nothingburger

[Joel S. Berson]

Is the nothingburger the anti-Mac-burger (in the sense of Macmansion)?

Joel

At 1/15/2013 09:30 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>In 2005, the OED added "-burger" entry that incorporates, among other
>things, "nothingburger". There are a couple of problems with that entry.
>First, there are no examples and that can be easily rectified (see
>below). Second, the definition leaves quite a bit to be desired:
>
>>Forming nouns denoting persons characterized by the initial element.
>
>This might pass for "cheerfulburger" and "psychoburger", but not for
>"nothingburger", as the examples illustrate.
>
>http://goo.gl/svLqx
>>And the whole Hagel nomination thing turned out to be a triple,
>>mustard ketchup tomato lettuce and bacon nothingburger.
>
>http://goo.gl/DV9C5
>>Opponents Of Filibuster Reform Offer Nothingburger Proposal
>
>http://goo.gl/r2klQ
>>MICHAEL LEDEEN: Obama’s Iran October Surprise Nothingburger
>
>http://goo.gl/olN6p
>>Petraeus testimony: nothingburger with cheese
>
>http://goo.gl/8m4F0
>>With just ten days left until Election Day, campaign spox Jen Psaki
>>introduced the "nothing burger" while gaggling with reporters aboard
>>Air Force One as the President, an avowed cheeseburger lover, headed
>>to a campaign rally in New Hampshire.
>
>http://goo.gl/nDe0F
>>Occupy protests in Canada and the birth of the "nothing burger"
>
>
>Barry Popik has addressed the issue in the past (December 22, 2010) and
>his definition is a bit more inclusive:
>
>http://goo.gl/yK76t
>>A "nothing burger" (or "nothingburger") is a person who is a
>>non-entity, or an idea that is without merit, or anything that's a lot
>>of nothing. A "nothing burger" is a burger (such as a hamburger)
>>without the burger.
>
>Barry found some early citations (before 1960) that appear to have
>"person" as the target. Vast majority of the more recent entries do not
>refer to a person. Most usually describe a "non-scandal" or a supposedly
>a sensational revelations that, on closer inspection, does not live up
>to expectations. This seems to contradict both the definition and the
>etymology note that claims the formation to be of a more recent vintage:
>
>>Formations are found from the early 1980s (apparently earliest in
>>mouseburger n.); J. E. Lighter /Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang/ (1994­) gives
>>a number of other formations, including /cheerfulburger/,
>>/nothingburger/, and /psychoburger/.
>
>VS-)
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org