every little bit helps
proverb Every contribution toward a goal is valuable, regardless of how small it may be. A: "I'm sorry, I can only donate $5 right now." B: "Oh, that's fine—every little bit helps!" A: "If you guys are willing to stay for any amount of time at all and help us paint this room, we'd really appreciate it." B: "Yeah, every little bit helps!" Every little bit helps! It's for charity, so you know your money's going to a deserving cause.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
Every little bit helps.
Prov. Even the smallest amount is helpful. Tom: I can only give a dollar to your charity. Mary: That's OK. Every little bit helps. Jane gave me a pair of booties for my new baby. It's not much, but every little bit helps.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
every little bit helps
Any contribution can be useful, as in He can only give us one day, but every little bit helps. This expression, with slightly different wording ( everything helps), dates from the late 1500s.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
every little bit helps
Any tiny contribution to a cause, collection, or undertaking can be useful. This expression began life, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, as “Everything helps, quoth the wren when she pissed into the sea,” dated 1590. Another version, “Every little helps,” appeared in print in 1791 (in O’Keeffe’s play, Wild Oats, 5.3, “Here—it’s not much! But every little helps”). “Bit” appears to have been added in America in the early twentieth century. A. W. Upfield used it in The Man of Two Tribes (1956): “Every little bit helps.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer