Timeline for “I have little money” vs. “I have a little money”
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
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Oct 2, 2014 at 12:46 | comment | added | michelle | @jim_nr - The dictionary doesn't always tell the whole story about words in a living language. Choosing "a little" to mean "a lot" is the type of stylistic choice that adds color, humor, life to the language. | |
Oct 2, 2014 at 10:47 | comment | added | jim_nr | @nekomatic, yes I saw them, and they all point to this: "little" -> not much, "a little" -> not much but enough and certainly not great/big/a lot. ;) | |
Oct 2, 2014 at 10:35 | comment | added | nekomatic | See other answers and comments - it appears that other people understand the meaning a little differently to you. ;-) | |
Oct 2, 2014 at 7:57 | comment | added | jim_nr | @nekomatic, I agree, language is evolving and changing, but until then, as far as the dictionary tells me, little does not mean a lot. People tend to use words which are not appropriate. That is why there are courses called English 101, Grammar 101, etc. The word little can never mean big/lot/great/etc...it may add a "little amount" to the word but not to mean big/lot/great/etc. | |
Oct 2, 2014 at 7:56 | comment | added | nekomatic | In fact it's worth saying that 'a little' is quite commonly used in understatement, at least in British English. 'I'm a little concerned about...' can easily mean 'I'm seriously worried about...'. See those Buzzfeed lists of 'Things British People Say And What They Actually Mean' for more examples. | |
Oct 2, 2014 at 7:52 | comment | added | nekomatic | @jim_nr, who knows why, but that's what people say. Language is like that. | |
Oct 2, 2014 at 5:04 | comment | added | jim_nr | @michelle - Thanks for the comment, but I disagree with you. When in the world the word little means quite a lot? Instead of saying "I have a little money set aside..." why not say "I have enough money set aside..."? | |
Oct 1, 2014 at 14:38 | comment | added | michelle | Just to add - in some cases "a little money" could actually mean quite a lot, as it is common for people to use it to mean "I have enough to do x". For example, A: "Wouldn't it be great to have a summer home?" B: "I have a little money set aside. Let's buy one!" | |
Oct 1, 2014 at 9:22 | history | answered | jim_nr | CC BY-SA 3.0 |