Ben Zimmer
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 12:34 pm
Post subject: Re: Not so much = not at all |
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Lars Eighner wrote:
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Have we done "not so much" meaning "not at all"?
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Sure... in 2002 there was even a thread with that exact subject line
("'Not so much' meaning 'not at all'"):
http://groups.google.com/groups?th=5330412c03565aac
Some suggest a Yiddish origin, popularized by Paul Reiser on the '90s
sitcom "Mad About You". From the alt.tv.mad-about-you FAQ:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part5/
".. not so much .."
Usually used a lot to indicate his unwillingness, in the
not-liking or not-wanting-to department [1.2, 1.6, 1.14,
1.20, 2.12, 3.4, 3.8, 3.10], another habit from early
childhood [5.5].
For a while "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a popularizer (it's discussed
in Michael Adams' 2003 book _Slayer Slang_). Nowadays Jon Stewart uses
the phrase quite a lot on "The Daily Show". |
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