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Glite Dictionary
where's the beef

where's the beef

2 9.9
A way to show doubt about the real worth of something
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : ¿dónde está la sustancia?
  • After reviewing the project plan, I couldn't help but ask, 'Where's the beef?' since it seemed lacking in substance.
  • ask, "where's the beef?"

Examples

  • With the Europeans already contributing 80 to 85 percent to KFOR and the Stability Pact, are the Americans justified in asking, "Where's the beef?"

    Academic text (2001)

  • During the debate, a senator asked, 'Where's the beef?' to challenge their opponent's vague promises.

  • When the proposal was brief and lacked details, the audience murmured, 'Where's the beef?'

Synonyms

more sauce than meat
vswhere's the beef
  • Informal
9.7

Something that looks good but has little real value

calls attention to lack of substance by expressing doubt or impatience

Antonyms

quality
∞ 2.1

How good something is

substance
188 4.3

The main idea of something said or written

How Substantial

confirmation
150 2.0
evidence
∞ 1.8
where's the beef
  • Archaic
2 9.9
claim
818 3.3

Surface Forms

where's the beef main

Morphology

where's + the + beef

This is a culturally specific idiom from an advertising slogan whose figurative meaning (doubting the substance or quality of something) is not derivable from the literal words 'where's', 'the' and 'beef' (which would simply ask where the meat is). A B1 learner who knows the constituent words but lacks the cultural/pragmatic background would not predict the idiomatic sense, so comprehension depends on prior exposure.

Etymology

Where's the beef comes from a 1984 TV ad. In the ad a woman lifts a big bun to show a tiny beef patty and asks 'where's the beef'. That's why today people say it to ask if something has real 'substance' or value.