Fine print

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The detailed, often legal, terms and conditions of a contract or document, which are easily missed but can contain important limitations, fees, and stipulations.

Detailed Definition
Fine print refers to small, easily overlooked details in an agreement, warning, or condition, often where the real cost or limitation is hidden. In poetry, the idiom can expose traps within promises, contracts, love, politics, religion, or social aspiration. It is especially useful for modern poems about consumer culture, bureaucracy, and power. Metaphorically, life itself may have fine print: unseen consequences attached to desire. The phrase encourages close reading, making it apt for students of poetry and language.
Example
Example in poetry:
A modern poem about contracts may warn that heartbreak lives in the fine print; In satire, the devil's bargain hides its price in the fine print; The phrase can symbolise hidden conditions and overlooked consequences; A poet might compare love's promises to fine print read too late.
Additional Notes
Fine print refers to small, easily overlooked details in contracts or conditions, often where obligations or dangers hide. In poetry, it can represent the hidden costs of love, politics, commerce, promises, or fate. The phrase is useful for modern poems about bureaucracy and power. Students can explore how it contrasts with grand declarations: the large promise attracts the eye, but the small print determines the consequence.
Also Known As
small details
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