Which is smaller?

[toonmilo]

Which is smaller...... A SMIDGEN or a TAD?

Just wondering!!

[Gooner_Badge]

Gotta be smidgen.

Just picturing the two words mentally ... and smigden is winning .. but only by a tad!! 

[jno]

tads are, I think, American (from tadpole?). American things are never smaller.

[kev100]

A smidgin is a tad smaller than anything else, everybody knows that Don't they?

[Quizmonster]

Both words are of US origin, but a smidgen is certainly smaller than a tad. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a smidgen - from the older word 'smitch', meaning a particle - as "a tiny amount or trace", whereas a tad was defined in 'American Speech', published in 1940, as "a very small amount". I'd say 'tiny' beats 'small' in the smallness stakes.

[mr. piper]

I always thought there were 7 tads to a smidgen, 5 smidgens to a rook and 3 rooks to a rake. how many rakes are in a bon load i can't remember. I know i have used all these silly terms, are there any more out there i wonder?

[kempie]

I would say tad... by four letters.

[Trillipse]

i always relate a Smidgen to something that might be smeared or leave a smear - or even BE a smear. a tad is something that can be left in the palm : a little nugget or lozenge or broken-off piece.

[Xollob]

All of which begs the question: how many scintillas in an iota? Or indeed how many whits in a tittle?

[jno]

1 shred, evidence-wise = 2 jots.

[landie]

A smidgeon definitely.