4 ms·

I’m from Ireland and always thought it meant “tough luck, deal with it”

emmelaich 5y ago
'deal' itself seems to have a different meaning depending on the country In the USA it seems to mean 'cope' or put up with. In Australia / UK it means do something about it.
- stordoff 5y ago
  I'm not sure that's the regional split. I'm in the UK, and hear it being using in both senses: "You should deal with it / I'll deal with it" - do something to solve the problem "Yeah, deal with it!" - dismissively, put up with it I don't know if the latter came from the American usage, but I certainly hear it used.
  - j4yav 5y ago
    The US also has these exact same two usages.
- mattkrause 5y ago
  It's even weirder than that. With an unspecified subject "deal with it", it does mean "put up with" or abide. However, if your boss told you that "We haven't been paid yet; deal with it!", odds are good that you're expected to be on the phone or otherwise chasing down the tardy clients.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    What's weird about it? This is true of essentially all words.
    - mattkrause 5y ago
      Could you share some other examples? The only thing that came to mind is "bite/eat it" (i.e., fall), and there "it" is presumably the dirt/snow/pavement/etc that the person fell onto. The "it" in "hit it" and "cool it" seems to refer to the on-going action/attitude too, even if it's not precisely specified.
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        What are you thinking of? Your original comment just illustrates that "deal" has multiple senses. This followup suggests you think there's something special about the "it", which I agree with in the case of "bite it", but not in the case of "deal with it". If you're curious about dummy objects, there is a short list of examples on wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun#Dummy_objects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun#Dummy_objects ), such as make it [achieve success].
        mattkrause 5y ago
        Deal is the only verb I can think of where an expletive object flips the meaning 180 degrees vs. a concrete one. Taking more examples from your link: - "I don't get it" == "I don't understand [something]", in the same way that "I don't get math" == "I don't understand math." - "He made it" == "He succeeded [generally]", but you can drop in several concrete goals: "He made the team/grade/partner" == "He was successful at ..." - "Deal with the problem" == "Take some action to solve the problem", but "Deal with it" == "Abide the current situation because it will not change".
- rorykoehler 5y ago
  In Ireland and UK it also means cope depending on the context. "Can you deal with this please?" And "Tough shit! Deal with it!" for example.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > 'deal' itself seems to have a different meaning depending on the country As other comments have pointed out, there is no difference in meaning by country. Both meanings exist, and which one is being used is determined by context.
- mmmBacon 5y ago
  In the US, it can take either meaning depending on context/inflection/delivery.
- Garvey 5y ago
  "I told you to take care of him, not to take care of him!"

'deal' itself seems to have a different meaning depending on the country In the USA it seems to mean 'cope' or put up with. In Australia / UK it means do something about it.

stordoff 5y ago
I'm not sure that's the regional split. I'm in the UK, and hear it being using in both senses: "You should deal with it / I'll deal with it" - do something to solve the problem "Yeah, deal with it!" - dismissively, put up with it I don't know if the latter came from the American usage, but I certainly hear it used.
- j4yav 5y ago
  The US also has these exact same two usages.
mattkrause 5y ago
It's even weirder than that. With an unspecified subject "deal with it", it does mean "put up with" or abide. However, if your boss told you that "We haven't been paid yet; deal with it!", odds are good that you're expected to be on the phone or otherwise chasing down the tardy clients.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  What's weird about it? This is true of essentially all words.
  - mattkrause 5y ago
    Could you share some other examples? The only thing that came to mind is "bite/eat it" (i.e., fall), and there "it" is presumably the dirt/snow/pavement/etc that the person fell onto. The "it" in "hit it" and "cool it" seems to refer to the on-going action/attitude too, even if it's not precisely specified.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      What are you thinking of? Your original comment just illustrates that "deal" has multiple senses. This followup suggests you think there's something special about the "it", which I agree with in the case of "bite it", but not in the case of "deal with it". If you're curious about dummy objects, there is a short list of examples on wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun#Dummy_objects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun#Dummy_objects ), such as make it [achieve success].
      - mattkrause 5y ago
        Deal is the only verb I can think of where an expletive object flips the meaning 180 degrees vs. a concrete one. Taking more examples from your link: - "I don't get it" == "I don't understand [something]", in the same way that "I don't get math" == "I don't understand math." - "He made it" == "He succeeded [generally]", but you can drop in several concrete goals: "He made the team/grade/partner" == "He was successful at ..." - "Deal with the problem" == "Take some action to solve the problem", but "Deal with it" == "Abide the current situation because it will not change".
rorykoehler 5y ago
In Ireland and UK it also means cope depending on the context. "Can you deal with this please?" And "Tough shit! Deal with it!" for example.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> 'deal' itself seems to have a different meaning depending on the country As other comments have pointed out, there is no difference in meaning by country. Both meanings exist, and which one is being used is determined by context.
mmmBacon 5y ago
In the US, it can take either meaning depending on context/inflection/delivery.
Garvey 5y ago
"I told you to take care of him, not to take care of him!"