Chrysti The Wordsmith: Drop in the Bucket

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. A drop in the bucket is an insignificant amount. A small proportion of a much larger whole. The meaning of the metaphor is clear. One drop in a bucket does not noticeably alter the content yet technically something has been added to the amount drop in the bucket is another on the roster of popular expressions lifted from the pages of the Bible. This specimen comes from the Old Testament book of Isaiah where God's Grandier is compared with the insignificance and trenchant of the kingdoms of the earth. Quote surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket. They are regarded as dust on the scales. This phrase is eminently useful. Journalists seem to be fond of it. A recent perusal of the New York Times archival database showed that the expression drop in the bucket had been used in that publication. Five hundred and thirty nine times since 1981 in a New York time technology column in June 2001 author Vivian Marino wrote an estimated

400 million people around the world logged on to the Internet every day. A huge audience. But it is a drop in the bucket considering that billions more have not even heard of the web. This is yet another example of an ancient biblical expression pressed into service for any number of modern situations. For the family on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman this is Christie the wordsmith. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.