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I heard a quote today on the radio from Dr. Michael Fine, Rhode Island's director of the Department of Health, where he used the phrase "scathingly small" (e.g. here) when referring to Ebola's chances of occurring in RI:

“The likelihood of anyone in Rhode Island having or getting Ebola is scathingly small.”

That phrase -- scathingly small -- caught my attention because it didn't sound valid. I searched around and couldn't find any definition of "scathing" or "scathingly" that would seem to lend itself to that context. In fact, when you Google "scathingly small" (with quotes), the only links that come up are in reference to Dr. Fine's statement. I know that could be Google's search engine optimization at play, but still...

Is that a valid use of the phrase, and, if so, what is its definition in that context?

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  • It's a poor choice of emphasizer, because it switches metaphors in the middle, and because it does not produce the intended effect -- reassurance of the addressees -- due to using a frightening and distracting word.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 15:31
  • Google Ngrams finds no examples of scathingly small. I agree with you that it's wrong. I think he just made a mistake; this kind of thing happens in extraneous conversation.
    – Barmar
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 20:42
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    Oops, I meant to say extemporaneous. How meta.
    – Barmar
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 20:43
  • Enough scathing might eliminate the virus...but this is just an incorrect statement.
    – Oldcat
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 23:43

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No, this is a mistake of one or another sort. The adjective scathing per the OED means:

Of invective, etc.: Very sharp and damaging; searing, ‘withering’, cutting.

And for the derived adverb scathingly, it provides such citations as:

  • 1847 Tait’s Mag. XIV. 238 ― A feeling of his insignificance flashed scathingly on the quivering pride of Robert Anderson.

  • 1868 E. Edwards Ralegh I. xxii. 497 ― That Duke of Savoy whom Milton has made scathingly famous.

The intended meaning was doubtless one of these:

The likelihood of anyone in Rhode Island having or getting Ebola is vanishingly small.

The likelihood of anyone in Rhode Island having or getting Ebola is surpassingly small.

The likelihood of anyone in Rhode Island having or getting Ebola is infinitesimally small.

The likelihood of anyone in Rhode Island having or getting Ebola is unbelievably small.

The likelihood of anyone in Rhode Island having or getting Ebola is immeasurably small.

It is possible that the writer was actually thinking of the word scintilla in the sense of a tiny fleeting spark so by extension a very tiny (and perhaps brief) amount, and then was trying to make an adverb out of it. However, scintillatingly means sparkly, so that would not have worked.

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