23592
[デジタル大辞林 gives the definition of
[小っ酷い]【こっぴどい】](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/80141/m0u/%E3%81%93%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B4%E3%81%A9%E3%81%84/)
as

> 非常にひどい。手厳しい。

But I find this strange. Why would 小っ酷い mean 非常にひどい? Isn't prefixal 小【こ】- sort
of a diminutive? At least, that's how it works in words like
[「小雨」](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/78437/m0u/%E5%B0%8F%E9%9B%A8/)＝
**少し** 降る雨,
[「小柄」](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/76352/m0u/%E5%B0%8F%E6%9F%84/)＝体格が普通より
**小さい** こと, and even the similar-looking 形容詞
[「小恥ずかしい」](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/81175/m0u/)＝ **ちょっと** きまりが悪い.

Is there some rhyme or reason as to why the 小 in 小っ酷い doesn't seem to behave
like a diminutive, or is this just one of those things that merely _is_?
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2015-04-03T18:25:13.087
23586
2015-04-04T09:37:58.440
2015-04-03T21:38:11.483
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question
words
Why does [小っ酷い]【こっぴどい】 mean "very ひどい" rather than "slightly ひどい"?
There is a difference in usage and meaning between 「こ」 and 「こっ」.

While 「こ」 is generally used as diminutive, 「こっ」 is used for different meanings
and nuances.

[デジタル大辞泉](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%93%E3%81%A3-502305#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88)
defines 「こっ」 as:

>
> ［接頭］《接頭語「こ（小）」に促音が加わったもの》形容詞、ときに動詞に付いて、いささか、相当に、はなはだしく、などの意を添える。「―ぱずかしい」「―ぴどい」「―ぱずれる」

My translation:

> [Prefix] 《Geminated version of prefix 「こ（小）」》Attached to adjectives and
> sometimes verbs for added meanings of "slightly", "considerably", "heavily",
> etc. 「―ぱずかしい」「―ぴどい」「―ぱずれる」

Note that unlike 「こ」, 「こっ」 cannot be attached to nouns. (Your examples 「小雨」
and 「小柄」 are in the structure "小 + Noun": therefore, it is not a fair
comparison.)

Thus, at least by dictionary definitions, there is nothing strange with what
「こっぴどい」 means, which is 「とてもひどい」.

If I were to add my own perspective here, the word 「ひどい」 contains a fairly
negative subjective value judgement to begin with. In other words, it would
not be very natural to say 「すこしひどい」 or the like.

In conclusion, what the prefix 「こっ」 means depends on (1) the word that follows
and (2) the context and what the speaker means to express. For instance,
people do say 「こっぱずかしい」 to mean both "a little embarrassed" and "very
embarrassed".

Advanced learners might also need to know that 「こっ」 is sometimes used more for
the good rhythm it gives to one's speech than for the added meaning/nuance. In
particular, the small 「っ」 combined with a word starting in the p consonant
gives the explosive kind of rhythm. The p sound is rare in the language to
begin with, so we "create" it by using
[rendaku](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku) with words starting with a
は-line syllable. The three examples above from デジタル大辞泉 should tell you
something about it -- 「― **ぱ** ずかしい」「― **ぴ** どい」「― **ぱ** ずれる」.
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2015-04-04T09:37:58.440
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2015-04-04T09:37:58.440
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answer