The story
- Old Englishnāþing
- Middle Englishnothyng
- Englishnothing
- Proto-Indo-European*kónh₂m
- Proto-Indo-European*kónh₂méh₂-
- Proto-Germanic*hanmōder.?
- Proto-Germanic*hammō
- Old High Germanhammeder.?
- Old High GermanHamme
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰerǵʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰérǵʰs?
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰergʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰérgʰs?
- Proto-Germanic*burgz
- Proto-West Germanic*burg
- Old High Germanburg
- Old High GermanHammaburg
- GermanHamburg
- Proto-Indo-European*wer-
- Proto-Germanic*warjaną
- Proto-Germanic*warjaz
- GermanHamburger
- Englishhamburgerclip.
- Englishburger
- English todaynothingburger
The noun is derived from nothing (pronoun, noun) + -burger (suffix forming names of hamburgers served in buns with the addition of specified foodstuffs, or with foodstuffs in place of the usual meat), a metaphorical reference to a burger missing a patty—its most significant component. The word was apparently coined by the American gossip columnist Louella Parsons (1881–1972) in her widely syndicated daily column “Louella’s Move-Go-’Round” of June 1, 1953: see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.