nothingburger

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English[edit]

WOTD – 6 August 2024

Etymology[edit]

The noun is derived from nothing (pronoun, noun) +‎ -burger (suffix forming names of hamburgers served in buns with the addition of specified foodstuffs, or with foodstuffs in place of the usual meat),[1] a metaphorical reference to a burger missing a patty—its most significant component. The word was apparently coined by the American gossip columnist Louella Parsons (1881–1972) in her widely syndicated daily column “Louella’s Move-Go-’Round” of June 1, 1953:[2] see the quotation.

The adjective is derived from the noun.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

nothingburger (plural nothingburgers) (originally and chiefly US, informal)

  1. An unimportant person; a nobody, a nonentity.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonentity
    Antonyms: see Thesaurus:important person
  2. Something of less importance than its treatment suggests; also, something which is bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.
    Synonyms: nothing sandwich, unthing; see also Thesaurus:trifle
    Antonym: somethingburger
    • 1984 July 31, Norman D’Amours, “Expressing the Sense of the House that It Disapproves the Appointment of Anne M[cGill] Burford”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 98th Congress, Second Session (United States House of Representatives), volume 130, part 16, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 21664, column 1:
      She [Anne Gorsuch Burford] calls NACOA [the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere] a "joke" and a "nothingburger", whatever that is. Nothing I could say could more graphically demonstrate the contempt she has shown, and will continue to show again, for public service in general and for environmental protection in particular.
    • 1991, Helen Gurley Brown, Cosmopolitan, volume 210, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:
      Except for Easter, isn't March kind of a nothingburger (unless your birthday is in it!) month? Shall we try to make it memorable?
    • 1993, Appalachian Journal, volume 21, Boone, N.C.: Appalachian State University, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 104:
      Browner admitted that the new policies would have no impact […] Kaufman […] called Browner's announcement "a nothingburger."
    • 2000 September, Lucinda Rosenfeld, “Jason Barry Gold, or ‘The Varsity Lacrosse Stud’”, in What She Saw […], New York, N.Y.: Anchor Books, Random House, published September 2001, →ISBN, page 60:
      That's how ugly she was—ugly by virtue of the fact that she was unmemorable, a slab of alabaster awaiting a sculptor who never arrived, a "nothing burger" if ever there was one.
    • 2005 October 17, Don Tennant, “Just Wondering”, in Don Tennant, editor, Computerworld: The Voice of IT Management, volume 39, number 42, Framingham, Mass.: Computerworld, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26, column 1:
      [A]s Lee Gomes of The Wall Street Journal noted in a great column last week, the announcement was "a model for how well-known companies can make a major media event out of a nothingburger."
    • 2017 March 14, Chris Cillizza, “This 2005 Donald Trump tax return is a total nothingburger”, in The Washington Post‎[2], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-26:
      This 2005 Donald Trump tax return is a total nothingburger [title]
    • 2017 June 28, Greg Price, quoting Van Jones, “CNN's Van Jones Calls Trump-Russia Story ‘Nothing Burger,’ Newest Project Veritas Video Shows”, in Newsweek‎[3], New York, N.Y.: Newsweek, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-22:
      The two shake hands and Jones is asked: "What do you think is going to happen this week with the whole Russia thing?" Jones responds: "The Russia thing is just a big nothing burger."
    • 2017 July 12, Peter Beinart, “How to Know Who will Let Trump Get Away with Anything”, in The Atlantic‎[4], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-10:
      If the [Donald] Trump Jr. meeting was a "nothingburger" because President [Donald] Trump didn't know about it, then a future revelation that Trump did know about Russia collusion might force his defenders to admit he did something wrong. If the Trump Jr. meeting was a "nothingburger" because it didn't lead anywhere, then a future revelation that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government in a more substantive, sustained way would be hard to dismiss.

Alternative forms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

unimportant person — see nobody,‎ nonentity

See also[edit]

Adjective[edit]

nothingburger (not comparable)

  1. (originally and chiefly US, informal) Of less importance than its treatment suggests; insignificant, unimportant; also, bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insignificant
    Antonyms: remarkable, significant; see also Thesaurus:important
    • 1970, Helen Gurley Brown, Sex and the New Single Girl, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Bernard Geis Associates, →OCLC, page 186:
      Well, I think better a splendid fake than those little-bitty, itsy-poo nothing burger gold dinkies you wear only because they're real.
    • 1981, American Photographer, volume 27, Boston, Mass.: American Photographic Pub. Co., →ISSN, →OCLC:
      There are some good pictures here but the Brand-X reproduction and nothingburger design reduces the overall look to a clutter […]
    • 1984, Bob Rich, “[Letter to the editor]”, in Car and Driver, volume 30, New York, N.Y.: Ziff Davis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13, column 1:
      For years you have touted anemic nothing[-]burger cars because they "cornered" and "handled." Now the Corvette comes along and blows them into the weeds, and you cannot bring yourselves to give credit where it is due.
    • 1993, Helen Gurley Brown, “Work”, in The Late Show: A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women over 50, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, pages 285–286:
      I don't know anything about the offices of tycoons and moguls […] I just know about small busy squares or rectangles with computers, word processors, files and telephones, gray, beige or brown really nothingburger desks.
    • 2013 May, Steve Ulfelder, Shotgun Lullaby, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 118:
      You can help me figure out why a pro like you, who looks to've spent time in some serious places, is babysitting Charlie Pundo's nothingburger baby-raping turd of a son.

Translations[edit]

of less importance than its treatment suggests — see insignificant,‎ unimportant
bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact — see bland,‎ unremarkable

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “nothingburger, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “nothingburger, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ Ben Zimmer (2017 March 9) “‘Nothingburger’: From 1950s Hollywood to the White House”, in The Wall Street Journal‎[1], New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 March 2017

Further reading[edit]

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