split the difference


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split the difference

To find and agree upon the point halfway or nearly halfway between two amounts of something, especially money. A: "I'll give you $100 for the computer." B: "I'm sorry, but I can't take lower than $150." A: "Why don't we split the difference and call it $125?"
See also: difference, split
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

split the difference

to divide the difference evenly (with someone else). You want to sell for $120, and I want to buy for $100. Let's split the difference and close the deal at $110. I don't want to split the difference. I want $120.
See also: difference, split
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

split the difference

Compromise between two close figures, divide the remainder equally. For example, You're asking $5,000 for the car and I'm offering $4,000; let's split the difference and make it $4,500 . [c. 1700]
See also: difference, split
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

split the difference

take the average of two proposed amounts.
See also: difference, split
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

split the ˈdifference

agree on an amount of something, such as money, which is halfway between two others: John offered €60, but Peter wanted €100. Finally they split the difference and agreed on €80.
See also: difference, split
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

split the difference

To take half of a disputed amount as a compromise.
See also: difference, split
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Perhaps we should split the difference on the policy question, too.
Trying to decide whether social media has biases
Why should he?" Ken Quinn: "Split the difference at PS325 million."
TOP COMMENT
As Takizawa noted, Wolf Link gave Link a companion to play off of when you're going through the main overworld and the creative team split the difference when developing Link Wolf's behavior.
'Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild' Developers Talk Favorite Game Parts In New Behind The Scenes Video
The review board decided to split the difference, coming up with a five-times-per hour standard, which, Morin said, would require some extra caulking and crack-filling but not a ventilator.
Tighten up: compromise sought on energy standards in NH building code
"We look at negotiation as a battle of reason and logic and think that somehow it's rational," says Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator and lead author of Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.
The winning secrets of master negotiators
At a time when half the cops wanted a 16-shot, 9mm "because of firepower," and the other half wanted an 8-shot, .45 "because of stopping power," the 12-shot, .40-caliber S&W 4006 exactly split the difference: More rounds than a six-shooter to satisfy firepower advocates, and a "4" in the designation to satisfy those who wanted harder-hitting handguns.
The compromise factor
Shrewdly labeled a "graphic memoir" to split the difference, The Arab of the Future unflinchingly details the Sattoufs' lives as a young family living in Libya, France (Riad's mothers birthplace), and then Syria (Riad's fathers birthplace).
Riad Sattouf. The Arab of the Future: Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir
2 SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE THE coolest way to colour block now?
Work wonders; Stuck in a workwear rut, endlessly recycling the same outfits? Time to hit refresh on your nine-to-five wardrobe, says Katie Wright
Grace, Terror, time to split the difference, change verb tense, shift the seed, revel in fence.
No Clock in the Forest
The employees in their turn had demanded an extra million from the communications and works ministry, but after negotiations, it was decided to split the difference.
Port workers call off industrial action after tentative deal for extra comp
In 2009, the regional committee asked the towns to split the difference between the two options.
Southboro agrees to pay Northboro $1.7 million; Dispute over regional school reimbursement
At a time when audiences are more friendly to raunch-coms than to rom-coms, writer-director Leslye Headland tries to split the difference in "Sleeping With Other People." Essentially an updated "When Harry Met Sally ..." with texting (or, as Headland described the characters at the Sundance preem, "with a-holes"), two quippy New Yorkers spend more than 90 minutes trying to answer whether a man and a woman can be friends without romance entering the picture.
Sleeping With Other People
Then consider this: For the sake of argument, let's split the difference between the think tank numbers and say 8.9 million will suddenly find themselves without health insurance.
King vs. everybody
The challenges are to maintain and improve that focus and, when necessary, split the difference, fill in the gaps and refocus.
Eyes on the prize--and the ball
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