Hello and welcome to the English Language Clinic. This week, I have been asked the meaning of the expression ?not one scintilla of evidence?. ?Scintilla? comes from Latin and literally means an ?atom? or ?spark?. Under the legal system of certain countries, if there is absolutely no substantial evidence in a case, it will not be brought before a jury. If however, there is even a tiny piece (a ?scintilla?) of evidence, this evidence must be presented to the jury and it will be up to them to decide the result of the case.

The word ?scintilla? is also the root of the adjective ?scintillating?, which literally means ?to give off sparks?. If something is described as being ?scintillating?, it is ?exceptionally interesting?, ?impressively original? or ?captivating?. Adjectives with similar meanings and associations with the bright light of sparks include ?dazzling?, ?brilliant? and the slang term ?blinding?.

An interesting synonym of ?scintilla? is ?iota?, which is commonly used in the expression ?not one iota of difference?. ?Iota? is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet and has been associated with meaningless or trivial distinctions since a theological (religious) argument more than one and a half thousand years ago. One side in the argument believed that a certain word should be spelt with one ?iota?; the other side believed that it should be spelt with two. If there is ?not one iota of difference?, there is no difference. You may also hear the expression ?not a jot of difference?.

The word ?jot? comes from the Latin ?jota?, which is an alternative spelling of ?iota?; the two expressions have identical meanings? There is not one iota/jot of difference.

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