Smallness

Smallness

See also Dwarfism.

Alice

nibbles a magic cake to become a pygmy. [Br. Lit.: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland]

Alphonse

petite page to Mr. Wititterly. [Br. Lit.: Nicholas Nickleby]

Andorra

small state of 191 square miles, between France and Spain. [Eur. Hist.: NCE, 100]

Anon, Mr

. a deformed and hunchbacked midget. [Br. Lit.: Memoirs of a Midget, Magill I, 577–579]

hop-o’-my-thumb

generic term for a midget or dwarf. [Folklore: Brewer Dictionary, 544]

Liechtenstein

central European principality, comprising 65 square miles. [Eur. Hist.: NCE, 1578]

Lilliputians

race of pygmies living in fictitious kingdom of Lilliput. [Br. Lit.: Gulliver’s Travels]

Little Tich

midget music-hall comedian of late 1800s. [Br. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1082]

Luxembourg

duchy of 999 square miles in Western Europe. [Eur. Hist.: NCE, 1632]

Miss M

. perfectly formed midget leads the pleasant social life of a young lady but disappears mysteriously. [Br. Lit.: Walter de la Mare Memoirs of a Midget in Magill I, 577]

Mowcher, Miss

kindhearted hairdresser of small stature. [Br. Lit.: David Copperfield]

Pepin the Short

first Frankish king; progenitor of Carolingian dynasty. [Eur. Hist.: Bishop, 20, 25]

Quilp, Daniel

small man with giant head and face. [Br. Lit.: Old Curiosity Shop]

Rhode Island

smallest of the fifty states; nicknamed “Little Rhodie.” [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2315]

Stareleigh

Justice “a most particularly short man.” [Br. Lit.: Pickwick Papers]

Thumb, Tom

(1838–1883) stage name for the midget, Charles Sherwood Stratton. [Am. Hist.: Benét, 1016]

Thumbelina

tiny girl, rescued by a swallow, marries the tiny king of the Angels of the Flowers. [Dan. Lit.: Andersen’s Fairy Tales]

Zacchaeus

little man took to tree to see Christ. [N.T.: Luke 19:3–4]