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16 if he could stay the night. 8. Jill turned away, overcome by grief, and stepped into the road. A lorry appeared but she did not seem to notice it. 9. Lord Moping's doctor said that he was making good progress and would appear in a few minutes. 10. Two hours later Mr Loveday again appeared in the asylum, saying that he had enjoyed his outing but would now stay there for good. 11. —He promised to come at four but didn't appear until nearly six. 12. It was not long before the police appeared and began asking questions.
Big, Large, Great
To denote simply size (more than average size) either big or large may be used (or, in a few cases, great). (See below.)
eg a big room! flat !house or: a large room/flat/house a big town/city a large town/city
a big field/park/garden a large field/park, etc.
a big bag/suitcase a large bag/suitcase
a big knife/fork/plate a large knife/fork, etc.
a big meal/breakfast/dinner a large meal/breakfast, etc. a big apple/pie/cake/loaf a large apple/pie/cake, etc.
The difference here is stylistic; big is more colloquial than large. Thus in conversation and informal writing big is the usual word, whereas in formal style (especially in writing) large is generally preferred. Compare the following pairs of sentences:
eg 1. a. — Is it a big town? (informal style)
b. John Smith was born in Bingley, a large town in the north of England, (formal style)
2. a. — This suitcase isn't big enough, (informal)
b. Next day a distinguished-looking man arrived at the hotel, carrying a large suitcase, (formal)
3. a. — We shall need a big room for the meeting.
(informal)
b. The meeting was held in a large room on the first floor, (formal)
Big and large can also be used in this way with reference to people, in the sense of not only tall but broad.
eg 4. He was a big/large man.
However, big, when applied to people or their actions, often acquires a slightly different meaning. (1) grown-up, older;
17 eg 5. Don't cry. You're a big boylgirl now. 6. Where's your big brother !sister?
(2) important, well-known;
— the Big Three/Four/Five, etc. — the most important or prominent few in any affair, for example, the founders or leaders of a party or movement.
— a bigwig (si.) — an important person, especially a senior official.
eg 7. They invited all the local bigwigs to the opening of the exhibition.
— a big noise/shot (si.) — an important person
eg 8. He's a big noise/shot in the steel industry now.
(3) on a large scale;
— big business — large business enterprises and organizations, especially collectively (sometimes with sinister implications)
eg 9. The new law will be very unpopular with big business.
— a big landowner — a person or collective body which owns a large amount of land.
eg 10. Some farmers rent their farms from big landowners.
In these expressions big cannot be replaced by large.
In some idiomatic expressions big refers to a person's
opinion of himself or to his behaviour, often in a derogatory sense:
— big-headed (si.) — conceited \ used mainly by
— a big head (si.) — a conceited person J children
— to get/grow too big for one's boots (si.) — to become conceited
— to talk big (colloq.) — to talk about one's activities, plans, etc. as if they are (or will be) on a very large scale
— big words — words which suggest something very significant or on a large scale
— to think big — to think (in the sense of plan) on a large scale (not usually derogatory)
— to have big ideas — to be ambitious (not usually derogatory). Also used with the preposition for.
eg 11. He's got big ideas for his son.
18 Big is also used with certain nouns derived from verbs plus the suffix -er, to mean someone who does something a great deal:
eg 12. — Iie1S a big eater.
13. — She's a big spender.
However, there are not many such combinations and in other cases great is used instead. (See below.)
The sense of "important" is associated not only with people and their activities, as shown by the following examples.
14. — The big moment came at last.
15. — IVs a big decision.
16. — The big question is how to get the money.
Big is used with some abstract nouns, especially nouns denoting an emotion, for example, surprise, shock, disappointment, relief.
eg 17. It was a big surprise to everybody.
18. His death | ^^ as\ a ^8 shock (to them).
19. It will be a big disappointment (to her).
20. It's a big relief to know that John is safe.
Help is also used with big in a similar way:
eg 21. Thanks very much. You've been a big help.
In the above examples big is characteristic of colloquial English. In more formal style great is used instead. (See below.)
Large is used in certain expressions of quantity:
a large amount !quantity !number on a large scale eg 22. He inherited a large amount of money from his uncle.
These expressions are confined to formal style. (For informal equivalents see p. 82.)
