|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
OP
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
I was writing in another fred when the thought attacked me: What is the difference between saying that something is "small" and that it is "little"? At first I thought there must be some semantic reason, but as I considered examples I got to thinking it might just be a usage thing. For instance: - It's quite different to say "a small boy" and "a little boy": the way I see it one always refers to size and the other always to age. Same if we say "a little dog" and "a small dog". - It's also different to say "a small lorry" and "a little lorry", but the difference here seems (to me) to lie in the connotations, with "small lorry" meaning a not-so-large-in-size lorry, and "little lorry" carrying the connotation of "a cute vehicle which almost looks like a toy". - However, there doesn't seem to be so much difference between saying "a small house" and "a little house". Same if we say "a small problem" or "a little problem". Or are there some connotative vibes I'm not getting here? Is this actually a non-issue and am I just being daft?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Well, as to your daftness...I'm sure I'm not qualified to say! [eg]
You're right--in some instances, little can be...well, kind of belittling. Em. Not always, though. If someone apologizes to you for something, I don't think there's any difference if you say, "Oh, it was just a little thing" or "Oh, it was just a small thing". Or you can buy a small bottle of something, or a little bottle. No diff. that I can see. I guess it can vary acc'g. to the context, or possibly culturally. (She said, thinking of a couple of British friends who seem to think that the word cute should only be applied to extremely young beings.) I for one did not allow my daughter to refer to my son as her little brother--at least not in my hearing!--because although he is younger, he has been bigger than she ever since he was 4 years old.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I'm with Jackie, here. It'd be rough to pin down a hard and fast rule with "little" and "small". Some of the rules are likely to vary from place to place. Jackie's example of "little brother" is a case in point. I've heard instances of diminutive women referring to some monstrous hulk as "my little brother." On the other hand the term "small minds" is belittling.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> "small minds" is belittling - surely precisely because it is appealing to an objective fact that is extremely offensive if it can be thouhgt to be true? I sense that small get used as a more objective relative size term, whereas little depends much more on cultural context. Marianna, like the little brother who is in fact the Incredible Hulk, I have heard people refer to their "little house in the country" which is actually a larger-than-average family house compared with other rural houses... they use the diminutive term "little" to imply a range of connotations embodying other social prestiege markers and so on - just like patting the 'little boy' on the head and saying how cute he is! I suspect this is in part because 'little' is such a favourite word used by young children: "There was this littwl littwl house, wiv a littwl littwl man, and the man had littwl littwl hands wiv littwl littwl fingers, and on his finger he had a littwl littwl ring, and on the ring..."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
Hi Marianna, I find this question anything but daft. In fact, it leads directly to the wide field (or swamp?) of idioms. To me little lorry doesn't sound quite right. Is it just the lilting alliteration which fits badly with the massive machine? On the other hand, there is a considerable difference between saying "we have a small problem" or "a little problem". In the first case, we are sure to solve it, while this looks less sure in the second case, which reverberates with irony.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Quote:
I suspect this is in part because 'little' is such a favourite word used by young children: "There was this littwl littwl house, wiv a littwl littwl man, and the man had littwl littwl hands wiv littwl littwl fingers, and on his finger he had a littwl littwl ring, and on the ring..."
Is that a Welsh w?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Mercy, yes--couldn't you hear it? Lit-tool!
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
> Lit-tool now you're getting personal...
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
What? You need reading glasses?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
is that how you make it bigger?
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Oh, you're *really* talking specs, huh?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Well, SOMEBODY's taking offence at all the innuendo: What Does Christmas Mean? Read the original story of Jesus' birth and study its true meaning www.Jesus-Institute.orgAds By Google
Bingley
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Kind of like pequeño and chiquito? How about French, German, Portuguese, etc.? Are there other pairs out there?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> hear it bada-bing, J - glad to see that the Appalachian/Welsh dictionary's coming in so useful!
Last edited by maverick; 03/29/06 01:09 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
or like parvulus and exiguus?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
OP
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
Quote:
Kind of like pequeño and chiquito?
Consuelo, this must be a matter of different usage in Spain and elsewhere, because for us these two denote different degrees of smallness. Pequeño is just small, whereas chiquito (or chiquitito ) is very small.
Thanks for your input, everyone! I gather that "little" does have this slight deprecative connotation, and thence the verb "belittle", and not "besmall"...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Thanks for your input You're very welcome.
Signed,
Little old me
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
pequeño and chiquito
Spanish, as well as other Romance languages, use a lot of diminutive suffixes. In fact both -Vño and -ito are such. And, chico originally meant 'pretty' didn't it?
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,344
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
782
guests, and
2
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|