Huh (a big deal)

Back in 2004 I finally noticed a really common construction that so far seems confined to American English: it’s not that big of a deal and similar (How big of a perv is Foley?, How big of a problem with security?, How large of a volcanic eruption would it take to cover the entire world with volcanic material?) In Commonwealth, or at least Australian, English this would be it’s not that big a deal (likewise how big a perv is Foley?, How big a problem with security?, How large a volcanic eruption would it take to cover the entire world with volcanic material?, although I suspect the last one would often be rephrased).

I asked about it at the time (and of course one never blogs alone) and completely failed to notice that the answer came from on high, that is, that Mark Liberman from the Language Log bothered to answer. Wow.