what's the difference between "big" and "large"

When I was asked the question about the difference between Big and Large, the first idea coming into my mind is that big is used to describe concrete things, such as company, dog..etc,while large is for abstract concept. However, after doing a little research by virtue of different concordancer, which is something like a large database of vocabulary, I found out that I was totally wrong. Actually, both big and large can be used to describe concrete things or abstract concept. There is no such rule about which goes by which. It is a matter of "habit". Even native speakers can't tell the different. Even so, we can still differentiate these two words by their conventional usage.

here is research results:

Big:

a big controversy(abstract concept)
a big book(concrete thing)
a big amount of money

Large:

a large bird(concrete thing)
a large gap(abstract concept)
a large amount of
a large number of
a large part of
a large proportion of
a large sum of
a large volumn of

The search result above shows that Large is usually used to describe "quantity", while big is not. However, with the rapid development of population of English users, more and more novelty and innovative words are added into English word bank. "Long time no see" has already become popular in the English language, why can't "a big amount of?"

Reference:
NTNU Web Concordancer
VLC Concordancer

What a day!

As I could remember, memorizing vocabulary has been the way I learned English. Till now, even though I got lots of vocabulary packed into my mind, I still could not make a smooth and precise use of English. However, we could have spent less time learning English as long as we find the right way and right tool.

Too often, we just memorized English vocabulary and its Chinese counterpart, but ignored there is no perfect and absolute Chinese meaning for each English word. As a result, Reading an article with no new word but still getting no meaning is constantly recurring. However, English teachers of the past focused too much on the enlargement of the extent of students' English vocabulary, but less touched on how to pick up words in an accurate and effective way.

Luckily enough, our conscientious and scrupulous teacher helped us patch up this basic but vital knowledge. Learned, but neither stuffy nor pedantic, she not just gave us a brief introduction of general and specific dictionaries, but also told us what makes a good dictionary, that is, large amount of vocabulary, clear definition, ample examples, related idioms or phrases. To me, her lecture came as a beacon light of hope to guide me out of the maze of learning. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of my misunderstanding. Through her informative and resourceful class, I realize that a bad dictionary with meager content get you loss in the vast and boundless sea of English Learning, while a good dictionary will lead your way to the paradise of English Learning.

About me

I just heard that the first post has to be self-introduction, so here it is.

My name is Bava. Lots of people will take the word "Bava" for an English name and think how strange a name is, but it is actually my aboriginal name, which is symbolic of a warrior. My tribal name is called "Bunnun", 布農 in chinese. If you want to know more about my tribe, just feel free to ask. My hometown is located in a small village in Hualian. With rolling mountains and clear lakes, it is veritably a Arcadia. Growing under the environment isolated from outside world, I am more innocent and pure, gullible and trustful. I don't care much about material comforts, but concern more about spiritual abundance. Judge by the outer appearance, you won't see the sweet and breezy personality inside of me, but once you get to know me, you will find that being with me is like basking in the sun, so warmly and cosily.

hi, there

This blog is not my first blog, but I am sure it will be a longer one (you know why).
well, I acutally don't know what I should put on this blog. I am not the persone who randomly let out the feelings inside, or the person who reverals too much private information. There might be someone who is lurking somewhere trying to hurt you in some way, who knows? but anyway, since this blog is one of our "homework", I guess I'd better work harder on it.