that's going some

[gole]

What does "that's going some" mean?

It is given as an example of one of the meanings (#10) of the adverb "some" here:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/some?s=t

The problem is I don't know what "go" means here.

I also found it in the following context, still can't figure out the meaning:

Know him? Well, you soon will. He cooks and waits and tends on Eck. Looks up to Eck. Loves Eck--and that's going some!

 

[DocPenfro]

"That's going some" is said as an acknowledgement of a high level of achievement. It seems to have been in popular use in the USA around 1920, but it's unlikely that you would come across it in current English usage. Don't try to analyse it grammatically; it's basically just a slang expression that has now dropped out of favour.

 

[sdgraham]

I don't believe it's gone out of favor in the U.S.

Google reports nearly 12 million hits for "that's going some." (Using the " marks to get the exact phrase.)

I regard it as an idiom mean "a high level of achievement" sarcastically - or "that's a stretch of the imagination."

And no, you cannot analyze it grammatically.

 

[timpeac]

I don't find it as antiquated as DocPenfro does. It's certainly not "hip" but readily understood, and sometimes said, I'd say. My first thought on reading the thread title, before reading the opening post, was that it means "going fast" - and I think that is the basic meaning here, albeit in an abstract sense. I read it as meaning "and that's rather extreme!" It seems that Eck is, in the speaker's opinion, a rather unlovable person and so it's surprising that someone might cook, wait and tend on him. Even more surprising that someone might look up to him, but rather incomprehensible that someone loves him.

Ps - posted simultaneously as sdgraham - but I don't think we're disagreeing.

 

[Parla]

To me, it has the stretch-of-imagination meaning mentioned by Mr Graham (post #3), and "Eck", I'd assume from the initial quote, is definitely not lovable.

 

[DocPenfro]

I don't find it as antiquated as DocPenfro does

I've certainly heard and used the expression a few times during my lifetime; however I was deriving my opinion, as always, form the Google Ngram viewer which shows a very sharp spike in frequency around the time of WW1, tailing off steadily until about 1940, and with a modest but steady usage thereafter. Google also indicates that this use, at least where the written word is concerned, was almost entirely American.

 

[timpeac]

I've certainly heard and used the expression a few times during my lifetime; however I was deriving my opinion, as always, form the Google Ngram viewer which shows a very sharp spike in frequency around the time of WW1, tailing off steadily until about 1940, and with a modest but steady usage thereafter. Google also indicates that this use, at least where the written word is concerned, was almost entirely American.

You should have more confidence in your own experience as a native British speaker who has used and heard the phrase several times during his life then.

 

[DocPenfro]

a native British speaker who has used and heard the phrase several times during his life then

My life has been a fairly long and largely unproductive one. Just because I can remember either hearing or using an expression, that is no guarantee that it isn't obsolete or, at the very least, obsolescent. In addition to this, like most BE speakers, I have been substantially brainwashed by American cultural influence over the years; so it is quite likely that any phrase that I use for the first time, or am otherwise familiar with, was originally heard in the media, rather than being picked up by other native speakers in my linguistic peer environment.

On the other hand, I have on numerous occasions heard, and possibly even used, "give it some welly"; undoubtedly from native BE speakers.

 

[gole]

"That's going some" is said as an acknowledgement of a high level of achievement. It seems to have been in popular use in the USA around 1920, but it's unlikely that you would come across it in current English usage. Don't try to analyse it grammatically; it's basically just a slang expression that has now dropped out of favour.

Very illuminating. I only asked for a meaning but you also provided a note on its usage. That's going some! Thank you.

 

[gole]

Thank you everybody for your reply to my thread. Good to know that this expression, although not so popular anymore, is still understood. The example I gave
was extracted from "Joan of Arc of the North Woods" by Holman Day. I did not read it all so I cannot confirm that Eck is indeed not lovable. But I think timpeac and Parla are right in guessing so. Even the name suggests so. Thanks for your responses which provided more insight onto this expression.

 

[gole]

I don't believe it's gone out of favor in the U.S.

Google reports nearly 12 million hits for "that's going some." (Using the " marks to get the exact phrase.)

I regard it as an idiom mean "a high level of achievement" sarcastically - or "that's a stretch of the imagination."

And no, you cannot analyze it grammatically.

Thank you. Good to know that it can also be used sarcastically.

 

[Potatoes in the Mould]

It is a phrase well known to me in the UK, implying overachievement. For example, I did Maths 'A' Level at school in four terms instead of the usual six. That's going some!