the list just gets longer and longer vs the list just gets bigger and bigger

Both phrases are correct and commonly used in English. They convey a similar meaning of something increasing in size or length. The choice between 'longer' and 'bigger' depends on whether you are referring to the physical dimensions of the list (bigger) or the number of items in the list (longer).

Last updated: March 23, 2024 • 3198 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate that a list is continuously increasing in length.

"the list just gets longer and longer"

This phrase is used when you want to emphasize that the list is growing in terms of the number of items it contains.

Examples:

As I kept adding more tasks, the list just gets longer and longer.
With each new addition, the list just gets longer and longer.

Show examples from the web [+]

At times it appears to be addictive, as that list gets longer and longer.
Now, imagine them at 22 and a half and strangers to you 'cause the ride to Ossining gets longer and longer every year Pop's locked up.
The list of people who are gone is getting longer and longer, and it seems like all I'm doing is just waiting for my name to be called.
Well, yes, in fact we do and the list can start becoming longer and longer.
Research is also subject to permanent further development, and the list of research priorities is becoming longer and longer.
The list just had his Federal I.D. mumber.
Stress affects your hormones and fertility, and then close to 40, the list gets longer... birth defects, autism, crib death.
The list is getting longer and it is frightening.
As people are living longer and longer and becoming even healthier, many older people feel unwelcome in the labour market - this situation is slightly absurd.
And then the phone calls turned into emails, and the emails got longer and longer and longer...
Chloe, just get his name deleted from the list.
So they prayed harder and longer and fought more wars in his name.
My visits to the window grew longer and longer.
Votes have been deferred for longer and longer periods of time.
I am also worried that the obsession with reducing costs is forcing pilots to work longer and longer hours.
The government lets them do as they will and the list of the dead gets longer.
I mean, the list just goes on and on and on.
You just get Bingham the list, all right?
With an ample blood supply vampires are living longer and longer with this disease.
So I want to go longer and longer.

Alternatives:

the list just keeps growing
the list just keeps expanding
the list just keeps getting longer
the list just keeps getting bigger
the list just keeps increasing

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate that a list is continuously increasing in size.

"the list just gets bigger and bigger"

This phrase is used when you want to emphasize that the list is growing in terms of physical dimensions or overall size.

Examples:

As more items were added, the list just gets bigger and bigger.
With each new entry, the list just gets bigger and bigger.

Show examples from the web [+]

And they don't usually ask for permission; they just go ahead and do it, and then other Googlers join in, and it just gets bigger and bigger.
And it just gets bigger and bigger and darker and darker?
Your office just seems to get bigger and bigger.
As time goes on this movie gets bigger and bigger.
That's when cancer will move on in and get bigger and bigger.
I've got picketing that gets bigger and bigger every day.
The amount of energy in each cubic centimeter remains the same, even as the universe gets bigger and bigger.
See, every year, if you use the biggest, best ears for seed... ...then your crop will get bigger and bigger.
The hammer that the Justice Department has to scare people with just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and so most people just - you know, you can't roll the dice with your life like that.
And dead zones will get bigger and bigger and they'll start to merge, and we can imagine something like the dead-zonification of the global, coastal ocean.
It will get bigger and bigger every day, until it finally ruptures.
In essence, under certain circumstances, the tiniest difference in the starting positions of the cogs, differences that are too small to measure, can get bigger and bigger with each turn of the handle.
It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger...
The war in Vietnam gets bigger and bloodier.
I've... I've been kind of doting on it, giving it a little extra TLC, and it just... just gets bigger and... bigger...
And dead zones will get bigger and bigger and they'll start to merge,
When you graph the number of potential employees versus the number of jobs in the country, you see the gap gets bigger and bigger over time, and then, during the Great Recession, it opened up in a huge way.
But as we get older, our secrets get bigger and better.
They get bigger and fatter... That's why I want to work there.
It keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Alternatives:

the list just keeps growing
the list just keeps expanding
the list just keeps getting longer
the list just keeps getting bigger
the list just keeps increasing

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the list just gets longer and longer vs the list just gets bigger and bigger

"the list just gets longer and longer"

"the list just gets bigger and bigger"

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