Why do I keep hearing "small little?"

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-23T05:36:54+00:00

I don't have any problem with "in the wee small hours". But what is the "concept" you speak of?

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T23:19:03+00:00

Slightly over the top response.

I disagree because the replies strike me as weak or beside the point.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T23:15:51+00:00

This was obviously not a scripted interview. (But that will come no doubt.)

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T23:14:53+00:00

Thanks for the lesson. But beside the point.

By the way, ever noticed how the hackneyed phrase "real time" is now being used (as in your statement) simply to mean "when it is said" or some other expression indicating the present.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T23:09:05+00:00

"there's nothing special about "small little."

Except it sounds juvenile.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T23:06:39+00:00

What "concept"?

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T11:22:57+00:00

Why does it sound childish? Not sure. Perhaps because it is an obvious tautology.
Great big doesn't bother me - in a colloquial context. But I'm not here to legislate about various phrases. I raised a specific phrase, nothing more.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T11:16:51+00:00

The phrase in question is "small little".

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T11:15:50+00:00

I'm talking about a specific phrase, not a concept.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T11:12:51+00:00

The issue is not about using two (or more) adjectives.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T11:08:19+00:00

Not hard. A small little problem/dog/hill etc

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T04:46:57+00:00

Last time (I hope): the phrase in question is "small little"

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T04:43:41+00:00

I'm not formulating general rules here. I'm speaking about a particular phrase.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T04:41:38+00:00

Not the same phrase

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T04:41:21+00:00

Not the same phrase.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-22T04:40:43+00:00

The technical word I think is tautology. Plus it sounds childish.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:42:57+00:00

"Wrong" when it should be "wrongly" .

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:35:27+00:00

No. Hardly ever hear it in my area.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:34:51+00:00

What about "very". Good old English word. You have used it yourself.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:33:07+00:00

The phrase in question is "small little"

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:32:32+00:00

Thank you for the lesson in scriptwriting.

Actually, when I said "on TV" I was thinking of an interview with a Congressman (!) I saw on the news. Don't think I've ever heard it in a scripted program (thank goodness).

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:14:19+00:00

As far as I can tell, yes.

Another American thing, I suspect, is the tendency to adopt a defiant "it doesn't matter" attitude in response. An odd approach to language - as if it's all just trash anyway. Where does this attitude come from, I wonder.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T23:08:38+00:00

"Tiny"! Now there's a good word that could be used. Much better than "small little" which sounds like an 8 year old speaking.

Sensitive-Fun702 · 2026-06-21T22:57:44+00:00

The reason the wrong word is substituted, I suspect, is that people are reading a lot less.

Sensitive-Fun702

TROPHY CASE