# Origin of Idiomatic Phrase "... not so much." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005 "2006-06-09T02:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/1 "2006-06-09T02:04:39Z")
For the last couple of years I’ve seen increasing use of the idiom “not so much” used as a comparative. Typically the sentence is structured something like “I like watching hockey. Football, not so much.” The true meaning seeems to be damning with faint praise, where “not so much” is pronounced with a smidgin of dismissive contempt and the intended meaning is closer to “football sux” than “football is less interesting than hockey.” Where did this come from? Who or what first popularized it? When? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/2 "2006-06-09T02:13:52Z")
Jon Stewart of **The Daily Show** uses it very often. He’d seem the most likely source for the popularity. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/3 "2006-06-09T02:14:12Z")
Comedian Paul Reiser used this heavily in his act, which would place it back into the 1980s. I’ve noticed lots of other comics, especially Jon Stewart, pick up on this usage. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/4 "2006-06-09T03:06:02Z")
And I suspect it’s a Yidishism, like “consequenses, schmonsequences”. But Paul Reiser used it heavily on “Mad About You”. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/5 "2006-06-09T03:15:40Z")
My answer was also going to be Paul Reiser. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/6 "2006-06-09T10:51:12Z")
[WAG]It sounds like a Yiddish phrasing to me [/WAG] – and both Paul Reiser and Jon Stewart are Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/7 "2006-06-09T12:12:15Z")
I first heard it on _Mad About You_. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/8 "2006-06-09T12:30:38Z")
I think I heard him say it on My Two Dads. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/9 "2006-06-09T13:45:31Z")
I also associate Paul Reiser with this idiom. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/10 "2006-06-09T16:21:48Z")
[QUOTE=Jess] I first heard it on _Mad About You_. [/QUOTE] Seconded. Or thirded, or whatever the count is up to. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/11 "2006-06-09T16:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] And I suspect it’s a Yidishism, like “consequenses, schmonsequences”. [/QUOTE] Yep, it’s been used in my family way before Paul Reiser or Jon Stewart ever toddled in front of a TV camera. Definitely a Yiddishism that’s worked its way into the mainstream, like “It couldn’t hurt,” “feh,” etc. (no, not “etc.” You know what I mean.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/12 "2006-06-09T16:31:31Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] both Paul Reiser and Jon Stewart are Jewish. [/QUOTE] Which makes them both quite rare among American comedians. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/13 "2006-06-09T17:08:06Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] Which makes them both quite rare among American comedians. 😛 [/QUOTE] Well, it makes them more apt to pick up a Yiddish phrasing. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/14 "2006-06-09T17:16:47Z")
I don’t know if there’s any similar usage in Yiddish as mentioned, but this sounds like something they would say in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Logan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Don\_Logan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Logan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/15 "2006-06-09T17:31:47Z")
Borat famously used it when interviewing an old southern dude at a wine tasting- he asked the guy if the (black) butler was his slave, the guy said no, we don’t have slaves here anymore, “and that’s good”, which Borat correctly interpreted as “good for him, but for you- not so much”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-idiomatic-phrase-not-so-much/360005/16 "2006-06-09T18:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] (no, not “etc.” You know what I mean.) [/QUOTE] That was Yul Bryner in “The King and I”. Funny, he didn’t _look_ Jewish. ;j