# 小三百



## yuechu

大家好！

I recently heard the following on a TV show (小舍得）:

Two women are talking to each other and say:
- 你群里说的那些是真的 (Probably 微信群?)
- 那还有假？我们家楼上那个小斌就在那儿补。他妈本来喊我一起去呢，但是我一打听一节课要*小三百*，太黑了，比择数还贵。

Does anyone know what 小三百 means? Does it mean "at least three hundred"?
Thanks!


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## ovaltine888

300<X<350


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## yuechu

(Wow, you replied so fast!  )

Thanks, Ovaltine888! That's interesting! So does that mean that it is 300-350 or 301-349? (I know the difference usually wouldn't matter much, but just curious!)
谢谢！😃

EDIT: And does that mean that 350(351?)-399 would be called 大三百?


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## ovaltine888

Yes you can say that.
小三百 means at the low end of 3xx.


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## hx1997

Although my understanding is the same as ovaltine888's, I found that the dictionaries say this use of 小 means "slightly less than; nearly".


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## ovaltine888

I believe 小三百 is a dialectal usage. Not sure about the exact sense of it. Maybe my understanding is wrong.

Personally I would only use 小几百 which means some hundred less than 500.


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## retrogradedwithwind

小三百是少于三百但接近三百了，比如二百七八十。

没有大三百这个说法。

一般说“大几百”“大几千”等等。还有比如“一千大几”，意思是“一千+大几百”。

有“小几百”“小几千”的说法。

几百，是3百到9百。如果再细分一下就有小几百和大几百了。


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## yuechu

retrogradedwithwind said:


> 小三百是少于三百但接近三百了，比如二百七八十。
> 
> 没有大三百这个说法。
> 
> 一般说“大几百”“大几千”等等。还有比如“一千大几”，意思是“一千+大几百”。
> 
> 有“小几百”“小几千”的说法。
> 
> 几百，是3百到9百。如果再细分一下就有小几百和大几百了。


Thanks for your detailed explanation, Retrogradedwithwind! There are many possibilities in Chinese when talking about numbers. 

Thanks to everyone else too for your replies!


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## henter

最好别用*小三百这个说法。这个基本不用。 我都没听说过。估计是地方方言。我都不确定*


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## henter

retrogradedwithwind said:


> 小三百是少于三百但接近三百了，比如二百七八十。
> 
> 没有大三百这个说法。
> 
> 一般说“大几百”“大几千”等等。还有比如“一千大几”，意思是“一千+大几百”。
> 
> 有“小几百”“小几千”的说法。
> 
> 几百，是3百到9百。如果再细分一下就有小几百和大几百了。


这里直接改成但是我一打听一节课至少要*三百比较好*


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## henter

ovaltine888 said:


> I believe 小三百 is a dialectal usage. Not sure about the exact sense of it. Maybe my understanding is wrong.
> 
> Personally I would only use 小几百 which means some hundred less than 500.


我也觉得基本没有人这样用。这是电视剧台词。 也许编剧喜欢这样用。


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## Kimmi G

henter said:


> 我也觉得基本没有人这样用。这是电视剧台词。 也许编剧喜欢这样用。



我在上海，我们这儿有这么说的，比较常听到~


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## SuperXW

北京会用这说法，这是很贴近生活的口语化台词。我一直以来的理解也是less than 300……你们说300-350，我还以为理解错了……看来还是有很多人跟我理解一样啊……


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## Jake_Chan

yuechu said:


> 但是我一打听一节课要*小三百*，太黑了，比择数还贵。


This sentence sounds a bit odd to me because it is not logical.

When I saw *小*三百，I thought the speaker was going to convey a message that the tuition fee was a small amount for her. But then she said it was too expensive.

Where I live, we use 小几百/小几千 to mean the amount of money is reasonable and we can afford it whereas 大几百/大几千 means that it is quite a large amount.


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## SuperXW

Jake_Chan said:


> This sentence sounds a bit odd to me because it is not logical.
> 
> When I saw *小*三百，I thought the speaker was going to convey a message that the tuition fee was a small amount for her. But then she said it was too expensive.
> 
> Where I live, we use 小几百/小几千 to mean the amount of money is reasonable and we can afford it whereas 大几百/大几千 means that it is quite a large amount.


Apparently this usage means different in different regions. Could be seen as dialectical.
In the TV drama, I believe, 小三百 means 将近三百 and is idiomatical at least in 北京.


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## Jake_Chan

SuperXW said:


> Apparently this usage means different in different regions. Could be seen as dialectical.


Sometimes it's interesting to see that the meaning of the same expression varies from region to region.


SuperXW said:


> In the TV drama, I believe, 小三百 means 将近三百 and is idiomatical at least in 北京.


The sentence makes sense to me now


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## henter

SuperXW said:


> Apparently this usage means different in different regions. Could be seen as dialectical.
> In the TV drama, I believe, 小三百 means 将近三百 and is idiomatical at least in 北京.


oh. Thanks for the tip. 我也是北方的，但是没用过这个表达方式。


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## gonecar

SuperXW said:


> 北京会用这说法，这是很贴近生活的口语化台词。我一直以来的理解也是less than 300……你们说300-350，我还以为理解错了……看来还是有很多人跟我理解一样啊……


北京人确有这个说法。
Example (to offer drinks at the tables):

A: 喝点儿吗？喝我就给你倒。
B: 喝！小半杯。


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## Ruiii

I must say that I didn't know the precise meaning as a native Chinese. Maybe that's because it's from the Northern dialect.


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