Talk:nothingburger
Origin of this term
[edit]Regarding the origin of this term, is this accurate?
The earliest known usage of “nothing burger” comes from Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons (1881-1972) in reference to actor Farley Granger’s release from Sam Goldwyn’s studio MGM. In her June 1st, 1953 article “Louella’s Movie-Go'Round,” she wrote, “After all, if it hadn’t been for Sam Goldwyn Farley might very well be a nothingburger.”
173.88.241.33 05:30, 1 August 2017 (UTC)
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Rfv-sense: "A witty line presented by a less important or developed character." Currently has one citation, but that citation looks like a use of sense 2 or 3 to me. —Granger (talk · contribs) 19:54, 22 January 2018 (UTC)
RFV-failed Kiwima (talk) 23:24, 22 February 2018 (UTC)
Use or mention
[edit]@Sgconlaw: It was argued at Wiktionary:Requests for cleanup § use and mention quotes on World of Warcrack that such uses with call and the term in quotation marks “should be formatted as mentions”. I disagreed there but I am not sure whether you have seen that discussion. J3133 (talk) 14:45, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @J3133: that discussion is not relevant here. In the case of this quote, representative Norman D'Amours is quoting Anne Gorsuch Burford who called NACOA a "joke" and a "nothingburger"—that is why the words are in quotation marks. Thus, Burford actually used the words to describe NACOA. It is not a case where Burford said something like, "I understand 'nothingburger' to mean [...]." — Sgconlaw (talk) 15:14, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @Sgconlaw: I do not see how it is not relevant, as in those quotations developers and players are being quoted as calling the game “World of Warcrack”. Both cases include quoting a term someone else uses in quotation marks. J3133 (talk) 15:36, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @J3133: the relevant quotes in that discussion were "[...] most of those developers are themselves addicted to what some call the 'World of Warcrack.'" and "players around the globe became absorbed by what was being termed 'the World Of Warcrack'". Because of the phrases "what some call" and "what was being termed" combined with the use of quotation marks around World of Warcrack, it seems somewhat more arguable in these cases that they are mentions of the term World of Warcrack. The quotation marks in these quotes seem to be highlighting the fact that World of Warcrack is a term, not because people are really being quoted. But in the Congressional Record, D'Amours was actually quoting Buford. One thing we could do is try to find a quotation of Buford's actual words. Unfortunately I can't seem to locate anything very complete. The closest I got was an article in the Concord Monitor of 2 August 1984, page 6 (through Newspapers.com), which reads, "Asked about her new job, she derided the advisory group as a 'nothingburger.' / 'It meets three times a year. It doesn't do anything. It's a joke,' she said." Is that an improvement over the current quotation? — Sgconlaw (talk) 16:06, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @Sgconlaw: I think the current quotation is all right, also taking into account that it was published earlier. J3133 (talk) 16:14, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @J3133: OK, great. — Sgconlaw (talk) 16:32, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @Sgconlaw: I think the current quotation is all right, also taking into account that it was published earlier. J3133 (talk) 16:14, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @J3133: the relevant quotes in that discussion were "[...] most of those developers are themselves addicted to what some call the 'World of Warcrack.'" and "players around the globe became absorbed by what was being termed 'the World Of Warcrack'". Because of the phrases "what some call" and "what was being termed" combined with the use of quotation marks around World of Warcrack, it seems somewhat more arguable in these cases that they are mentions of the term World of Warcrack. The quotation marks in these quotes seem to be highlighting the fact that World of Warcrack is a term, not because people are really being quoted. But in the Congressional Record, D'Amours was actually quoting Buford. One thing we could do is try to find a quotation of Buford's actual words. Unfortunately I can't seem to locate anything very complete. The closest I got was an article in the Concord Monitor of 2 August 1984, page 6 (through Newspapers.com), which reads, "Asked about her new job, she derided the advisory group as a 'nothingburger.' / 'It meets three times a year. It doesn't do anything. It's a joke,' she said." Is that an improvement over the current quotation? — Sgconlaw (talk) 16:06, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
- @Sgconlaw: I do not see how it is not relevant, as in those quotations developers and players are being quoted as calling the game “World of Warcrack”. Both cases include quoting a term someone else uses in quotation marks. J3133 (talk) 15:36, 10 June 2024 (UTC)