🎭 Big Deal: The Buying, Selling, and Downplaying of Importance
Definition: The phrase “big deal” can convey a sense of importance or significance. Yet, with a touch of sarcasm or a dismissive tone, it turns into “So what?”
Examples:
- Importance: “A first helicopter ride for a five-year-old is a big deal.”
- Dismissiveness: “So she got her first choice of colleges—well, big deal!”
Related Terms/Expressions:
- Momentous: Significantly powerful or important.
- No biggie: Informal way to understate any situation, equivalent to “no big deal.”
- A dime a dozen: Something easily obtained and, therefore, of little value or significance.
Synonyms:
- Major (Importance)
- Significant (Importance)
- Irrelevant (Dismissive)
- Insignificant (Dismissive)
Antonyms:
- Trivial (Importance)
- Unremarkable (Importance)
- Monumental (Dismissive)
- Extraordinary (Dismissive)
Quotes:
- “It was no big deal. I only climbed Mount Everest. Do you want a cookie?”
Proverbs:
- “Much ado about nothing.” – Shakespeare’s hilarious take on making mountains out of molehills.
Literature:
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes – Where delusions of grandeur create many a ‘big deal’ out of windmills.
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – Even the smallest things can be a ‘big deal’ in a child’s eyes.
Songs:
- “Big Deal” by LeAnn Rimes – When the heartache turns significant.
- “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin – Everything’s ’no big deal.’
Movies:
- Big (1988) – When being grown-up is a literal ‘big deal.’
- Mean Girls (2004) – High school antics and drama that oscillate between big deals and ‘whatever.’
### Which of these conveys genuine importance?
- [x] A first helicopter ride
- [ ] An average Monday
- [ ] Sipping a cup of water
- [ ] Blinking twice in succession
> **Explanation:** A first helicopter ride is memorable and significant, unlike the other options which are mundane activities.
### Which phrase exemplifies dismissiveness?
- [ ] Major breakthrough
- [x] So she got her first choice of colleges—well, big deal!
- [ ] Severe weather warning
- [ ] Winning a Nobel Prize
> **Explanation:** The expression “well, big deal!” dismisses the achievement as insignificant, unlike the other phrases which denote importance.
### True or False: 'No biggie' implies something significant.
- [ ] True
- [x] False
> **Explanation:** 'No biggie' implies that something is not significant or important at all, quite the opposite of a 'big deal.'
Signed with a brushstroke of wit, Fenella Tonewitch
“In the end, it’s rarely about the ‘big deals,’ but the myriad of ‘small deals’ that actually make life grand. Never underestimate the importance disguised in the trivial.”
