One thing that I could never really understand about Japanese is the usage of
という／ということ. But first let me clarify which という I'm talking about.

> 「Small」と「little」の違い **ということ** はなんですか?

vs

> 「Small」と「little」の違い **は** なんですか？

And from a similar question ([When choose の/こと or
というの/ということ](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/12590/when-
choose-%E3%81%AE-%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8-or-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E3%81%AE-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8))

> こんなによく遅刻{ちこく}をする **というのは** 問題{もんだい}ですよ。

vs

> こんなによく遅刻{ちこく}をする **のは** 問題{もんだい}ですよ。

There was an answer
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/4581/what-does-
using-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%86-add-to-a-sentence/4585#4585) that suggested
it was presupposition vs nonpresupposition, but that didn't really make much
sense to me.

I understand **how** to use it (at least some extent), I just don't get
**when** or **why** the Japanese use it.
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grammar
When and why use という/ということ
Well, I may be wrong but since noone answered (well, since I started writing
this) maybe someone can comment on my answer as to what they think too. :)

Small」と「little」の違いということはなんですか?

What are the kinds of differences between small and little (usage etc)?

-this is less direct (more soft) and allows open discussion. It is not expecting a very direct answer such as "yes", "no", "good" or "bad". 

Small」と「little」の違いはなんですか？

What is the difference between small and little?

-this is more direct and blunt. The question is expecting a more direct answer such as "small is a, and little is b".

A lot of words in Japanese are used not because they are necessary to
communication, but instead because they convey the feelings and intentions of
the speaker when speaking. Actually that is quite similar to many of the words
in other languages writing. It just sounds better, I am sure when you
translate these sentences into English you can also feel the effect even
though they are no longer in Japanese. I think the reason this use of filler
language is more stressed in Japanese than in most languages is because of the
culture, although I most certainly have gotten annoyed at people in the past
whom were clearly not native English speakers but did not make use of words
such as "please" and "thank you"...but Japanese language takes it further than
this where simply adding "please" or "thank you" cannot make up for lack of
filler language (while in many cultures people will find it acceptable to be a
little blunt if you add some polite words in as well).

:)
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