The Masque Forums
Archived Threads => Ask Janey => Topic started by: DTM (Wet and grey) on December 07, 2009, 12:35:49 PM
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Dear Janey,
What is the deal they are referring to in "What's the big deal anyways"? Is it something worth checking into or just another internet scam site asking me to send a money order to some nice widow in Nigeria?
Sincerely,
DT (Let's make a deal) M
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Thank you for your question fearless leader..I shall get onto it directly xx
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The origins of Whats the big deal
The first use of this phrase was by the inhabitants of what humans call The Great Ouse River that meanders through the countryside of Cambridgeshire in Eastern England.
The coolest dudes amongst the river population were the eels. They were the fashion gurus of the river and they were particularly keen on headwear.
Of all the eels Desmond was the number one eel and was known to all and sundry as The Big D.
Desmond had a problem. All the bonnets available off the shelf he found, were boring and because of this he decided to have a competition to design a headpiece that would really make him look super cool as he slithered his stuff on the bottom of the river.
Milliners from all over the river and its tributaries enrolled to take part, as the winner would become famous and rich.
As entrants enrolled they were given a letter to identify them. As you probably know even the most intelligent river dweller can only count up to 6 (the number of legs on a shrimp) and so instead of 1,2,3 etc. there were A, B, C.
The big day arrived for the judging of the competition and the winner was entrant W, a lamprey who happened to be visiting relatives at the time and thought he would give it a go.
And so to record the event the local newspaper, the Ooze Bugle, made it th number one story of the week using the headline:-
W hats the Big D eel.
And so the phrase was born.
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Wow! That was a very long trip for the answer. But oh so worth it!
Not sure I will be able to retell it from memory though.
Thanks Janey! I feel much smarter now.