🎶 Song and Dance: When It’s Much Ado About Nothing 🎭
Definition and Origins
“To make a song and dance (about something)” means to make an unnecessary fuss or fuss about something inconsequential. This phrase has a colorful history:
- Unnecessary Fuss: Originating in mid-nineteenth-century England, as in “nothing to make a song (and dance) about,” indicating something trivial.
- Misleading Story or Nonsense: Emerged in America in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Brander Matthews wrote, “It ain’t a song and dance I’m giving you either” in A Confident Tomorrow (1900).
- Overfamiliar Excuses: “The same old song and dance” refers to a tired and repetitive routine, which can be an old, familiar lie or excuse.
Similar Terms and Expressions
- Same Old Rigmarole: Another term for the same tiresome, familiar story or sequence of events.
- Much Ado About Nothing: (Thanks, Shakespeare!) Making a big deal out of nothing important.
- Making Mountains Out of Molehills: Exaggerating minor issues to seem much more critical than they are.
Humor-Filled Quotations
- “Life is like a song; some people make a hit, others make a mess!” - Anonymous
- “A story without drama is like a song without a tune; often the former needs less bass.” - W. T. Wittywords
- “Giving you the same old song and dance? Must be auditioning for procrastinator of the year!” - E. L. Egolane
Literature, Books, Songs, Poetry, Movies
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Literature:
- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare – A Shakespearean comedy about misunderstandings and overreactions.
- The Same Old Story by Ivan Goncharov – Reflects the repetitive nature of romantic woes.
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Songs:
- “Same Old Song and Dance” by Aerosmith – Captures the very essence of reused dramas.
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Movies:
- Groundhog Day – Bill Murray repeating the same day, experiencing the same old routines over and over.
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Ferris masters making a superb fuss of skipping school for a day of adventure.
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Poetry:
- “High Treason” by Joyce Kilmer – It’s about exaggeration and making surreptitious intricacies of the ordinary.
Related Idioms
- Full of Hot Air: Speaking nonsense or inflated claims.
- Storm in a Teacup: Great fuss about a minor issue.
- Much Cry and Little Wool: A lot of commotion with little result.
### Which of these is a real idiom?
- [ ] Dancing with potato boots
- [ ] Singing soup to the moon
- [x] Making a song and dance
- [ ] Marching to a blue banana
> **Explanation:** "Making a song and dance" is indeed a real idiom, signaling unnecessary fuss or overly complex explanations, unlike those other culinary-vegetable mashups.
### Which phrase signifies a tired, repetitive story?
- [ ] Running to the beat of a potato drum
- [x] Same old song and dance
- [ ] Leaping over purple pebbles
- [ ] Boiling chairs and tomatoes
> **Explanation:** "Same old song and dance" is a well-known idiom referring to a repeated tale, much like a broken record.
### True or False: 'Storm in a Teacup' involves a significant and meaningful event.
- [ ] True
- [x] False
> **Explanation:** False, "Storm in a Teacup" describes a minor issue blown out of proportion.
Farewell
Thank you for dancing through the symphony and satire of our beloved clichés. If life ever starts being all-too-familiar, just stop and recall: it’s often nothing to make a song (and dance) about. Keep laughing, living, and learning! See you in another chapter of delightful overused phrases and platitudes.
E. L. Egolane
