[Ads-l] fiftyburger

[Peter Reitan]

I have heard "x-burger" in the sense of scoring a lot of points or the like for at least a decade, perhaps longer, usually in sports reporting.

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2017 10:03:23 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: fiftyburger

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: fiftyburger
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Interesting.  I associated Helen Gurley Brown with her self-description =
as a =E2=80=9Cmouseburger=E2=80=9D, but apparently she used (coined or =
popularized?) =E2=80=9Cnothingburger=E2=80=9D as well; wonder if one of =
the terms grew out of the other, or if they=E2=80=99re referentially =
distinct=E2=80=94can one be a mouseburger without being a nothingburger =
or vice versa?  Of course either of these *could* also be =
literal=E2=80=94either a very unappealing menu option or a very =
unfilling one (especially for those on an Atkins diet). =20

LH


> On Jan 23, 2017, at 12:37 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>=20
> Possibly inspired by "nothingburger"?
>=20
> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/nothing_burger
> =
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2013-January/124713.html
>=20
> "Forty-burger" was used in a football context in Season 1, Episode 4 =
of
> "The League" ("Mr. McGibblets," aired Nov. 19, 2009):
>=20
> "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=3D417&t=3D20508
>=20
>=20
> 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:
>=20
>> New to me.  The earliest I find it is from a wire service feed:
>>=20
>> 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."
>>=20
>> 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=3D.d64538ea29c3
>>=20
>>=20
>> _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."
>>=20
>> In all three of these, it refers to fifty points, rather than the =
fifty
>> yard line.
>>=20
>>=20
>>>=20
>>> 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.
>>>=20
>>> 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".
>>>=20
>>> This is a new term to me.  Is anyone else familiar with it?
>>>=20
>>=20
>=20
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