Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I’m Feifei.
Phil
And I’m Phil. Merry Christmas, Feifei! I got you a little something.
Feifei
Oh thanks! Wow, it is little – never mind.
Phil
It’s just a gift card, but I thought I’d get you something as we’ve spent another year explaining phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers. We use ‘a little something’ to talk about small presents.
Feifei
Yes. It doesn’t have to be a Christmas present. For example, we sometimes get people a little something for their birthday or when they leave a job and we can bring people a little something back from a trip abroad.
Phil
Sometimes a little something really is just a small present. However, in English, especially British English, we often like to make things sound less significant than they really are, and so sometimes what we call ‘a little something’ isn’t that little.
Feifei
No. So sometimes people can feel embarrassed about giving or receiving a large present, so we might call it ‘a little something’ to make it feel less awkward.
Phil
Let’s hear some examples of people talking about ‘a little something’.
Examples
So, my friend has just had a baby, and she said to not bring any presents, but I took her a little something just because I thought I’m not going to go and not take a present for the baby.
Hi, thanks for coming to my party! I’ve just got a little something over here in case you get a bit hungry.
My best friend said that he would give me a little something for my birthday, and I’m very excited about it.
Feifei
We’ve been learning the expression ‘a little something’ to talk about small gifts.
Phil
As we said before, sometimes ‘a little something’ doesn’t actually mean something that little – we just want to make things less awkward. Linked to this is the fact that we often use the adverb ‘just’ with it – ‘we just got you a little something’.
Feifei
Or ‘it’s just a little something, but we hope you like it’.
Phil
That’s it for this programme. Think of it as a little something from us to help your English.
Feifei
That’s right. And we’ll have another little something for you next time. See you then! Bye.
Phil
Bye.
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