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nothing to sneeze at

nothing to sneeze at

Date: Sep 25 2008

Themes: Pop Culture

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“A Senegalese cab driver in Toronto told me how much he loved The Hulk and how much people in Senegal love The Hulk. And you can’t sneeze at that.”

- Actor Edward Norton on taking his role as Hulk seriously. (The Daily Record)

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

something that deserves serious attention; something that must be taken seriously

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Legend has it that in England during the Renaissance, if you could sneeze at will it was a sign of being high class. During a conversation, if you wanted to express disapproval for what someone was saying, you would sneeze.

So something important or true was not to be sneezed at. The most common form of this expression today is nothing to be sneezed at, which is usually used to describe an accomplishment that could be better, but is still certainly remarkable.

If Edward Norton and his cab driver were in the Renaissance, they might sneeze at things during their conversation. But the driver would certainly sneeze at the mention of the Hulk, which is apparently very popular in his country. Norton found it rather amazing that his work had reached so far, so in an interview, he said the comment was nothing to sneeze at.

Nothing to sneeze at is similar to another common idiom with similar origins: turn up your nose. If you turn up your nose at someone or something you sneeze at it. Who knew the nose was so expressive?

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“He may not be a professional photographer, but he’s had photos in USA Today and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

“I didn’t win, but I got second place. That’s nothing to sneeze at!”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

VOLTS I thing that "sneeze at" means "to treat as unimportant"
by VOLTSSuper Member!
SwEeTie not to be disregarded or significant ..
by SwEeTie
birsencan disregard,or look down on it.
by birsencan
tinyry important
by tinyry
195854255 overlook, take something unseriously
by 195854255
Daniel748 don't care about it don't even bother it, yourself
by Daniel748
yangfei516 neglect
by yangfei516

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Comments

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emmashow1280

China

one lady in england couldn't stop sneezing for 977 days. setting a world record. now that is nothing to sneeze at!

02:57 AM Jun 09 2009 |

yhs880817

yhs880817

China

it means  don;t  care anything   to much ?

 

03:28 PM May 24 2009 |

annieanna

annieanna

China

y !we should not sneeze at anything !

06:14 AM May 16 2009 |

annieanna

annieanna

China

y !we should not sneeze at anything !

06:13 AM May 16 2009 |

sunny10

Ukraine

i think the phrase obviously means that you don't have a 

right to neglect the fact the Sengalese love The Hulk,

damn it. you can't consider it unseriously

12:42 PM May 15 2009 |

hards

Yemen

it means its ok or its to get satisfied or its noting to comment on it it really good..

 

that wat i think 

03:15 PM May 07 2009 |

linghe1210

linghe1210

Taiwan

does that mean it's no doubt?

03:25 PM Mar 18 2009 |

hapi_enna

Philippines

not an important business to be think of.

09:27 AM Feb 18 2009 |

vanilla_leaf

China

ignore,look down apon, overlook,neglect,discharge,pay little attention to

12:00 PM Sep 30 2008 |

Amro

Amro

United Arab Emirates

sneeze at
to make light of

10:23 AM Sep 25 2008 |

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