Sayings and idioms are a great way to start practicing and showing off your understanding of English. Using sayings correctly shows native speakers how much of a grasp you have and makes them feel like you’re one of them! Today, we’ll look at “it’s all relative” as a saying and how we can use it appropriately in sentences.
What Is The Meaning Of “It’s All Relative”?
The meaning of “it’s all relative” is that the perception of a sentence changes based on the context given for it. It’s possible to quantify something one way to show that it’s a good accomplishment or quality. However, by looking at it from another perspective, it may be seen as a poor accomplishment. This is how we use “it’s all relative” because one achievement could be both bad and good, depending on how you look at it.
Everything we say in a sentence is relative and depends on the listener and speaker over everything else. That’s why the phrase “it’s all relative” can hold such important meaning in English. If you ever hear it used (and you will because it’s quite common), then try to think about the context of the situation you’re currently in. If you perceive the spoken thing as bad, then it’s relatively bad to you. However, if it’s seen as good, you are the one who sees it as good relatively.
The idea of relativity in a context isn’t reserved only for the English language. In fact, you’ll find it in every language in the world. It all boils down to who is speaking and who is listening. The language is just the medium to get the idea across. You might even have some sayings in your own language that mean similar things to “it’s all relative.”
What Is The Origin Of “It’s All Relative”?
No one knows the exact origin of “it’s all relative,” but it would help to have a bit of an idea of where it came from. Obviously, the main focus of this phrase starts and ends with the word “relative.” “Relative” comes from the Late Latin word “relativus,” which means having a reference or relation to something (used as a modern-day verb).
As the language evolved, it began to mean its own thing, and we were given the word “relative” to use how we saw fit. In today’s context, the term “relative” actually means pretty much what the Late Latin variation meant and is known as the relation or reference to something else. We can use “relative” in many contexts to show how one thing links to another and how some people may perceive something one way while others perceive it in another.
9 Examples Of How To Use “It’s All Relative”
So, we’ve gone through most of the information you need to know about “It’s all relative.” Now, we think it’s time to show you how you can use it yourself in sentences. We use “it’s all relative” in a few ways, and we’ll try and cover as many of those as we can. Make sure you read through each sentence (and perhaps read them aloud), so you can see when the phrase might come up, and try to use it yourself when you feel it works best.
- He scored fourteen points this season, but it’s all relative. He only played in three games.
- I didn’t score too well on my test, but it’s all relative. I scored well in the other tests that make up the main bulk of my grade.
- You don’t have to work so hard. It’s all relative. As long as people know you’re doing it, you’re fine.
- It’s all relative to how you think it should have gone. If you think it went well, it did. If you think it went poorly, it did.
- Don’t worry about the crowd’s reaction. It’s all relative to the individual listener.
- Six feet is tall. Not if you’re an elephant. It’s all relevant.
- Everything in life is different depending on who’s looking at it. It’s all relative.
- You can’t tell me that’s good news. It’s all relative. I think it’s bad news.
- What weight were you lifting at the gym today? You said it wasn’t heavy, but I thought it was! It’s all relative.
As you can see from each of these examples, the phrase “it’s all relative” is often used more as its own sentence or clause. It’s hard to start a sentence because it often comes after someone has explained the relative options. Also, it’s important to know that most of the time, “it’s all relative” pops up when people have a conversation about achievements.
“It’s All Relative” Synonyms
Let’s finish by looking through some examples of synonyms. We’ll give you a few words or sayings that we feel most closely match the meaning of “it’s all relative.” This way, if you’re not all that comfortable with the phrase’s meaning, you can use one of these to get your meaning across instead. These are all fairly common in themselves, so feel free to choose whichever one you like the look of most!
- It depends
This is perhaps the most popular choice of all of them. The same context for “it’s all relative” is applied to “it depends.” When talking about something like an achievement or a quality, people will consider it positively or negatively based on their own perception. For this reason, “it depends” on how people will receive the news you’re going to give them.
- Relative to
Instead of using the saying “it’s all relative,” you could say exactly what the situation is “relative to.” This way, people will know what you mean rather than working it out from the context. It’s a good synonym that works in most situations.
- Everything is different
This saying isn’t nearly as popular, but it comes with the same meaning as “it’s all relative.” It’s letting the speaker know that everything can be different based on who’s looking at or talking about it. We’d recommend using one of the two above instead of this one, though.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
