"Least child"

[Herb Stahlke]

Saw a least flycatcher from the deck of my cottage up on Georgian Bay last week.

Herb

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 5:08 PM, Mark Mandel<Mark.A.Mandel at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <Mark.A.Mandel at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Least child"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I think of it in such phrases as about equivalent to "littlest"... OED says
> I'm not the only one:
>
>    Used as the superlative of LITTLE.
>    A. adj.
>    I. In concord with n. expressed or understood.
>    1. a. Little beyond all others in size or degree; smallest; slightest;
> [obs.] fewest.  Not infrequently coupled with last: see LAST a. 1c.
>
> So "least child" = 'smallest child', from which the step to 'youngest child'
> is easy.
>
> m a m
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 7:20 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
>> The phrase had an 18th-century flavor to me, so I googled books
>> before 1799.  Merely 5 hits (plus one with no preview available), of
>> which just one is suggestive:
>>
>> The Child's companion, 1799, page 50 (full view available).
>>
>> "The words were so simple, that the least child knew what was meant."
>>
>> Apparently my taste is a little off, however.  Between 1800 and 1849
>> inclusive, there are 395 hits.  The first 10 (of which only one
>> appears to be a duplicate) all have the desired sense -- although
>> sometimes not merely youngest in a family but in a town or in God's
>> universe.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>> At 8/3/2009 04:00 PM, Bill Palmer wrote:
>> >In conversation today, speaker from western NC, referred to
>> >his  daughter as his "least child", meaning nothing more than the
>> >one who was younger.
>> >
>> >Has anyone ever heard "least" to mean "younger" or "youngest"?
>> >
>> >I did not get any relevant Google hits on "least child".
>> >
>> >Bill Palmer
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org