Little End of Nothing

Carl Sandburg once observed, “The woman who’ll kiss and tell is small as the little end of nothing.” He meant she lacked character, although the phrase the little end of nothing and variations of have long been used to mean something that’s literally tiny. In an 1826 newspaper, for example, something exceedingly small is described as small as the little end of nothing whittled off to a point. This is part of a complete episode.

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