NOTHINGBURGER vs BALONEYSANDWICH

Submitted by ub on

From the use of the noun burger as the second element in compounds denoting types of hamburger (e.g., cheeseburger), -burger has come to be used to form compounds designating persons or things characterised by the initial element.—Cf. also ‘Mc-’: prefix inspired by the McDonald’s restaurant chain. 

The compound nothingburger denotes a person or thing of no importance, value, or substance, especially something which, contrary to expectations, turns out to be insignificant or unremarkable.

The first two occurrences of nothingburger that I have found are from the Hollywood gossip column written by Louella O. Parsons (née Louella Rose Oettinger, 1881-1972)

1-: Published in several U.S. newspapers on Monday, 1st June 1953—for example, in The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania):

After months and months of wrangling, Sam Goldwyn 1 finally has , in the sponge and given Farley Granger 2 his release. But Sam retains an option to sign Farley again after an 18-month period.
Granger will live in Europe until the 18-month period is up and Sam either wants him or doesn’t want him. After all, if it hadn’t been for Sam, Farley might very well be a nothingburger. However, I have a hunch this whole arrangement is on a friendly basis.

1 Samuel Goldwyn (born Schmuel Gelbfisz, 1879-1974) was a Polish-born U.S. film producer.
2 Farley Granger (1925-2011) was a U.S. actor.

2-: Published in several U.S. newspapers on Thursday, 5th July 1956—for example, in the San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California):

I can well understand why Shelley Winters 3 felt she had to explain to me that she had been misquoted and never had said the things against Hollywood that were attributed to her.
“I couldn’t deny them,” said Shelley, “because I was told if I did I would get in bad with the newspaper chain that said I never wanted to come back to Hollywood. I feel I owe this town too much to go against it.”
“You certainly do,” I told Miss Winters, who was Miss Nothingburger when Ronald Colman 4 gave her a chance in “A Double life.” 5

3 Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift, 1920-2006) was a U.S. actress.
4 Ronald Colman (1891-1958) was a British actor.
5 A Double Life (1947) is a film directed by George Cukor (1899-1983), starring Ronald Colman, the Swedish actress Signe Hasso (née Larsson – 1915-2002), and Shelley Winters.

 

Then came full of baloney. Bologna: the only meat that's also an insult. - YouTube

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DNDm-CcN5t2/

 

 

 

Links