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During a conversation with my friend, I said

I have a big house

He replied

Bigger is not always better

Shouldn't he have said

Big is not always good

since there's no comparison in what I said?

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    Bigger is not always better sounds more natural and idiomatic. The comparison can be deduced from the context.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 17:26
  • Shouldn't it be big is not always better...
    – user55625
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 17:32
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    Bigger isn't always better is the most natural way to express this. Xer is Yer, with its negative Xer is not (always) Yer, is a stock construction in English and has an almost proverbial ring.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 18:06
  • Havent you heard that song big is better by alex gopher? 😒
    – user55625
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 18:20
  • @user236989 - You seem skeptical. Forget the song; behold the ngram. Bigger is better is better.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 20:29

1 Answer 1

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Think of it this way:

[A house that's] bigger [than your current house] is not always better [than the current size of your house].

The comparison in "bigger is not always better" is between what you said ("I have a big house") and what your friend was saying could be better (a smaller house).

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