student asking question

Is "are" being omitted before "little"? Is there any difference between "you little sneak" and "you are a little sneak"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

No, "are" is not omitted before "little" here. He calls them a "little sneak" without using "are" to directly indicate that they are sneaky. In this way, he is directly calling them "little sneak" as if it was their name. If you added an "are" here and said, "you are a little sneak", it would be less direct since you wouldn't be calling them by the name of "little sneak" directly.

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