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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 th
by 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 agoWhat 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 agoDeal 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".