big do - I hear the expression quite often. Sometimes it is used as uncountable, more often – as countable (a big do), but, frankly, I’ve never heard it in plural.
I already know that a wedding or (preparing to) a big Christmas party is definitely that. A big do. We’re going to have a big do.
Yesterday I’ve taken part in a big do.
Hmm…
I still have some doubts, whether the expression refers to the event itself or to preparations to it or to people – to a large company of people enjoying the merriment.
Or to all of that, at once?
Could you give some comments about the ‘right’ use and understanding of this (informal) expression?
Yes, you’re on exactly the right lines - it is a big event like a party, a wedding, a celebration and refers to the event itself. Another slang expression is a bash, which is the same sort of event. A bit of a do is another example meaning the same but is an example of understatement, a characteristic of English. It tends to be used in the singular. In fact there was a tv comedy series a few years back starring David Jason, called A bit of a Do and this was followed by Fair Do’s - an expression meaning: Yes, that’s all right.
Another point is that the expression (a big do) is also used in this sense: There’s no need to make a big do of/out of it! -meaning there’s no need to make such a fuss if someone is exaggerating the result of an accident or something being broken.
