Where did the term 'nothing burger' actually originate?

Been hearing the term "nothingburger"? Here's where it comes from. Been hearing the term "nothingburger"? Here's where it comes from. Photo: Mark Lund/Getty Images Photo: Mark Lund/Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Where did the term 'nothing burger' actually originate? 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

"Nothing burger," the frequent utterance of Twitter users of late in regards to the ongoing Russia investigation, is actually, as a pop culture phrase, rather stale.

The phrase reappeared most visibly when Van Jones, a CNN reporter, was the subject of a secretly recorded video wherein he called the investigation and controversy surrounding Russia's intervention in the 2016 election "just a big nothing burger." Jones maintains that his comments were taken out of context in an attempt to "pull off a hoax."

However, Jones didn't invent the term. "Nothing burger" — originally often seen written as "nothingburger" — was likely first popularized in the early 1950s by a Hollywood gossip columnist named Louella Parsons to describe a person or idea that's essentially a whole lot of, well, nothing.

Since then it has been used by writers here and there. Notably, Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown used the term in print in the '60s and '70s.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News The San Antonio Express-News publishes an excerpt of Cosmopolitan...

Then, in 1984, it took on a new significance in politics. Anne M. Burford, a former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency who was described by the New York Times as "controversial," used the term "nothing burger" to describe an appointment to head a national advisory committee on "marine and atmospheric issues."

Burford felt that the post was "a joke" and "a nothing burger" because the committee met only three times per year.

RELATED: How pundits, politicians across the spectrum view the Donald Trump Jr. emails

The expression's meaning has since expanded to describe a number of topics. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, for example, used the term in later 1984 to describe San Francisco's efforts to make the city of Los Angeles seem like a "nothing burger" for tourists, and in 1997, the term appeared in Connecticut's Stamford Advocate relating to an inefficient budget deal.

Today, the term has been revived to once again refer to politics, with the term appearing in Google searches with greater frequency since Jones' use of it.

Most recently, after White House chief of staff Reince Priebus called Donald Trump Jr.'s controversial emails about meeting with a Russian lawyer a"nothing burger," "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert co-opted it himself.

"Yesterday, Reince Priebus called this whole story a 'nothing burger,'" he said. "Well these emails have turned it into an all-you-can-prosecute buffet."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.