Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

nothing to see here en · X

Pronunciation

Etymology

Derived from the police directive "Nothing to see here, move along," historically used to clear bystanders from crime or accident scenes. The phrase gained widespread recognition after its comedic use in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), where Frank Drebin (played by Leslie Nielsen) tries to defuse a chaotic scene by stating, "Move along! Nothing to see here!"

Meanings

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see nothing, to, see, here.
    • This town is very unattractive to tourists, since there's nothing to see here.
  2. The event or situation is unremarkable or unimportant, and people should not pay undue attention to it.
    • After the press conference about the financial scandal, the spokesperson reassured the public that there was nothing to see here.
  3. (figuratively, ironic, often, sarcastic) A phrase used to dismiss or downplay an event, frequently implying that there is, in fact, something significant being hidden or covered up.
    • A factory discharged waste into the river, but officials insisted it posed no danger. There was a sentiment of "nothing to see here".
    • [Cleta Mitchell speaking] […]They haven't even assigned a judge. But the people of Georgia and the people of America have a right to know the answers. And you have data and records that we don't have access to. And you keep telling us and making public statements that you investigated this and nothing to see here. But we don't know about that. All we know is what you tell us. What I don't understand is why wouldn't it be in everyone's best interest to try to get to the bottom, compare the numbers, you know, if you say, because - to try to be able to get to the truth because we don't have any way of confirming what you're telling us. 2021 January 2, US President Donald Trump’s audio call with Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger:
    • The politician's vague response to corruption allegations was essentially a nothing-to-see-here moment.

Synonyms

elephant in the room · move along · pay no attention to that man behind the curtain