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small potatoes. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
small potatoes, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
small potatoes in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
small potatoes you have here. The definition of the word
small potatoes will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
small potatoes, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
A specialization of a sense of potato meaning a thing of little value, and a comment on the low value of a small potato in particular, appearing in its modern form in North America in the mid-19th century (see 1855 quotation).
Pronunciation
Noun
small potatoes pl (plural only)
- (idiomatic) One or more persons or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
My paycheck is small potatoes compared to hers.
He no longer works for individuals, since they are small potatoes compared to his corporate clients.
1855, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, “Unlocking a Woman's Heart”, in Nature and Human Nature, volume 1, page 38:It's small potatoes for a man-o-war to be hunting poor game, like us little fore and afters."
2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An enticing House Of The Dragon crowns Westeros' new ruler”, in AV Club:The queen may have outwitted Otto, but he’s small potatoes compared to a master opponent like the Lady of Driftmark.
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Further reading
- John Russell Bartlett (1877) “small potatoes”, in Dictionary of Americanisms: A Glossary of Words and Phrases usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC.
- James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Potato”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VII (O–P), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 1185, column 2.