Talk:give someone a big head

RFD discussion: January–June 2019

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for deletion (permalink).

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give someone a big head

SOP, per Wiktionary:Tea room/2019/January § give someone a big head: give + someone + a + big head (“inflated ego”) (though we're currently missing that sense). We can also say "have a big head", etc. Per utramque cavernam 22:42, 17 January 2019 (UTC)

Delete. When I first saw this, I thought it was about giving someone head. —Μετάknowledge^{discuss/deeds} 00:59, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

I've added what I think is the definition missing at big head, which is IMO only rarely an alternative form of bighead. They are also pronounced differently, bighead being heavily stressed on big, big head having roughly equal stress on its parts. DCDuring (talk) 03:27, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Also, delete. DCDuring (talk) 03:28, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Delete. Does not have any idiomatic or dictionary-worthy content beyond what can be explained at "big head". BTW, I agree with DCDuring that "big head" is not a well-known (possibly not even a correct) variant of "bighead". Mihia (talk) 01:07, 19 January 2019 (UTC)

• Redirect to big head Purplebackpack89 06:07, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

Delete. ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 10:47, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

Well, I don't expect that I can convince you all to change your minds, but all I can say is that this entry was useful and helpful for me. I am not a native speaker of English - perhaps you all are and that's why you don't see how having such an entry can be helpful. I did encounter the expression in a newspaper a few minutes ago, I searched for 'give somebody a big head' (and yes, it was spelt just like that) and I found out the meaning thanks to this entry, which is also how I saw the deletion proposal. I'm not at all sure that I would have thought of searching for 'big head' alone, if I hadn't found this article. If you don't Keep the entry, I believe that at least a Redirect should be preserved.--82.137.111.223 00:34, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

Then I guess you were lucky this time, but the problem is that "give someone a big head" literally just does just mean "give" + "someone" + "a" + "big head". It is completely impractical for a dictionary to include such phrases that are straightforwardly the sum of their individual components with no additional idiomaticity. Mihia (talk) 02:15, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

I can see where non-native speakers might find the meaning a bit opaque, because the use of give here is very unusual. It's not literally handing someone a large head. Give is used to mean "cause to have", a sense we don't really feature at give, though senses 1.8 and 9 are the closest. Leasnam (talk) 02:25, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

That is a reasonable point, and not one that I had considered. However, this "give" is not at all confined to use with "big head", but is reused across all manner of phrases. If it isn't adequately covered at "give" then I guess it should be. I do understand that finding the right sense of "give" is an additional obstacle for non-native speakers, but what can we do? Include "give someone a headache", "give someone an inflated ego", "give someone a false sense of security", "give someone an inferiority complex" and a hundred other such phrases? Mihia (talk) 02:35, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

Give someone an inferiority complex is a perfect analogy, as are the others. Well, I always like to root for the underdog, but given this I have nothing more to say, unfortunate for this entry :( Leasnam (talk) 03:29, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

I've added that sense to give. It is the new sense #10. Delete as SoP. Leasnam (talk) 03:43, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

I've nominated this, but I guess a redirection won't hurt. Per utramque cavernam 12:44, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

Redirected to big head. bd2412 T 17:47, 1 June 2019 (UTC)