Heinz Ketchup Waves Goodbye to the Gherkin

Side by side, bottles of Heinz ketchup showcase the product's first major label change since the 1940s. The new label, at right, replaces the pickle with a tomato, and reveals a new phrase, "Grown not made."

Many a little makes a mickle

Meaning

Many small amounts accumulate to make a large amount.

Origin

Many a little makes a mickle A mickle, or as they prefer it in Scotland, a muckle, means 'great or large in size'. Apart from 'many a little (or pickle) makes a mickle' the words only now remain in use in UK place-names, like Muckle Flugga in Shetland (which amply lives up to its translated name of 'large, steep-sided island') and Mickleover in Derbyshire (listed in the Domesday Book as Magna Oufra - 'large village on the hill'). 'Over' and 'upper' are very common prefixes in English place-names, along with their opposites 'under', 'lower', 'nether' or 'little'. Examples of these are the Cotswold villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter, and the Hampshire villages of Over and Nether Wallop. The word 'much' derives from the Old English 'mickle' and has now almost entirely replaced it. 'Much' is also used in place-names like Much Wenlock, Shropshire (there's also a Little Wenlock, of course).

The proverbial phrase 'many a little makes a mickle' has now itself been largely superseded by the 18th century 'look after the pennies (originally, 'take care of the pence'), and the pounds will look after ('take care of') themselves'....

Definition

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pickle Show phonetics
noun
1 [C or U] (a sauce made from) vegetables or fruit which have been preserved in a vinegar sauce or salty water:
cheese and pickle sandwiches
Have some pickles with your salad.

2 [C] US a cucumber which has been preserved in vinegar or salty water, or slices of this:
a sweet/sour pickle

pickle Show phonetics
verb [T]
to preserve vegetables or fruit in a vinegar sauce or salty water:
The onions had been pickled in brine.

pickled Show phonetics
adjective
1 preserved in vinegar:
pickled onions/gherkins/herring

2 OLD-FASHIONED INFORMAL drunk:
I got really pickled at Pat's party.

pickling Show phonetics
adjective [before noun]
pickling onions (= small onions of a type which are preserved in vinegar)
pickling spices (= used to give extra flavour to preserved vegetables)