"Least child"

[Charles Doyle]

Now that Mark mentions it:  My mother from Arkansas, (the same one I referred to earlier in this thread) would commonly say of a extraordinarily small person (either a very young one or an undergrowed one), "He's the least little thing!"

--Charlie


---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 17:08:28 -0400
>From: Mark Mandel <Mark.A.Mandel at GMAIL.COM>

>
>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
>>
>
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