[Ads-l] fiftyburger

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Mon Jan 23 17:37:18 UTC 2017


Possibly inspired by "nothingburger"?

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/nothing_burger
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2013-January/124713.html

"Forty-burger" was used in a football context in Season 1, Episode 4 of
"The League" ("Mr. McGibblets," aired Nov. 19, 2009):

"And all of a sudden, this guy comes out of nowhere... scores four
touchdowns, gains 200 yards. Drops a 40 burger on me."
http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=417&t=20508


On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 12:14 PM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:

> New to me.  The earliest I find it is from a wire service feed:
>
> McClatchy - Tribune News Service; 18 Sep 2009 (from Proquest)
> "If he does more of the same Saturday away from home -- and if Cal puts
> another fifty-burger on the scoreboard -- then it's on."
>
> Here it is from a Washington Post blog:
> " But after serving up a fiftyburger to the Washington Wizards on
> Wednesday night, Stephen Curry seemed surprised and chilled when Draymond
> Green sneaked up behind him for the celebratory dousing."
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/02/
> 04/stephen-curry-gets-a-water-bath-draymond-green-makes-
> photobomb-magic/?utm_term=.d64538ea29c3
>
>
> _Chicago Tribune_ 15 Nov 2016: p. 2.
> " Trestman pretty much doomed himself when his team gave up a fiftyburger
> to the Patriots, then got a week off to regroup and came out of it by
> allowing the Packers to pound them with another fiftyburger."
>
> In all three of these, it refers to fifty points, rather than the fifty
> yard line.
>
>
> >
> > I was listening to a radio show about football on 610 AM (I believe the
> call letters are WTEL) from Philadelphia this afternoon.  The show
> > kept identifying itself as "ESPN radio" and if it gave call letters I
> did not catch them (I was driving in the rain and had poor AM reception on
> > my car radio).  There were at least two men and one woman talking; if I
> heard correctly one of them was named "Doug Brown".  I do not
> > know if the show originated in Philadelphia or was originated by ESPN
> for national distribution.
> >
> > Several times the announcers referred to a football fifty-plus yard
> field goal as a "fiftyburger".  I think there was also a reference to a
> > "fortyburger".
> >
> > This is a new term to me.  Is anyone else familiar with it?
> >
>

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