The Ironies of Big & Little

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Ironies of Big and Little

People trying to learn English often say that our language doesn't always make sense to them. I have a feeling it doesn't always make a lot of sense to us either! Take "big" and "little" as an example. The size of things really takes on a value of its own...some times good, sometimes bad.

Good Big Things:
Big house, big diamonds, big eyes, big smile, big dimples (only if they are on your face, bad dimples everywhere else), big breasts, big bank account, big vacation plans, big boat, big motor home, big car, big investments, big assets, big fan club, big job, big swimming pool, big screen TV, big plans, big dreams, big family (only if you are Catholic or Mormon), big wedding, big education, big talents, big presents, big fun, big ambition.

Bad Big Things:
Big attitude, big rear, big belly, big ears, big legs, big feet, big nose, big lips, big debt, big problems, big ego, big appetite, big sorrow, big pain in the rear, big body, big mouth, big depression, big illness, big bills, big obstacles, big tendency to whine, big issues, big needs, big addictions, big disabilities, big hassles, big thighs, big clutter, big food portions, big number at the scale, big worries, big "to do" list, big stress, big worries, big boat load of enemies, big thick waist.

The interesting things is we all want a bunch of big stuff we don't have. Ironically, we also have a big bunch of stuff we don't want in a very big way! Hmmm! My list seems to be tipped heavily in the wrong direction and it often give me a big bad headache!