest, it shows his enduring [chịu đựng] capacity to capture the state of a troubled nation.

The book is a marathon of milestones [chiến tích]: TW3, Telstar, the first moon landing [the BBC had hired Cilla Black for the occasion], colour, regional franchises, 24-hour TV, time-shifting, Tony Soprano, Murdoch, Delia, Attenborough, Big Brother, Cowell. But it's as broad as it's long [deep, too], with a hundred diversions [trò tiêu khiển], from the alchemy [giả kim] of ratings and scheduling to the resurgence of knitting.

One of the most overlooked [bị bỏ qua] methods for creating a family parenting plan is goal setting. Setting goals for and with our children is an essential component of growth. Goals can be as specific as individual milestones or accomplishments or as broad as long-term familial [trong gia đình] hopes and dreams. By properly [tử tế] planning, we have both individual and family objectives to walk toward. Have each child come up with [đưa ra giải pháp] at least one goal and review together periodically.