Talk:small
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I think the translations for small (2) which are actually translations for young should be removed. They are inappropriate (at least for the languages I know) since this article is called small, not young. — This unsigned comment was added by Ncik (talk • contribs) at 01:17, 2 February 2005 (UTC).
- Also when kids were young they WERE small. GerardM 08:00, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
- Consider the sentence, "I haven't been there since I was just a small child." In that sentence, the word "small" seems to mean "young", figuratively. I'll add a "figurative" tag. Rod (A. Smith) 07:42, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
RFV[edit]
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Adverb: "in a small fashion". The given example is "writ small", but this is surely an adjective use. Compare "painted red". Equinox ◑ 22:02, 13 October 2012 (UTC)
- Aim small, miss small. ? --WikiTiki89 (talk) 22:38, 13 October 2012 (UTC)
- Is "writ small" for write small perhaps? Expressions like think small (cf. think big (= think in a big way), live large (= live extravagantly or to the fullest extent), etc.) are clearly adverbial. Leasnam (talk) 16:21, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
- Is "small" an adverb in "live small" and "think small"? - -sche (discuss) 04:10, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
- I think it is -- it certainly is meant that way. Note also how difficult it would be to use the (rare) corresponding manner adverb smally in the same context -- it's almost like the case of fast. On the other hand, unlike fast, small is quite limited as an adverb: you can apparently use it only in a few cases (among which "think small"), but not, apparently, in *to work small or *to pay small or *to draw small (though you can 'draw it small, a small-clause resultative construction similar to paint it red). (Or can you? What do the native speakers here say about how constrained the adverbial use of small is?) --Pereru (talk) 09:03, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
- Do we have any citations showing these uses so that we can analyze actual use instead of our own imaginations?
- "Writ small" is an idiom given the archaic writ and so constitutes to evidence about small in contemporary English. I don't think of the resultative constructions as showing adverbitude. If one "writes small" or "thinks small" both seem to me to about the result, though the alternative is certainly arguable. Real context-rich citations can help clarify usage, but may also be ambiguous.
- I have added a cite from a well-known work to the challenged sense and added two other senses, one probably obsolete. Other dictionaries show adverb senses. DCDuring TALK 15:27, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
- I think it is -- it certainly is meant that way. Note also how difficult it would be to use the (rare) corresponding manner adverb smally in the same context -- it's almost like the case of fast. On the other hand, unlike fast, small is quite limited as an adverb: you can apparently use it only in a few cases (among which "think small"), but not, apparently, in *to work small or *to pay small or *to draw small (though you can 'draw it small, a small-clause resultative construction similar to paint it red). (Or can you? What do the native speakers here say about how constrained the adverbial use of small is?) --Pereru (talk) 09:03, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
- RFV-passed. - -sche (discuss) 20:07, 14 June 2013 (UTC)