a small bit of toast

Question

I ate only a small bit of toast for breakfast.Hi,Is "small" in the above redundant? Thanks.

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

Not at all. You may have had a large piece of toast and only eaten a small bit of it.

Angliholic · Answer

Feebs11Not at all. You may have had a large piece of toast and only eaten a small bit of it.

Thanks, Feebs.

But doesn't "a bit of toast" do the trick?

Anonymous · Answer

No, that means one piece of toast. It might have been a big piece.

Nona

CalifJim · Answer

That could be a feature of BrE. small bit is, strictly speaking, redundant in AmE. We would not call a big piece of anything a bit. Let me rephrase that. Iwouldn't.

Yet,small bit doesn't seem to me, even in AmE, to be a serious case of redundancy, to be avoided. The word small just comes off as an intensifier -- to emphasize the smallness.

CJ

Angliholic · Answer

CalifJimThat could be a feature of BrE. small bit is, strictly speaking, redundant in AmE. We would not call a big piece of anything a bit. Let me rephrase that. Iwouldn't. Yet,small bit doesn't seem to me, even in AmE, to be a serious case of redundancy, to be avoided. The word small just comes off as an intensifier -- to emphasize the smallness.

CJ

Thanks, Nona and Jim.

a small bit of toast

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions