rose by any other name, a

a ˈrose by any other name (would smell as ˈsweet)

(saying) what is important is what people or things are, not what they are calledThis phrase comes from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.See also: any, by, name, other, rose

rose by any other name, a

The name does not reflect the basic qualities of something or someone. The cliché is a direct quotation from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (2:2), in which Juliet says, “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo called.” Today it is often used jokingly, as it was by Clyde Jinks in 1901 (Captain Jinks): “A cabbage by any other name would swell as sweet.”See also: any, by, other, rose