diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 556bdcdece..dc68762949 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ phpMyAdmin - ChangeLog
 + rfe       Option groups for 'With selected' dropdown in database structure page
 + rfe #1661 Support checksum table
 + rfe #1380 Support for Paramaters with raw SQL
++ rfe #1146 Show original size of truncated columns
 
 4.4.5.0 (not yet released)
 - bug       Table overhead stats: missing space before the unit
diff --git a/js/makegrid.js b/js/makegrid.js
index fc4d5f15ec..cae3a6a5e8 100644
--- a/js/makegrid.js
+++ b/js/makegrid.js
@@ -1863,7 +1863,15 @@ function PMA_makegrid(t, enableResize, enableReorder, enableVisib, enableGridEdi
      * Initialize grid
      ******************/
 
-    // wrap all data cells, except actions cell, with span
+    // wrap all truncated data cells with span indicating the original length
+    // todo update the original length after a grid edit
+    $(t).find('td.data.truncated:not(:has(span))')
+        .wrapInner(function() {
+            return '<span title="' + PMA_messages.strOriginalLength + ' '
+                + $(this).data('originallength') + '"></span>';
+        });
+
+    // wrap remaining cells, except actions cell, with span
     $(t).find('th, td:not(:has(span))')
         .wrapInner('<span />');
 
diff --git a/js/messages.php b/js/messages.php
index 1f83075fbc..bce0d84041 100644
--- a/js/messages.php
+++ b/js/messages.php
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ $js_messages['strShowAllCol'] = __('Show all');
 $js_messages['strAlertNonUnique'] = __('This table does not contain a unique column. Features related to the grid edit, checkbox, Edit, Copy and Delete links may not work after saving.');
 $js_messages['strEnterValidHex'] = __('Please enter a valid hexadecimal string. Valid characters are 0-9, A-F.');
 $js_messages['strShowAllRowsWarning'] = __('Do you really want to see all of the rows? For a big table this could crash the browser.');
+$js_messages['strOriginalLength'] = __('Original length');
 
 /** Drag & Drop sql import messages */
 $js_messages['dropImportMessageCancel'] = __('cancel');
diff --git a/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php b/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php
index 2c3a1cc3a9..1fe8934d89 100644
--- a/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php
+++ b/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php
@@ -3604,7 +3604,7 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
                 $analyzed_sql, $meta, $map, $column,
                 $transformation_plugin, $default_function, $nowrap,
                 $where_comparison, $transform_options,
-                $is_field_truncated
+                $is_field_truncated, ''
             );
         } else {
 
@@ -3677,13 +3677,17 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
 
             // Convert to WKT format
             $wktval = PMA_Util::asWKT($column);
-            $is_field_truncated = $this->_getPartialText($wktval);
+            list(
+                $is_field_truncated,
+                $wktval,
+                // skip 3rd param
+            ) = $this->_getPartialText($wktval);
 
             $cell = $this->_getRowData(
                 $class, $condition_field, $analyzed_sql, $meta, $map,
                 $wktval, $transformation_plugin, $default_function, '',
                 $where_comparison, $transform_options,
-                $is_field_truncated
+                $is_field_truncated, ''
             );
             return $cell;
         }
@@ -3694,14 +3698,18 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
             $where_comparison = ' = ' . $column;
 
             $wkbval = substr(bin2hex($column), 8);
-            $is_field_truncated = $this->_getPartialText($wkbval);
+            list(
+                $is_field_truncated,
+                $wkbval,
+                // skip 3rd param
+            ) = $this->_getPartialText($wkbval);
 
             $cell = $this->_getRowData(
                 $class, $condition_field,
                 $analyzed_sql, $meta, $map, $wkbval,
                 $transformation_plugin, $default_function, '',
                 $where_comparison, $transform_options,
-                $is_field_truncated
+                $is_field_truncated, ''
             );
             return $cell;
         }
@@ -3795,7 +3803,11 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
             && strpos($transformation_plugin->getName(), 'Link') !== false)
             && !stristr($field_flags, self::BINARY_FIELD)
         ) {
-            $is_field_truncated = $this->_getPartialText($column);
+            list(
+                $is_field_truncated,
+                $column,
+                $original_length
+            ) = $this->_getPartialText($column);
         }
 
         $formatted = false;
@@ -3863,7 +3875,7 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
             $analyzed_sql, $meta, $map, $column,
             $transformation_plugin, $default_function, $nowrap,
             $where_comparison, $transform_options,
-            $is_field_truncated
+            $is_field_truncated, $original_length
         );
 
         return $cell;
@@ -5168,7 +5180,11 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
         ) {
             // in this case, restart from the original $content
             $result = bin2hex($content);
-            $is_truncated = $this->_getPartialText($result);
+            list(
+                $is_truncated,
+                $result,
+                // skip 3rd param
+            ) = $this->_getPartialText($result);
         }
 
         /* Create link to download */
@@ -5205,6 +5221,7 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
      * @param string        $where_comparison      data for the where clause
      * @param array         $transform_options     options for transformation
      * @param bool          $is_field_truncated    whether the field is truncated
+     * @param string        $original_length       of a truncated column, or ''
      *
      * @return string  formatted data
      *
@@ -5217,14 +5234,21 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
     private function _getRowData(
         $class, $condition_field, $analyzed_sql, $meta, $map, $data,
         $transformation_plugin, $default_function, $nowrap, $where_comparison,
-        $transform_options, $is_field_truncated
+        $transform_options, $is_field_truncated, $original_length=''
     ) {
 
         $relational_display = $_SESSION['tmpval']['relational_display'];
         $printview = $this->__get('printview');
         $decimals = isset($meta->decimals) ? $meta->decimals : '-1';
-        $result = '<td data-decimals="' . $decimals . '" data-type="'
-            . $meta->type . '" class="'
+        $result = '<td data-decimals="' . $decimals . '"'
+            . ' data-type="' . $meta->type . '"';
+
+        if (! empty($original_length)) {
+            // cannot use data-original-length
+            $result .= ' data-originallength="' . $original_length . '"';
+        }
+
+        $result .= ' class="'
             . $this->_addClass(
                 $class, $condition_field, $meta, $nowrap,
                 $is_field_truncated, $transformation_plugin, $default_function
@@ -5641,34 +5665,35 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
 
     } // end of the '_getCheckboxAndLinks()' function
 
-
     /**
      * Truncates given string based on LimitChars configuration
      * and Session pftext variable
      * (string is truncated only if necessary)
      *
-     * @param string &$str string to be truncated
+     * @param string $str string to be truncated
      *
-     * @return boolean  true if truncated, otherwise false
+     * @return mixed 
      *
      * @access  private
      *
      * @see     _handleNonPrintableContents(), _getDataCellForGeometryColumns(),
      *          _getDataCellForNonNumericColumns
      */
-    private function _getPartialText(&$str)
+    private function _getPartialText($str)
     {
-        if (/*overload*/mb_strlen($str) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
+        $original_length = /*overload*/mb_strlen($str);
+        if ($original_length > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
             && $_SESSION['tmpval']['pftext'] === self::DISPLAY_PARTIAL_TEXT
         ) {
             $str = /*overload*/mb_substr(
                 $str, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
             ) . '...';
-
-            return true;
+            $truncated = true;
+        } else {
+            $truncated = false;
         }
 
-        return false;
+        return array($truncated, $str, $original_length);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/classes/PMA_DisplayResults_test.php b/test/classes/PMA_DisplayResults_test.php
index 977d0f27ee..1db9aefe54 100644
--- a/test/classes/PMA_DisplayResults_test.php
+++ b/test/classes/PMA_DisplayResults_test.php
@@ -1423,10 +1423,10 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults_Test extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     public function dataProviderForTestGetPartialText()
     {
         return array(
-            array('P', 10, 'foo', false),
-            array('P', 1, 'foo', true),
-            array('F', 10, 'foo', false),
-            array('F', 1, 'foo', false)
+            array('P', 10, 'foo', array(false, 'foo', 3)),
+            array('P', 1, 'foo', array(true, 'f...', 3)),
+            array('F', 10, 'foo', array(false, 'foo', 3)),
+            array('F', 1, 'foo', array(false, 'foo', 3))
         );
     }
 
@@ -1451,7 +1451,7 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults_Test extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
             $output,
             $this->_callPrivateFunction(
                 '_getPartialText',
-                array(&$str)
+                array($str)
             )
         );
     }
@@ -1676,6 +1676,7 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults_Test extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
                 0,
                 0,
                 '<td data-decimals="0" data-type="string" '
+                . 'data-originallength="11" '
                 . 'class="grid_edit ">foo bar baz</td>' . "\n"
             )
         );