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I am used to asking

How big was the wave?

and answering

The wave was this big.

My question is that, I think, in the US, it is pretty common (I have heard the usage often) to ask

How big OF a wave was it?

and to answer

It was this big OF a wave.

Listen to 2:12 in this clip http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31093276

I don't understand why the 'of' is there (Question 1) and I wonder whether this word pattern can be traced back to the time of the Mayflower (question 2).

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Dan
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    I'm finding it quite difficult to find this construction in Google books even as near back as the 20th century (let alone in the time of the Mayflower), although there seem to be quite a number of 21st examples. So for (2), I'd say it's quite recent. – Peter Shor Feb 04 '15 at 23:01
  • The Mayflower sailed in 1620 with 102 passengers and 30 crew. Can we blame this all on something 132 people did 395 years ago? – WS2 Feb 05 '15 at 08:44
  • Please be clear, there is no judgment implied in my question. I LIKE different ways of speaking, that's why I enjoy this site. Simply, I'm curious. – Dan Feb 05 '15 at 11:08
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    This seems to be an emerging pattern. I find “How big of a wave was it?” perfectly unobjectionable, but “How terrible of a time did you have?” jars, and “How exciting of a party was it?” is utterly ungrammatical to me. I wonder what the current limitations to the pattern are, and whether they are diminishing. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Feb 05 '15 at 22:51
  • How successful of a President has Obama been ? – Dan Feb 06 '15 at 18:19
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    Possibly related: “How big of a problem” vs. “how big a problem” – choster May 21 '15 at 23:03

1 Answers1

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I have also noticed this construction, and only in the last few years. I think it may be a generalisation of the forms:
I felt like a bit of an idiot.
How much of an idiot am I?

Mexie
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