re : big vs . large , et al i would appreciate any thoughts on any differences in meaning between big and large as well as small and little . i am attempting a monosemic approach ( at the insistance of the professor ) which maintains that each word must have one meaning . we tell esl students that they mean the same thing , yet we constantly correct their choices because they do n't use the right one . how can we tell them to use the right one if we can't tell them what the right one is ? any answers or thoughts on the subject would be appreciated . my email address is browndeb @ aol . com , or if you think anyone else would be interested , the multiple recipients address [ linguist @ tamvm1 . tamu . edu ] is good . thanks in advance . deborah brownstein