nothing much

phraseB1informal · an editor’s judgementNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

Nothing much is the reply meaning little has happened. The honest answer to how are things.

It is the standard response to what have you been up to, and it is not usually literally true, since people say it about weeks that contained a great deal. That is part of its social function, since it declines to make a story of ordinary life. Not much does the same job. Said flatly it can close a conversation, and said warmly it invites the other person to talk instead.

Definitions of nothing much

1phrasenothing muchUsed to say that little of note has happened.B1
“Nothing much, just the usual week.”

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Small Talk & Everyday Phrases

First appears in chapter 17 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

← Vocabulary

nothing much

phraseB1informal · an editor’s judgementNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

Nothing much is the reply meaning little has happened. The honest answer to how are things.

Definitions of nothing much

1phrasenothing muchUsed to say that little of note has happened.B1
“Nothing much, just the usual week.”

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Small Talk & Everyday Phrases

First appears in chapter 17 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word