2

I was watching Seinfeld and whenever things start becoming great for George (he is always jobless and miserable) he says : "I am busting".

Does it mean breaking the bad luck or something else?

Improve this question
0

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

"Busting" is a synonym for "bursting." When George says he's busting, he means he's "bursting with emotion" (see "a sudden expression or manifestation, as of emotion"). It doesn't have anything to do with breaking the cycle of bad luck (although that's certainly a factor in his emotions); he just means he's really happy.

Improve this answer
2
  • Do you have any idea what, if any, the geographic distribution of this is? ‘I’m busting!’ sounds quite unnatural to me, as do examples like ‘laughing fit to bust’ or ‘busting to pee’—but they all seem quite common if Google is to be trusted. I would personally always use burst rather than bust here and would probably even have corrected them if I’d seen them in a text I was proofreading.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Oct 14, 2014 at 14:27
  • 1
    Offhand, no, I'm not sure what the distribution looks like. "I'm busting!" isn't part of my regular lexicon either. I've heard it enough that it doesn't sound unnatural, but personally I don't think I've ever said it. I'll have to look into the distribution and isogloss when I have some time to do so, but if anyone else knows something, that information would be much appreciated.
    – Justin Greer
    Oct 14, 2014 at 15:12
-1

By "I am busting" , he probably means to evade out of the situation as his luck always runs out whenever things start becoming great.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.