How do I say in Spanish "there's a fine line between" something and something else?
As in "the difference is not clear-cut" or "it's not black & white".
It feels that something like "no hay mucha diferencia entre" doesn't capture the English idiom very well.
Hay una sutil diferencia entre X y Y.
for "the difference is not clear-cut". And indeed,
No hay mucha diferencia entre X y Y.
would be wrong. You'd be saying that the difference is negligible.
Colombia:
Hay una delgada línea entre X y Y.
De X a Y solo hay un paso.
Del X a Y hay solo un paso
So Del amor al odio hay solo un paso will be There is a fine line between love and hate.
As Napolean said:
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
In wikiquote is translated like De lo sublime a lo ridículo no hay más que un paso
Del X a Y hay solo un paso
or
Del X a Y no hay más que un paso
Both as idioms are the same, but for me the first is more used and I have heard it more often when you use two opposite words or in films.
one step because I think is the more appropiate translation for the idiom he is asking (maybe is too poetic). All three idiomas means there is no a clear difference between both words. Look at wordreference's forum, or maybe we can ask on englishstackexchange. Likewise, as it was commented 'delgada linea' seems to be more used.
There is a fine line between = Hay una fina linea entre...
The difference is not clear-cut = La diferencia no es clara.
It's not black & white = No es o blanco o negro.
There's a fine line between/Hay una línea muy delgada entre
The difference is not clear-cut/La diferencia es mínima
It's not black & white/No es blanco y negro. Aque aquí yo usaría: No todo es blanco y negro/Nada es blanco y negro
Ejemplo de "sutil diferencia".
Después de un tiempo Uno aprende la sutil diferencia Entre sostener una mano y encadenar el alma,
según el internet, lo escribió Borges.
