These two terms can be mixed up a lot; so here is a good way to tell the difference between the two:
A young boy walked up to his father one day and said " Dad what is the difference between potentially and realistically"
After pondering his sons question the father came up with a brilliant idea and told his son “Go up to your mother, your sister, your brother, and ask them Would you sleep with Tom Cruise for $1,000,000. Evaluate their answers and tell me what your conclusion is”
The son then asked his mother “Mom, for $1,000,000 would you sleep with Tom Cruise.” The mother replied “Are you kidding me? With that amount of money we could fix up the house and get you and your sister into a good college, so yes i would”
The son proceeded to ask his sister the same question with her responding “Forget the money, I would do it for free.”
And last but not least he asked his brother “For $1,000,000 would you sleep with Tom Cruise?”, the brother replied “Shit yea I would. Do you have any idea how much sweet shit you could buy with that money.”
After a few days of serious evaluation of the statements that he received from his family the boy returned to his father. He said “Dad, I have come to a conclusion and here is what I have. We are potentially sitting on $3,000,000, but realistically we are living with two sluts and a queer.”
Any questions?