Small, but perfectly formed
Stuart Chapman
formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
may be mistaken.
--
Stupot http://insignity.blogspot.com
Robert Lieblich
>
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
> formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
> may be mistaken.
My suspicion (arrived at with zero percent research and 100 percent
ratiocination) is that this particular phrase is simply the best way
of saying what there is to be said and that it could have arisen
spontaneously in a variety of contexts. I've heard it said of a
slightly premature baby, a short adult, a small animal, and probably a
whole bunch of other things (not including male genitalia, I hasten to
add).
IOW, I don't think of it as an idiom, and I doubt it can be tracked to
any single origin.
Who will be the first to prove me wrong?
Stuart Chapman
> Stuart Chapman wrote:
>> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
>> formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
>> may be mistaken.
>
> My suspicion (arrived at with zero percent research and 100 percent
> ratiocination) is that this particular phrase is simply the best way
> of saying what there is to be said and that it could have arisen
> spontaneously in a variety of contexts. I've heard it said of a
> slightly premature baby, a short adult, a small animal, and probably a
> whole bunch of other things (not including male genitalia, I hasten to
> add).
Large and ugly, then?
--
Stupot http://insignity.blogspot.com
Leslie Danks
Form or function, innit.
--
Les
athel...@yahoo
wrote:
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
> formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
> may be mistaken.
> --
or parts of babies (like fingernails).
athel
Donna Richoux
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
> formed"?
I didn't realize it was any sort of trendy catchphrase, but browsing
through current Google hits shows that something is going on. I can't
see any pattern to how it is used, though. Is it one of these nearly
meaningless sentences like "last but not least" -- someone wants to call
something small and they just tack on "but perfectly formed" for no
particular reason, except perhaps to prevent offense?
>I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
> may be mistaken.
Google Books gives seven hits between 1800 and 1840 (and none before
1800). There's a passage about newborn earthworms that, oddly, shows up
in three or four different books without indication of quotation -- I
guess these natural historians all just stole from each other. The
earliest-dated one is:
A History of the Earth, and Animated Nature - Page 199
by Oliver Goldsmith - 1824 ... are hatched into
maturity, the young ones come forth very small, but
perfectly formed, and suffer no change during their
existence: how long their life ...
I don't mean to say that this is some kind of definitive influence,
though, just an early example.
It occurs to me that it might well turn up in discussions about dwarves
and midgets, because being "perfectly formed" is a distinguishing
characteristic... Looking up the "Tom Thumb" who travelled with P.T.
Barnum, I find:
Barnum though him "the smallest child I ever saw that
could walk alone . . . a perfectly formed,
bright-eyed little fellow, with light hair and ruddy
cheeks, and he enjoyed the best of health.
I'm surprised to see that the real name of this "Tom Thumb" is Charles
Stratton, born in Connecticut, which could make him a distant relation
-- I have Strattons in my family tree.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Nick Spalding
on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:42:14 +1000:
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
> formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
> may be mistaken.
Somewhere I see it fairly often is "Private Eye".
--
Nick Spalding
CDB
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but
> perfectly formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to
> breasts, but I may be mistaken.
Perhaps specifically the breasts and other perfect aspects of Lady
Florence Paget, The Pocket Venus, although they think here that might
not be the end of the story:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9912a&L=linguist&P=3683 ;
http://tinyurl.com/2cmoka .
Peter Moylan
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
> formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
> may be mistaken.
Didn't Gulliver use it to describe the Lilliputians? Or am I misremembering?
--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
Grrr
> I'm surprised to see that the real name of this "Tom Thumb" is Charles
> Stratton, born in Connecticut, which could make him a distant relation
> -- I have Strattons in my family tree.
Barnum was a Nutmeg stater, so maybe they were neighbors?
mUs1Ka
news:139cilg...@corp.supernews.com...
> Stuart Chapman wrote:
>> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
>> formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
>> may be mistaken.
>
> Didn't Gulliver use it to describe the Lilliputians? Or am I
> misremembering?
>
Yes.
--
Ray
UK
Donna Richoux
> Stuart Chapman wrote:
> > Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
> > formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to breasts, but I
> > may be mistaken.
>
> Didn't Gulliver use it to describe the Lilliputians? Or am I misremembering?
It's a reasonable thought, but it's not in there, according to the copy
at etext.virginia.edu .
While I was there, I was happy to learn that UVa has a "Search the
Ebooks Collection" page:
http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-ebooks?specfile=/texts/english/e
books/ebooks.o2w
I tested it with the phrase <small but perfectly formed> and it replied
Results 1 - 1:
Thoreau, Henry David : The Maine Woods 1858 k-fly, a very small but
perfectly formed fly of that color, ab
Clicking on the title gave more lines.
So, another sandbox to play in.
Donna Richoux
In the sense that any two people in a small state are neighbors?
I'm unsure of the definition or standard.
Oh, I looked up my Strattons -- definitely a Massachusetts family, not
Connecticut. So the possibility of connection is more remote. Not that
it matters.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Stuart Chapman wrote:
>> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but
>> perfectly formed"? I have always assumed it originally referred to
>> breasts, but I may be mistaken.
>
> Didn't Gulliver use it to describe the Lilliputians? Or am I
> misremembering?
It seemed plausible, but apparently not.
http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/ascii/gulliver.txt
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Bullwinkle: You sure that's the
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 | only way?
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |Rocky: Well, if you're going to be
| a hero, you've got to do
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com | stupid things every once in
(650)857-7572 | a while.
The Grammer Genious
news:139btrc...@corp.supernews.com...
> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
Also, why "but"? What does "but" have to do with it?
It is like saying "He is Belgian, but you should hear him play the piano."
Grrr
> Oh, I looked up my Strattons -- definitely a Massachusetts family, not
> Connecticut. So the possibility of connection is more remote. Not that
> it matters.
When Barnum retired to Chicago, he built a shed for his pet elephant.
I visited it; it is now being used as a garage.
Oleg Lego
Do you drive in via the tail or trunk end?
R H Draney
>
>On Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:17:12 -0000, Grrr posted:
>
>>I visited it; it is now being used as a garage.
>
>Do you drive in via the tail or trunk end?
Anybody here *not* see that one coming?...
I thought the elephant you could park in was in New Jersey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_the_elephant
....r
--
"You got Schadenfreude on my Weltanschauung!"
"You got Weltanschauung in my Schadenfreude!"
Mark Brader
> > formed"? <...>
> Also, why "but"? What does "but" have to do with it?
Because it's true reasonably often that things that are smaller than usual,
particularly living things, are also deformed or in a juvenile, partially
unformed state.
--
Mark Brader | "... a movement is already under way to declare December 7
Toronto | an annual legal holiday in commemoration of the opening of
m...@vex.net | hostilities." -- Ring Lardner, New York Times, 1931
The Grammer Genious
news:139dqqp...@corp.supernews.com...
>> > Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but perfectly
>> > formed"? <...>
>
>> Also, why "but"? What does "but" have to do with it?
>
> Because it's true reasonably often that things that are smaller than
> usual,
> particularly living things, are also deformed or in a juvenile, partially
> unformed state.
Yeah, like insects' eyes. They're less perfectly formed than our eyes are.
How about "smaller *and* perfectly formed"?
Mark Brader
>> Because it's true reasonably often that things that are smaller
>> than usual, particularly living things, are also deformed or in
>> a juvenile, partially unformed state.
> Yeah, like insects' eyes. They're less perfectly formed than our eyes are.
Insects' eyes are not usually smaller than usual.
> How about "smaller *and* perfectly formed"?
Sure, if you insist on missing the point.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "You can write a small letter to Grandma
m...@vex.net | in the filename." -- Forbes Burkowski
"Small, but perfectly formed?"
Stuart Chapman
breasts are small, to <compensate>, they are perfectly formed.
--
Stupot http://insignity.blogspot.com
Pat Durkin
"Stuart Chapman" <ten.no.e...@nampahc.trauts> wrote in message
say that.
Purl Gurl
> The Grammer Genious wrote:
>> Stuart Chapman wrote:
>>> Has anyone any idea about the origin of the phrase "small but
>>> perfectly formed"? <...>
> That's one reason I think it's originally a reference to breasts. The
> breasts are small, to <compensate>, they are perfectly formed.
This is interesting. What is a widely accepted definition
or description of "perfectly formed" breasts?
Reminds me of a less than acceptably intelligent boy.
He asks, "Why are nudist women's breasts always like flapjacks?"
I answer, "Because constant sun exposure dehydrates their breasts."
--
Purl Gurl
--
So many are stumped by what slips right off the top of my mind
like a man's bad fitting hairpiece.