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My English teacher feels very strongly that exact same is redundant and therefore incorrect. I disagree with her.

She feels that exact should be used in place of exact same, but I have rarely heard someone use exact by itself. For example:

I have the exact same shirt
I have the exact shirt

In the same manner, I believe that she shuns exactly the same as well.

What support is there (if any) supporting the use of exact same or exactly the same? What proof can I provide for using exact same when challenged?

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Voting +1 for questioning others, standing by your opinion and fighting for what you believe. I hope someone will help you resolve the problem and you can win over your teacher. In the meantime, read the huge discussion about this problem at painintheenglish.com/case/1006 – Richard Rodriguez Oct 22 '11 at 1:17
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Gathering ammunition to use against your English teacher. Is that a good use of this forum? – GEdgar Oct 22 '11 at 1:42
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possible duplicate of Shouldn't "the exact same" always be "exactly the same"? – aedia λ Oct 22 '11 at 2:45
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You could say I have that exact shirt. – Sam Oct 22 '11 at 5:55
Ask your teacher what she thinks of selfsame. – Barrie England Oct 22 '11 at 6:40
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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

Same by its definition implies exact duplication. If it were not exactly the same, it would be similar.

I have the same shirt.
I have the exact same shirt.

Those two sentences mean the same thing, therefore the "exact" modifier is redundant.

That said, just because it's redundant doesn't mean it's wrong, particularly if you're using it for extra emphasis.

Wow, I have exactly the same shirt!

In that situation I believe it would be most appropriate to use "exactly" as an adverb modifying "same".

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As you said, it can be used for emphasis. I also feel though, that same often takes on a modifier just as similar does. For example, the shirt that Billybob has may be mostly the same, or almost the same. Does adding something such as 'completely' only add emphasis or can it add additional meaning? – XenElement Oct 22 '11 at 1:48
Sure, you can change the meaning of the word by adding modifiers to it. Saying that something is almost blue is quite different than saying it is blue. But is saying something is completely blue or exactly blue any different from saying that it's blue? I don't think so. In absence of any modifiers, blue is blue and same is same :) – Lynn Oct 22 '11 at 2:08
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@XenElement: it's used for emphasis, but your teacher probably doesn't like it because it -is- a 'pleonasm' (redundancy) and gives the feeling that you're not sure (ok or really you just aren't aware) of the exact meanings of things. It is perfectly natural -informal- way to speak but in writing 'exact same' seems out of place. – Mitch Oct 22 '11 at 2:47
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In both your examples, there is no exact duplication. The two shirts are distinct physical objects. If someone said "I wore the same shirt yesterday", it can mean either the exact same shirt (the same physical object) or it can mean a different shirt of the same design/pattern. Normally "same" does not indicate identical objects but similar ones, which can have varying degrees of similarity. – David Schwartz Oct 22 '11 at 2:48
One may say "same shirt" (for short) when they mean "same style/design/pattern of shirt" but that does not mean that "same" equates to "similar". They have distinct meanings. Also, "I have exactly that same shirt!" vs "I have that same shirt!" does not help you distinguish whether the "sameness" applies to the style or the physical object. – Lynn Oct 22 '11 at 3:05
up vote 1 down vote

"Exact same" represents a grammatical practice that is particularly prevalent in American English; the use of an adjective for an adverb. In this phrase "exact" modifies "same" and is functioning as and adverb.

In the literal sense "exact same" is indeed redundant, however, words aren't quite so precisely defined as apparently your teach would have you believe. If I have a Hugo Bos blue shirt with an 18 inch collar, someone with a Hugo Bos blue shirt with a 20 inch collar might think we have the same shirt. In fact, someone with a Hugo Bos white shirt with a 20 inch collar might think we have the same.

You might even argue that if they are two shirts identical in every respect they are still not "the same" shirt. If I wore my shirt today, and again tomorrow, you might tell me "you're wearing the same shirt as yesterday", and that would be absolutely literally true. Which is to say, "same" is used rather more loosely than "the identical object" in common language.

By modifying it with "exact" you are emphasizing that they are even more "same" than if you did not so modify.

Many words sound like they are absolute, binary, and not subject to gradation. However, I am reminded of a discussion between Sheldon Cooper and Stuart the comic book guy on the hilarious TV show "The Big Bang Theory":

Stuart: Ooh, Sheldon, I’m afraid you couldn’t be more wrong.

Sheldon: More wrong? Wrong is an absolute state and not subject to gradation.

Stuart: Of course it is. It’s a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable, it’s very wrong to say it’s a suspension bridge.

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up vote -3 down vote

"Exact same" is an Americanism, and a pointless one at that; exact and same are synonyms.

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"My sister and I like the same foods." Try replacing same with exact and see if you end up with anything that makes sense. – Marthaª Jan 13 '12 at 23:20
They are still synonyms. For two words to be synonymous, they must be interchangeable in a given context. Given that these words are indeed interchangeable in the questioner's example, they are synonyms in this context. – VettelS Jan 16 '12 at 16:32
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No, actually, "I have the same shirt", "I have the exact same shirt", and "I have the exact shirt" are totally different statements in my book. The first means the shirts are the same in some significant way, but might be a different color, for example. The second means the shirts are totally identical. The third sentence is an incomplete thought: the exact shirt that... what? The exact shirt that you wanted? – Marthaª Jan 16 '12 at 18:41

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