Just heard on Ozark the phrase “Can we do a deal?” So, what is the difference between ‘do a deal’ and ‘make a deal’?
Many thanks.
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The short answer is no difference.
“Do” is, I think, more hip businessy. It reminds me of “Let’s do lunch.”
“Do” might focus more on the process of coming to an agreement while “make” focuses on the structure of the agreement, but they’re just slightly different ways of looking at the same thing.
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Alan’s articles are very humorous. I have read many of them and enjoyed his enviable style. They make an interesting read always. Thank you, @Alan.
The way he concluded this story was so dramatic that I was wondering how it had made his finding easier. And the last sentence did it! (Or made it?)
I observe that the current trend is to use ‘do’ indiscriminately in places where ‘make’ used to sway the usage! The title is an example. However, Alan’s article dispels the confusion to a good extent.
In this connexion, let me ask this question: Which is better? - made up my mind or made my mind up?
Can we say A big thanks to you as we say A big thank-you to you?
(To be specific, is the use of ‘thanks’ as singular acceptable?)
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I prefer made up my mind. “Made up” belongs together. Made-up can even be hyphenated in some contexts.
Thanks is so commonly used that it goes beyond acceptable. It’s the norm and far more commonly used than thank-you. Although thank-you seems more sincere to me.
A big thank-you to you seems almost redundant to me. This is a direct address. It’s automatically second person without the extra to you. I suppose that adding to you emphasizes it.
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What about 'A big thanks to you’?
Can we say A thanks?
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I would suggest that ‘do a deal’ refers to completing the transaction/plan/agreement or whatever. Slightly different but in the same area of arrangements for the transaction etc, ‘make a deal’ refers to the initial agreement before the ‘doing’.
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Thanks to you is a variation of thank-you. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I don’t know which one came first. Thank-you might be a shortened version of thanks to you - similar to a contraction.
A thanks seems pretty awkward to me. Off the top of my head I can’t think of when that would be said.
In practice (in the US) the single word thanks is most common. Or if it’s to thank someone for answering a question, it’s common to say OK thanks.
Joan: What is the price of this bread?
Jay: $1.95
Joan: OK thanks
So you are both acknowledging the answer and saying thanks. It can also imply that Joan has no further questions and acts as a polite conversation ender.
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Back to do a deal. Arinker is right, it’s just hip talk. There is no need to over analyze it. It doesn’t have to make grammatical sense.
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No, that’s going too - possibly better is - ‘big thanks‘ with no article.
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