Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: HenHanna <HenHanna@devnull.tb>
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Subject: Re: How about that for strange? -- One-up' ing it
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2024 16:08:24 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 41
Message-ID: <v4vod9$26pin$1@dont-email.me>
References: <23a31f3a447d5eb7a5edf27c0700ce69@www.novabbs.com>
 <about-20240619233504@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2024 01:08:25 +0200 (CEST)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="9312a0df09b6ff4f85958d80bf0f5955";
	logging-data="2319959"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/d4jN/5DhSkcR5nIiEwmBHPNlaktjV3Nk="
User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird
Cancel-Lock: sha1:dzDQxCKMihMXymVg36ggFkWJgVQ=
In-Reply-To: <about-20240619233504@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>
Content-Language: en-US
Bytes: 2611

like    [try it on, for size]

[how about that for xxx  ?] -- was common in older movies
                                      (e.g., Billy Wilder)



(One-up' ing it) somewhat similar to ...

                  A:  it's strange.
                  B:  (it's)  Beyond Strange!

A: Super.
B: Jenseits super!


                 kid1:  I dare you.
                 kid2:  I double-dare you.



On 6/19/2024 3:35 PM, Stefan Ram wrote:
> musatokyo@juno.ocn.ne.jp (tonbei) wrote or quoted:
>> "The ladder’s on the roof, how about that for strange?
> 
>    That's used to draw attention to something that illustrates
>    the adjective being used, in this case "strange". So in the
>    context you provided, the detective is pointing out how weird
>    or off-the-wall it is to find a ladder on the roof of the
>    building, with no obvious reason for it being there. It's an
>    idiomatic way to emphasize the oddity of the situation. Like
>    finding a surfboard in the middle of the desert - just doesn't
>    make sense unless you're filming a Hollister ad or something.
> 
>    Alright, it's not a walk in the park to dig up those quirky
>    sayings in idiom collections, but I managed to unearth "How's
>    that for" in Merriam-Webster. That's probably along those lines.
>    It says, "used for emphasis to describe someone or something
>    one thinks is very impressive. 'He scored the winning touchdown!
>    How's that for a dude who almost didn't make the team?'"