Python if/else in lambda

The one limitation that most disappoints me is that Python lacks is a functional way of writing if/else. Sometimes you just want to do something like this:

lambda x : if_else(x>100, “big number”, “little number”)

(This would return the string “big number” if x was greater than 100, and “little number” otherwise.) Sometimes I get around this by defining my own if_else that I can use in lambda-functions:

def if_else(condition, a, b) : if condition : return a else : return b