Where's the beef?

Where's the beef?

1. What is the problem? This meaning uses "beef" in the sense of a conflict, complaint, grudge, feud, etc. So, he borrowed your sweater and then he returned it. Where's the beef?
2. Where is the most substantive or the important part (of something)? This usage originated with a popular catchphrase introduced in a 1984 commercial for the Wendy's fast food chain in which a woman humorously questioned the purported lack of meat in competitors' hamburgers. The phrase was further popularized that year when US presidential candidate Walter Mondale used it to question the substance of the policy proposals of his primary opponent, Gary Hart. The writing is good, but where's the beef? You need evidence to back up your claims. The program looks good on paper, but how do we know it will really work? Has any research been done? Where's the beef?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Where's the beef?

Inf. Where is the substance?; Where is the important content? That's really clever and appealing, but where's the beef? Where's the beef? There's no substance in this proposal.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

where's the beef?

1. Also, what's the beef? What is the source of a complaint, as in Where's the beef? No one was hurt in the accident. This usage employs beef in the sense of a "complaint" or "grudge," also appearing in the phrase have no beef with, meaning "have no quarrel with." [Slang; late 1800s]
2. Where is the content or substance, as in That was a very articulate speech, but where's the beef? This usage was originally the slogan for a television commercial for a hamburger chain attacking the poor quality of rival chains. (1984) The phrase was almost immediately transferred to other kinds of substance, especially in politics.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

where's the beef?

used to complain that something is too insubstantial. informal
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

where's the beef?

Where is the substance to this issue? This expression began life as an advertising slogan for Wendy’s, the third-largest American hamburger chain. In a 1984 television commercial, three elderly women are given a small hamburger on a huge bun, a competitor’s product. They admire the bun, but one of them, a retired manicurist named Clara Peller, asks, “Where’s the beef?” The slogan caught on, and Walter Mondale, seeking the Democratic nomination for president, used it to attack his opponents’ stands and policies. The phrase echoes another, much older slang expression, what’s the beef?, meaning what’s the complaint. The use of the noun beef for gripe or complaint dates from the late 1800s. George V. Higgins used it in Deke Hunter (1976), “I agree with you . . . so what’s the beef?”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • What's the beef?
  • beef
  • (Bill) Cosby sweater
  • sweater
  • bearing
  • a score to settle
  • have a score to settle
  • by coincidence
  • coincidence
  • have got it in for (one)
References in periodicals archive
Meanwhile, many NCR readers who also have read Quest for the Living God wonder, "Where's the beef?" Will we ever really know what the bishops' committee meant when it nebulously criticized Johnson's book?
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"Where's the beef?" was an effective satiric one-liner that emphasized how advertizing proclamations made by Wendy's real-life competitors could be all fluff and no substance.
Where's the beef: within Air Force Reserve Command, it's everywhere
But there was a "where's the beef?" aspect to examination of the Israel-Palestine conundrum.
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One is tempted to ask: "Where's the beef?" Where is the controversial work that has long been lingering in dark studios waiting patiently for the day where it can hang against a white gallery wall?
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An editorial in the Taipei-based Economic Daily News said the response to the first, cautious round of investment openings in June 2009 was ''Where's the beef?'' and that Wednesday's initiative is a ''positive development'' in closing the investment imbalance across the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan opens door to China for high-tech investment
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT 1984 advertising slogan for Wendy's, "Where's the beef?" And how it morphed into a catchphrase used by everyone from actors in TV comedy shows to a Presidential candidate?
Where's the growth? A new twist on an old question
Many thanks for hitting the nail on the head in Vision 2019: Where's the beef? (May 2010, p.
Same old
A powerful, client-focused marketing strategy will never leave the prospect wondering, as Clara Peller did in that iconic Wendy's commercial, "Where's the beef?"
Differentiate your firm with benefit-focused marketing
Wendy's "Where's the Beef?." commercial is a mantra to remember when creating the product--and the ad itself.
Great advertising is key to a product's success
For me, the big question in all of this is, Where's the beef? I'm sold on the concept.
Social networking: community building tool or evil time warp?
Has a burger named after him in France, but where's the beef?
A great talent to irritate; In an ideal world Chelsea and United would both lose today.. they inspire far too much envy