"not so much"

[Dan Goncharoff]

I don't understand what I don't understand either...Perhaps I am confused by
a discussion of a phrase that has been popular for over 15 years as if it
were recent.

DanG

On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "not so much"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > 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:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > 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."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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