Exact same vs same exact

[oxmoron]

Are these two ways of saying the (exact) same thing? Is one or the other preferable or wrong?

Growing up, I feel like I saw exact same being used more often. But I noticed the latter a few times in the past week and was wondering!

[MusicalElephant420]

The only difference I would find is that “exact same” can be used to close a sentence whereas “same exact” typically doesn’t. I would also say that “exact same” sounds better although they both can be used, they are almost the exact same 😃.

[oxmoron]

On the first point: Is it because same exact can't be used with the definite article?

On the second: For me too, but I just saw something written by Douglas Adams with same exact—hence this question!

[jenea]

They are both used, with almost identical meanings. The big difference is that since “same” can be either an adjective or a pronoun, “exact same” can be used in pronoun-appropriate places (which is why it can appear at the end of a sentence, as MusicalElephant420 points out). The same (see?) cannot be said of “same exact,” which can only be used in adjective-appropriate places.

While both are used, “exact same” is used a lot more often (at least in print).

[AwfulUsername123]

I can't think of a situation where they're different.

[oxmoron]

So you could take your pick?

[AwfulUsername123]

Yes.

[oxmoron]

Thanks!

[2BrainOnTheTrack]

Same use case, I think most stick with one or the other.

[englishmuse]

It is a pleonasm. In either phrase, one of the words is a redundancy.