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slim little number

English translation: slender article

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:slim little number
Selected answer:slender article

12:55 Sep 4, 2014
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2014-09-08 08:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)


English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Marketing - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / copywriting/marketing
English term or phrase: slim little number
Why not try this slim little number. 5... - Dunfermline Treats ...
https://www.facebook.com/.../441134949362444Traduci questa pagina
Why not try this slim little number. 5 old style stacking tins filled with the sweets of your choice. this would make an amazing present all year round....
monica.m
Italy
Local time: 22:33
slender article
Explanation:
'slim' suggests (as BDF has already said) something that is slender or thin; it's the opposite of bulky or clumsy, but might also suggest suitability as a 'small gift' — it's a marketing way of avoiding any negative connotation with 'small'.

'(little) number' is very common in marketing-speak and journalism in general; it's a common way to avoid saying 'one' or 'thing' or 'article', and can be applied to all sorst of objects — e.g. an item of clothing ('a snazzy orange little number'), a model of car ('a nippy little number from a manufacturer better known for larger cars'), and even sometimes a person / character ('he was a bit of a dodgy number, but likeable enough')

Overall, it conjures up 'an article that is small and attractive'.

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Note added at 3 heures (2014-09-04 16:37:40 GMT)
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Having now looked at the actual gift in question, I have to say that 'slender' seems to me rather inappropriate — it is clearly long and cylindrical, but I think 'slender' is really stretching it a bit!

Similarly, I'd hardly call it a 'little number' — it's not huge, but it's hardly 'dainty'! I think their copy-writer was just having a bad hair day...

I would advise Asker to forget the source text, not look for any hidden meaning, and just describe the article (in glowing terms, of course!) in their own language.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 heures (2014-09-05 06:50:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I was thinking about this again in bed last night; the specific collocation 'little number' doesn't per se really have a particularly diminutive sense — it's more the idea of cuteness or 'appealing', though is more likely to be applied to something about which the compactness of its size is part of its appeal. One would hardly say 'a nice little number' about a huge American truck — but equally, one would be unlikely to refer to that as a 'big number'; the collocation 'big number' doesn't really oppose 'little number', and AFAIK is almost only used in a much more literal way in an e.g. theatrical context: "Now the star singer gets to her big number".
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 22:33
Grading comment
thank you
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +5slender article
Tony M
4petit cadeau mignon
B D Finch
4 -4unique item
Maria Fokin


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


54 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
petit cadeau mignon


Explanation:
Slim is about it being small (e.g. would fit in a Xmas stocking) and "little number" means it's cute.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 22:33
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 192

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Maria Fokin: very true. but why the French? it's an Eng-Eng question, no?/ it happens :-)
3 mins
  -> Oops, thought I was looking at EN>FR questions
neutral  Björn Vrooman: "cute" would get us away from any awkward references. Not sure about your suggested heading, though. The asker can't even speak French, as far as I can see :)
6 mins
  -> See above.
neutral  writeaway: English to English translations
1 hr
neutral  Cilian O'Tuama: but it happens to us all :-)
4 hrs
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32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -4
unique item


Explanation:
This is a play on the "little black number", which refers to the black cocktail dress that every woman should have in her wardrobe.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 47 mins (2014-09-04 13:42:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

unique item that is pleasant to look at

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Note added at 4 hrs (2014-09-04 17:00:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

So , i didn't mention slim. Slim as in thin and narrow, as Tony mentions in his answer. The item/article in the link you gave has a tall and narrow shape. That is what slim refers to.

Maria Fokin
Italy
Local time: 22:33
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Björn Vrooman: Still: bad marketing. Little number can also refer to a woman (hot little number), not only her clothes. As bad as the half-naked beer ads in Germany :) Shouldn't be "unique", though: be aware he may be translating it, and unique can mean one item only.
7 mins
  -> no. not at all. to call something a "number" is to imply that it is unique and indispensable (as well as attractive in appearance). /You are right! Yes, I guess it could be considered a bit sexist as a marketing strategy.
disagree  Tony M: Nothing to do with 'la petite robe noire' (which wouldn't be well known in EN anyway) 'number' is a common way of referring to a 'thing', where you really want to say 'one' but want to avoid it. I think 'unique' misses the point here.
26 mins
  -> "la petite robe noire" aside, sorry to disagree, but"number" here is most definitely not simply a thing, but rather something unique.
disagree  Cilian O'Tuama: One of M-W's definitions is: an item of merchandise offered for sale// Aside, a harmless Q: Does living somewhere for a certain length of time make someone a native speaker of the language of that somewhere?
59 mins
  -> In this context, if "number" is used simply to say item then the entire description is reduced to just that, a description. / It depends on when you arrive (i.e. your age at the time). I am more competent in English than Russian (my first language).
disagree  writeaway: don't agree with unique or item. other than that...
1 hr
  -> interesting, that is the first time someone objected to "item" :-)
disagree  AllegroTrans: concept of "small" or "slender" is completely missing from your suggestion which does not explain the meaning of the ST to the asker// you should not take offence from "diagrees" - they are are part & parcel of the KudoZ peer commenting system
2 hrs
  -> Thank you for your added input, because three disagrees were clearly not enough to get the message across to the asker. I appreciate that.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +5
slender article


Explanation:
'slim' suggests (as BDF has already said) something that is slender or thin; it's the opposite of bulky or clumsy, but might also suggest suitability as a 'small gift' — it's a marketing way of avoiding any negative connotation with 'small'.

'(little) number' is very common in marketing-speak and journalism in general; it's a common way to avoid saying 'one' or 'thing' or 'article', and can be applied to all sorst of objects — e.g. an item of clothing ('a snazzy orange little number'), a model of car ('a nippy little number from a manufacturer better known for larger cars'), and even sometimes a person / character ('he was a bit of a dodgy number, but likeable enough')

Overall, it conjures up 'an article that is small and attractive'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 heures (2014-09-04 16:37:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Having now looked at the actual gift in question, I have to say that 'slender' seems to me rather inappropriate — it is clearly long and cylindrical, but I think 'slender' is really stretching it a bit!

Similarly, I'd hardly call it a 'little number' — it's not huge, but it's hardly 'dainty'! I think their copy-writer was just having a bad hair day...

I would advise Asker to forget the source text, not look for any hidden meaning, and just describe the article (in glowing terms, of course!) in their own language.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 heures (2014-09-05 06:50:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I was thinking about this again in bed last night; the specific collocation 'little number' doesn't per se really have a particularly diminutive sense — it's more the idea of cuteness or 'appealing', though is more likely to be applied to something about which the compactness of its size is part of its appeal. One would hardly say 'a nice little number' about a huge American truck — but equally, one would be unlikely to refer to that as a 'big number'; the collocation 'big number' doesn't really oppose 'little number', and AFAIK is almost only used in a much more literal way in an e.g. theatrical context: "Now the star singer gets to her big number".

Tony M
France
Local time: 22:33
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 309
Grading comment
thank you

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sheri P
10 mins
  -> Thanks, Sheri!
agree  writeaway: ok as explanation, not as replacement in a marketing context (very/much too flat) http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/slim
1 hr
  -> Thanks, W/A! Oh yes, absolutely! I figured what Asker seemed to be wanting here was more of an explanation (for onward translation?) than an actual replacement term.
agree  Björn Vrooman: Similar to Webster's explanation but not found in Oxford/Cambridge. Because five containers can be stacked on top of each other, I wonder whether number doesn't refer to "what a neat (little) trick!".//To added note: That's what I was wondering, too :)
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Björn! perosnally, I do,n't read it as being like the theatrical 'number', because of the collocation 'little number'.
agree  AllegroTrans: neat, slim, trim, compact, space-saving etc.
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, C!
agree  Natalia Volkova
16 hrs
  -> Spasibo, Natalia!
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