But whatever the origin, since the mid 1400s people have been talking about whits, usually using them in a negative sense, as in “I don’t care a whit for peas.” For some reason, few people want to brag about their whit collection. It might be an alteration of white, originally meaning "a little white spot." It could be a variation of wight, which has referred to many creatures, including small ones. I reckon dripples are equivalent to drips and drabs. The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) records this Pennsylvania variation of drip-another smallish word. It sounds so much classier than “almost diddly-squat.” 2. Soon it was being used to describe little things that aren’t fire hazards, as seen in Oxford English Dictionary examples of a “scintilla of misunderstanding” (1674) and “a scintilla of vvidence” (1734). ![]() scintillaīack in the 1600s, this scintillating word referred to a spark-a tiny bit of fire. ![]() Many of these 16 examples referred to a specific small thing or person before broadening their definitions through popular use, but they’re all helpful when dealing with anything itty-bitty. ![]() When we’re looking to describe an amount that’s teensy-weensy, the words aren’t precise, but they are folksy and charming.
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