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Everybody had a different opinion. Is there an idiom for this?

English Language & Usage Asked on April 27, 2021

I’m searching for an idiom (in a negative sense) that means that a group of people have different opinions, so it’s difficult for them to solve a problem, to decide on something or agree on something. Example:

  • They couldn’t decide where to go, because everyone had a different opinion.
  • Since the members of the political party have different opinions about its name, we’ll have to wait before designing the campaign.

7 Answers

The phrase that comes to my mind is "the lack of consensus".

According to Merriam-Webster, consensus is:

: a general agreement about something : an idea or opinion that is shared by all the people in a group

Example from nytimes.com:

The scientists, several of whom had publicly debated the hurricane-climate connection in recent months, said they were concerned that the lack of consensus on the climate link could stall actions that could cut vulnerability — no matter what is influencing hurricane trends.

Correct answer by Dzienny on April 27, 2021

"Too many cooks in the kitchen." I've also heard "Too many chiefs, not enough indians" if you don't mind the subtle racism.

Answered by milestyle on April 27, 2021

They are not in agreement on something.

Answered by DisplayName on April 27, 2021

It sounds like the saying

A camel looks like a horse that was planned by a committee. (Often misquoted as A camel is a horse designed by a committee.)

Answered by bib on April 27, 2021

That sounds like you are looking for:

Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and it stinks.

Answered by jmoreno on April 27, 2021

I am also looking for similar translation. Since we don't have the exact one, how about this combination using idioms as follows: We won't work in tandem, because we don't see eye to eye.

Answered by Even Q on April 27, 2021

Fred Shapiro, The Yale Book of Quotations credits Terence (who died in 159 B.C.) with the observation, Quot homines tot setentiae, which the dictionary translates as

There are as many opinions as there are people.

A similar notion appears in this exchange between Congressman John McCormack of Massachusetts and George Schmidt, president of the Eastern Meat Packers Association, in the latter's testimony on the proposed Revenue Act of 1936 before the House Ways and Means Committee on April 2, 1936:

Mr. McCORMACK. If the facts are so clear, would you not have confidence in the Internal Revenue Bureau?

Mr. SCHMIDT. I do not think that it would be a question of confidence. I think it would be a question of differences of opinion between technical men. I can take two accountants, and they will have entirely divergent opinions; and I can get a thousand and one, and they will bring me a thousand and one different opinions.

A further play on this notion appears in expressions of the following form, from Ronald Johns, "Ordovician Lithistid Sponges of the Great Basin" (1994):

At times it seems as if the old adage about economists also holds true for sponge taxonomists: if you put two of them together in a room, you'll end up with three different opinions.

Answered by Sven Yargs on April 27, 2021

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