it's a small handkerchief?

December 22, 2006 7:07 AM

A Mexican friend of mine recently used a Spanish phrase that literally translates out to, "The world is like a handkerchief." He says it means the same as "it's a small world." However, he doesn't know the origins of this phrase or why it means that. Being mathematicians, we think it's that any point on the handkerchief can be brought arbitrarily close to any other point on the handkerchief. Does anyone know the origin of this phrase?
posted by bluefly to society & culture (6 comments total)

The third paragraph mentions it on this blog post.
posted by Science! at 7:16 AM on December 22, 2006

I've never heard it. It does appear to be common though and the people mentioning it are predominantly Spain/Spanish speakers instead of Latin Americans which makes me think its regional. Makes me wonder where your Mexican friend heard it.

Oh, and that blog post Science! links to is messing up the Spanish. Its pañuelo not pañuel as in my Google link above.
posted by vacapinta at 9:27 AM on December 22, 2006

My high school Spanish teacher said it has the exact same implication of "it's a small world", they're just putting a specific, arbitrary size on the smallness of the world (about the size of a handkerchief).
posted by the jam at 10:07 AM on December 22, 2006

I think the jam may be right - meaning that it just signifies dimension.

There's an equivalent expression in French it seems: Le monde dans un mouchoir de poche. But here, the general French phrase refers to something being of small size - that is to say, as small as a pocket handkerchief.

Hmm...this requires more research...
posted by vacapinta at 10:24 AM on December 22, 2006

I'm with the jam too -- it's just a turn of phrase/proverb, not something with a specific origin beyond the obvious.

In googling I found the phrase quoted in this Welsh poem (w/ English translation by the author).

It seems to have been the translated title of Lodge's novel Small World, which may have spread it further than just Spain (it turns up in Argentina too).
posted by dhartung at 7:07 PM on December 22, 2006

These are all such interesting answers. I especially liked seeing the connections in other languages. Thanks.
posted by bluefly at 6:37 AM on December 23, 2006