"have little do with" meaning?
- Thread starter ZOEYW
- Start date
- Views : 14,563
- Status
MikeNewYork
VIP Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- American English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
And?
ZOEYW
Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2013
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
I have no idea what this sentence mean with this phrase. thanks
MikeNewYork
VIP Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- American English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
Nor do I. Is there any context?
Raymott
VIP Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- Australia
- Current Location
- Australia
Your sentence really makes no sense. But "have little to do with" is similar to "have nothing to do with", except that the latter means that there is no relevance of one thing to another, while the former suggests that there is possibly at least some small relevance.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2009
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- British English
- Home Country
- UK
- Current Location
- UK
The word "to" was missing from your original making it much harder to work out what was trying to be said. If it said "... has little do with ..." then it's a typo and the word "to" has been omitted between "little" and "do".
MikeNewYork
VIP Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- American English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
Even with that addition, the meaning escapes me.
Raymott
VIP Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- Australia
- Current Location
- Australia
I didn't even notice the missing 'to'! My explanation is for the term "to have little to do with something", which I took to be the question.
I guess from Mike's response, they don't use the term in AmE - unless being American has little to do with his response. Maybe he means that he still can't understand the example sentence - nor can I - rather than he can't understand the [incomplete] idiom in the title, or the question.
I guess from Mike's response, they don't use the term in AmE - unless being American has little to do with his response. Maybe he means that he still can't understand the example sentence - nor can I - rather than he can't understand the [incomplete] idiom in the title, or the question.
MikeNewYork
VIP Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- American English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
It is the "big data" part that throws me. We use "have little to do with" in AmE.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
