fork over a little more than a dollar

Question

0  Shortly after its opening in 2006, I decided to visit the Lodge at Woodloch, a destination spa deep in the Poconos. Upon my arrival from New York, I discovered the property had no cellular service, so I made several calls home from my room phone, expecting to fork 01b00over02b00 little more than a dollar. 02br02br001. Can I replace discover with found out?02br02br002. Can I replace 'over' with 'a' without change of meaning?02br02br00Thanks in advance!0-

Yankee · Accepted Answer

0 Hi N2G02br
001. Yes02br
002. The expression 'fork over' means 'pay' or 'spend' in the context. 02br
00With regard to your question about 'a', do you know the difference in meaning between 'little (of something)' vs '01b00a02b00 little (of something)'?02br
00If you add the word 'a', you won't change the basic meaning, but the feeling/perception of the amount will undergo a subtle change. 0-

New2grammar · Answer

0Thanks, Yankee. 02br
02br
002a . I didn't know the over was part of the phrasal verb fork over. I've always used "fork out". Is there any difference between the two prepositions?02br
02br
002b. I know it creates a subtle difference with the word 'few' but not little. Are we talking about the same difference?0-

RayH · Answer

02. Can I replace 'over' with 'a' without change of meaning?02br
00If you mean this "expecting to fork 01b00a02b00 01del~~00over02del~~00 little more than a dollar" then no you can't.02br
00If you mean this "expecting to fork over 01span00a02span00 little more than a dollar" then yes you can.02br
00Otherwise I don't know what you are asking. 0-

Yankee · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10I know it creates a subtle difference with the word 'few' but not little. Are we talking about the same difference?12blockquote

10 Hi N2G02br
00Yes, it's the same difference. You use 'few' for countable nouns and 'little' for uncountable nouns. Without the word 'a' in front of few/little, the sense is negative (i.e. not many/not much):02br
00I have a few friends.02br
00I have few friends. 05002br
02br
00I have a little money.02br
00I have little money. 051010id911id9

New2grammar · Answer

0Thanks, RayH. 02br
02br
00Yankee, I love your using emoticons to enhance the meaning. Thanks!!! 0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0If I can throw one more ... um... iron in the fire?02br
02br
00He paid little more than X.02br
02br
00He paid a little more than X.02br
02br
00The first emphasizes the smallenss of the number, but the second is simply factual.02br
02br
00He paid little more than $10,000,000 for the house. (I can't imagine saying that - there's nothing little about $10 million)02br
02br
00He paid a little more than $10,000,000 for the house. (I can imagine saying that [although not about anyone *I* know] to mean he paid $10.2 million.)0-

New2grammar · Answer

0GG, if the amount exceeding 10 million is so small it's almost negligible, would you say "little more than 10 million"?0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0Yes, but of course it's odd to think abou that $200,000 as being negligable! That's more than I paid for my whole house!0-

fork over a little more than a dollar

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