last big thing

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A recent fad or trend that has lost its popularity.

   • My nightstand, desktop, TiVo menu and mental to-do list are still full of last big things I never got around to— The Hulk, Friendster, hot yoga (or, for that matter, cold yoga)— and I'm paid to keep up with this stuff.
   • My colleagues and I are searching for the next big thing in the field. The last big thing came about 15 years ago and we're currently in a “been there, done that” mode.
   • We always, it seems, are provided with a glut of material on the next big thing and not enough on how to make the last big thing actually work.
2. 2

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see last, big, thing.

3. 3

   Alternative form of last big thing.

   • Now, nobody knows what IT is exactly, but as dot-com companies, purveyors of the Last Big Thing, bite the dust, we're ready to grasp at anything — even if we don't know what it is.
   • You might call Web services the Last Big Thing. The surprise is that today, in the midst of an IT downturn that has become a way of life, Web services really is changing everything.

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