The little old man was small-minded
I love when I learn things from readers. Recently I learned that the words “small” and “little” are not interchangeable. Small works in some situations, and only little is right in others.
This is a case of something you might know in your head but didn’t know it followed a rule.
Small is only to be used to describe something’s size. It is a neutral word, with no feelings or judgments attached.
I normally don’t think of adjectives as having feelings, but apparently they do. Little means you like or dislike something, that you think it’s cute or funny.
Suppose your nephew is dressed in a suit because he is the ringbearer for a wedding. You might say proudly, “There’s my little man.”
You wouldn’t say, “There’s my small man.”
You can use little and small together, but use with caution.
Sister No. 1: How does this skirt look on me? Sister No. 2: Uh, it’s a little small. The same usage applies to “large” and “big.” Large refers to size. Big has other connotations.
You might have a big brother. He may or may not be your large brother.
Small and large are more formal descriptive terms, and little and big are more casual.
Finding the perfect restaurant is a big deal
to me. It’s not a large deal.
If you say someone has a big mouth, you mean he can’t keep it shut. You don’t mean it’s large.
Big band music has been around for a while. Singer Lyle Lovett added a little humor by calling his assembled musicians his “large band.”
MORE SIMILAR WORDS
Readers wrote in with words that sound nearly the same but have distinct meanings.
Gourmet versus gourmand. A gourmet is an expert in food. A gourmand is someone who goes a bit overboard in enjoying eating.
Careening versus careering. Careening is rocking or lurching from side to side. Careering means to speed on headlong or to barrel forward.
Economic versus economical. Economic is having to do with the economy, or the moving around of a society’s goods and services. Economical means using resources efficiently or carefully.
SHELL GAME
I hear a number of ads on a music service I use. Sometimes I hear the same ad over and over. One ad for Planters has spokes-legume Mr. Peanut misspeaking about punctuation. In mentioning a website, Mr. Peanut says the address has a semicolon. In fact, it has a colon.
Why, yes, I do realize I sounded like a nut when I wrote to the Planters people to tell them about the error. For now, I have received only a general answer. The woman who wrote the email reply thanked me for my concern. And she said she would forward my thoughts to the Marketing and Advertising Team.
I can’t wait to hear from them.
BAR NONE
And I finally get to end with a joke, as told to me by my friend Tim.
The past, the present and the future walked into a bar. Then things got tense.
Sources: Englishspeak.com, m-w.com