Yesterday morning I was in the kitchen making coffee and putting away the dishes from the dishwasher. The TV was on mainly for the sound, the business channel was on. The 2 talking heads were discussing the latest government report. I can’t remember if it was the jobs report, the inflation report, the CPI, the PPI, the happiness index or the report of if people think billionaires are douchebags…..not surprising to find out that the answer to the last one is YES, people do think billionaires are douchebags.
The 2 talking heads appeared slightly bored as they tried to interpret the numbers of this latest report. Finally one of them, I can’t remember which one, the man with the rolled up sleeves and lots of hair gel or the always tired looking lady who’s face says “I can’t believe I’m still on the morning shift,” remarked that this report was a nothingburger. I looked up from the coffee making and putting away the dishes and I thought what a curious word…..nothingburger.
I became so curious about it, where it came from, who used it first and under what circumstance, that I decided to do something I rarely do when contemplating a blog post….I did some research. I mean if my 85 year old mother is mixing in the word nothingburger into conversations about current events then this definitely deserves some research.
In a case of everything that’s old is new again, the word first appeared back in 1953 in a Hollywood gossip column using it to describe an unaccomplished person. The word appeared occasionally in political or journalistic contexts in the 1980’s & 1990’s but saw a massive resurgence in 2017 during political conversations. Today it’s used frequently to describe any news story or controversy that generates lots of hype but turns out to be insignificant. And I suppose that’s why the 2 talking heads on the business channel morning show threw the term out there to describe the latest government report.
I remember when I was a kid my dad used to occasionally take my sister and me to McDonald’s for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. He never seemed that enthusiastic about it and later when I became an adult and parent I realized this was definitely a tactic used by mom’s to get a few hours of peace and quiet away from the kids with the excuse of the dad getting to spend quality time with the kids that never happened during the work week. The hamburgers at McDonald’s in the 70’s were probably not much different from how they are today, although to be honest I can’t remember the last time I had a McDonald’s hamburger of any kind. A thin burger patty with a pickle, ketchup and some chopped onions. The cost was less than a dollar, in fact I think it was a quarter and if you got a cheeseburger it was 35 cents. We always got a hamburger, not that we didn’t like cheeseburgers although I don’t think I actually had one until I was a teenager, but my Dad was not going to spend an extra 20 cents to get his kids a cheeseburger.
As a kid I didn’t know if McDonald’s hamburgers were any good or if a cheeseburger was worth an extra 10 cents, I was just happy to be going out to lunch and getting something we never got any other time, french fries and a milkshake even if my Dad was unenthusiastic about the whole experience.
Now I make my own burgers and nothingburger would definitely not be an apt description of it. I pile on the extras, the beef topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, mayo and ketchup sometimes even barbecue sauce for an extra kick. The burger almost becomes inconsequential mainly used as a platform for the toppings all held together with the bun.
My burger is deliciously messy the mayo squirting out the sides, the tomato slipping away from the bun. It’s a glorious eating experience requiring multiple napkins and preferably no interruptions and yes there’s cheese on it melted and dripping off the burger. My burger has become a sort of food testing ground as I sometimes add some coleslaw or avocado to see what they might add to the taste.
So go ahead all you talking heads bored with the latest government report or still half asleep on the morning show, keep describing all those controversies and latest consumer happiness numbers as nothingburgers. I’ll be over here with condiments dripping off my burger and a handful of napkins. I’m not sure how I would describe my burger, it does need it’s own name, but I’ll be gloriously stuffing my face burger, cheese and toppings. If nothingburger means the absence of something of importance then my burger would be the opposite…just how I like it.
Peace and Love,
John
