"not so much"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I don't understand what you don't understand.

This is a recent usage (maybe two usages) that has gone unnoticed by
lexicographers or dialectologists.

Good enough for me.

JL
On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 6:09 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "not so much"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I am not sure I understand. The saying has been popular since Paul Reiser
> used it often in his sit-com "Mad About You" in the 90s.
>
> More recently, both Borat and Jon Stewart have used it.
>
> DanG
>
> On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 5:55 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      "not so much"
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I've been hearing this interjection almost daily on TV news for two or
> > three
> > years.  Literally it means either "not very much" (e.g., "Did you like
> X?"
> > "Not so much.") or else, to emphasize a specific contrast, "not as much"
> > (e.g., "A dog will guard your house; a cat [pause for effect] not so
> much."
> >
> > For some people it is now on its way to becoming "definitely not" or even
> > a simple "no."  This morning a CNN anchor reported on Vladimir Putin's
> > singing debut. After a clip of his less-than-smash performance, she
> simply
> > said, "Not so much" in descending tones that made it clear she *did not*
> > mean, "Not so much singing, Vlad! It's awful!"
> >
> > And this, from
> >
> >
> http://omg.yahoo.com/news/kate-gosselin-sarah-palin-had-zero-chemistry-on-terrible-trip/52017?nc
> >  :
> >
> > "Did fellow lightning-rod gals Kate Gosselin and Sarah Palin become BFFs
> > while camping in Alaska for Palin's TLC show? Not so much!"
> >
> > It reminds me of the advent of "totally" in the late '70s.  It started
> > slowly and in contexts that were barely distinguishable from standard
> usage
> > (see esp. _Halloween_, the source that brought it to my attention).  Soon
> > it was displacing "definitely."
> >
> > JL
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> >
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org