Friday, February 17, 2012

Whopper

"That's a whopper," I said to a friend, while eating a hamburger.  He looked puzzled, and then glanced at the food in my hands--we were at McDonalds.  Right, I thought...

He had been telling me a very unlikely story--and a big one at that.  So that's really the meaning, or the two meanings  of "whopper." It's also why, ahem, Burger King took it over.  Their "whopper" is a BIG hamburger.

All that makes sense.  The word comes from Middle English, and meant originally to strike with a heavy blow.  So how did it get its present meaning?  Don't know--but it works for Burger King! 

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