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Specifically for when they mean "a little".  
In what situations would they be used and are they completely interchangeable
without any differences?
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2012-08-11T15:06:01.633
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2018-05-28T08:19:16.057
2012-08-11T15:31:06.483
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question
word-choice usage ambiguity
What is the difference between ちょっと and 少し?
It seems to be a lot about nuances.

It says that you can replace 少し with ちょっと in most cases but it's less common
the other way around. Then it lists few examples when the sentence does not
convey exactly the same meaning based on which one you use.

One of the example is from a
[book](http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4569640656?ie=UTF8&tag=kotonohaenerg-22&linkCode=as2&camp=247&creative=1211&creativeASIN=4569640656)
and it talks about the difference between 「ちょっと待ってね」 and 「少し待ってね」. The first
one would be an _egoist_ way of asking the people to wait, a bit vague, term
that would be convenient for you. The other one with 少し would be apparently
more accurate, easier to rely on and let the other person more likely to feel
at ease/trust with you.

An other example is a case when you cannot really use 少し instead of ちょっと. The
example is 「ちょっと、わかんない。」.

I am not sure I fully understand myself but what I understood so far is that
少し, compared to ちょっと, is ちゃんとした言葉 compared to ちょっと that would be a bit 適当
(sorry I don't find the words to explain that in english). This difference
would be reflected especially when you ask someone to do something.
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2012-08-15T04:33:56.983
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answer
To a certain extent they are just different levels of politeness. Check the
following:  
  
ちょっと待って！  
少し待ってください  
少々お待ちください  

少々（しょうしょう）> 少し > ちょっと

The phrases get longer the more polite they are. Also, I believe ちょっと is more
of a spoken phrase than a written phrase.
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2012-08-27T15:55:22.470
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2012-08-27T15:55:22.470
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answer