I've heard someone saying on TV "It's not big A deal" or sth like it. I was wondering why they used that structure instead of "Not A bid deal". Looking forward to your reply.
big a deal?
hmm, haven't hear that myself...
could it possibly be a corruption of "It's not [that] big [of] a deal"?
who's using it? what context? ghetto?
could it possibly be a corruption of "It's not [that] big [of] a deal"?
who's using it? what context? ghetto?
I say "It's not that big a deal" sometimes... it must have the "that" before it, though. I can imagine some speakers omitting it, but I wouldn't say it that way.
Either way, it's strictly colloquial... I'm pretty sure it's just a shortening of "that big of a deal". Sometimes "of" becomes reduced to a schwa in colloquial speech (so "a sack of wheat" is pronounced, but never written, "a sack a wheat"), so in that case you would have two consecutive schwas ("that big a a deal"), which sounds unnatural in English, so then they merge into a single schwa. Or maybe the "of" is just omitted because it's automatically understood in context.
- Kef
Either way, it's strictly colloquial... I'm pretty sure it's just a shortening of "that big of a deal". Sometimes "of" becomes reduced to a schwa in colloquial speech (so "a sack of wheat" is pronounced, but never written, "a sack a wheat"), so in that case you would have two consecutive schwas ("that big a a deal"), which sounds unnatural in English, so then they merge into a single schwa. Or maybe the "of" is just omitted because it's automatically understood in context.
- Kef
usually reduction of "of" in "of + a" doesn't become double schwa but 'schwa + v + schwa' ("uhva"), the second schwa forcing the pronunciation of the medial v ("that big uva deal")
I don't see any reduction there. I usually pronounce "of" as "uhv", and the article "a" as "uh" (unless I'm emphasizing it). So "uhva" would be the expected pronunciation to begin with, not a reduced one.
- Kef
- Kef
but FurryKef, you said this...
<<so in that case you would have two consecutive schwas ("that big a a deal")>>
where's the "uhva"?
<<so in that case you would have two consecutive schwas ("that big a a deal")>>
where's the "uhva"?
btw, are you Ainu?
hence the "furry" of furryKef?...just curious. don't mean to intrude, be rude, or offend...
hence the "furry" of furryKef?...just curious. don't mean to intrude, be rude, or offend...
Eh? From what I understand, Ainu aren't really that hairy... they're just hairier than their neighbors, the Japanese. Anyway, I'm just your run-of-the-mill American white guy.
To answer what the "furry" signifies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom
The short answer is I'm a "furry fan", which means I have an affinity for human-like animal characters such as Bugs Bunny, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc.
- Kef
To answer what the "furry" signifies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom
The short answer is I'm a "furry fan", which means I have an affinity for human-like animal characters such as Bugs Bunny, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc.
- Kef
Milton:
<I've heard someone saying on TV "It's not big A deal" or sth like it. >
Rather "sth like that".
In adddition to Kef's 5.05 post, I'd say this construction is quite common, but it has to have a modifier (that, so, too) before the adjective.
-It's too serious a matter to discuss it in haste.
-So contentious an issue will surely divide the audience.
And it seems to me I've heard such in some high-brow conversations.
<I've heard someone saying on TV "It's not big A deal" or sth like it. >
Rather "sth like that".
In adddition to Kef's 5.05 post, I'd say this construction is quite common, but it has to have a modifier (that, so, too) before the adjective.
-It's too serious a matter to discuss it in haste.
-So contentious an issue will surely divide the audience.
And it seems to me I've heard such in some high-brow conversations.
Countless times have I heard "not that big a deal," "not that big of a deal," "no big deal," "no biggie," or "NBD." One has to wonder whether it IS that big of a deal, after all. Evaluate carefully when you hear this expression used. Do the words match the speaker's tone and body language?