Nothingburger
{{Short description|Slang term}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
Nothingburger, sometimes spelled as nothing-burger or nothing burger, is a term used to describe a situation that receives a lot of attention, but which, upon closer examination, proves to be of little to no real significance.
The phrase refers to the notion that a regular hamburger should have different flavorful ingredients, but if the meat were to be removed, all that would be left would be a "nothingburger", thus many ingredients might be on the outside, but upon further inspection on the inside, nothing remains.
History
The term "nothingburger" was first coined in the 1950s by Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons,{{cite web|last=Popik|first=Barry|author-link=Barry Popik|date=December 22, 2010|title=Nothing Burger (Nothingburger)|url=https://www.barrypopik.com/new_york_city/entry/nothing_burger|website=The Big Apple|access-date=March 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222043925/https://www.barrypopik.com/new_york_city/entry/nothing_burger/|archive-date=February 22, 2024|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Pereira|first=Alyssa|date=July 12, 2017|title=Where did the term 'nothing burger' actually originate?|url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Where-did-the-term-nothing-burger-actually-11283897.php|website=SFGate|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208022149/https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Where-did-the-term-nothing-burger-actually-11283897.php|archive-date=February 8, 2023|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Zimmer|first=Ben|author-link=Ben Zimmer|date=March 9, 2017|title='Nothingburger': From 1950s Hollywood to the White House|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/nothingburger-from-1950s-hollywood-to-the-white-house-1489073136|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170313124136/https://www.wsj.com/articles/nothingburger-from-1950s-hollywood-to-the-white-house-1489073136|archive-date=March 13, 2017|url-status=live}} and has a history of use in United States political circles, especially within the Capital Beltway in Washington, D.C. The term reached its peak usage, especially among U.S. political circles, in the late 2010s.{{cite news|last=Willingham|first=AJ|date=July 14, 2017|title='Nothing burger' is nothing new. It's been around for decades|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/14/politics/nothing-burger-word-history-what-is-trnd/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208022149/https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/14/politics/nothing-burger-word-history-what-is-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}} In 2017, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz used the word in response to questions around then–U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying: "The underlying meeting is a nothingburger. It's what senators do every day, meeting with foreign ambassadors. That's part of the job." Later in the same year, ex–U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the investigation into her email server the "biggest nothing-burger ever",{{cite magazine|last=Le Miere|first=Jason|date=May 31, 2017|title=Hillary Clinton Calls Email Scandal Fake News and 'Biggest Nothing Burger Ever'|url=https://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-emails-fake-news-618557|magazine=Newsweek|access-date=November 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602044101/http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-emails-fake-news-618557|archive-date=June 2, 2017|url-status=live}} and CNN commentator Van Jones described the allegations of collusion between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump as a "nothingburger" in a covertly recorded conversation.{{cite magazine|last=Price|first=Greg|date=June 28, 2017|title=CNN's Van Jones Calls Trump-Russia Story 'Nothing Burger,' Newest Project Veritas Video Shows|url=https://www.newsweek.com/van-jones-cnn-nothing-burger-629853|magazine=Newsweek|access-date=April 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628212817/http://www.newsweek.com/van-jones-cnn-nothing-burger-629853|archive-date=June 28, 2017|url-status=live}}
The Oxford English Dictionary was reported by the BBC to have added "nothingburger" as a valid word to its dictionary as recently as 2018. It defined the word thus: "Nothingburger is a way of describing someone or something seen to have little importance."{{cite news|date=October 5, 2018|title=Fam and nothingburger added to Oxford English Dictionary|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45763136|publisher=BBC News|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208022149/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45763136|url-status=live}} {{As of|2023}}, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which focuses on American English usage, had not yet included nothingburger as a valid word to be defined in its dictionaries, but has a page dedicated to monitoring the word and is considering the word for inclusion potentially in the future.{{cite web|date=February 22, 2018|title=Words We're Watching: 'Nothingburger'|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nothing-burger-nothingburger-meaning-origin-phrase|publisher=Merriam-Webster|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208022149/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nothing-burger-nothingburger-meaning-origin-phrase|url-status=live}}
Spelling variations also exist, with no apparent consensus regarding spelling. All variants, including "Nothingburger", "Nothing burger", "no thing burger", or the hyphenated "Nothing-burger", have appeared in press and in social media usage by popular and political figures.{{cite news|last=Vejnoska|first=Jill|date=July 12, 2017|title=What's a "Nothing Burger?" An official history of that suddenly popular (and annoying) phrase|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/what-nothing-burger-official-history-that-suddenly-popular-and-annoying-phrase/Jo8wsLrZXxaTCzSk16fJ5N/|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208022204/https://www.ajc.com/news/what-nothing-burger-official-history-that-suddenly-popular-and-annoying-phrase/Jo8wsLrZXxaTCzSk16fJ5N/|url-status=live}}
See also
{{Portal|1950s}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Wiktionary}}