Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <phrase-usage><phrase-meaning><idioms>
Title: What does "For next to nothing" mean?
Question: I will start with the example I know to make it clear.  In a TV show this conversation happened:   Guy1: This car is crap. I'll buy it  for next to  nothing?  Guy2: How next to?   I guess the fans of this show will figure out what it is :). Anyway, what does "for next to something" mean? And how is it possible to ask "How next to?".  I think answering the first will lead to the second.

Answers:
sents: text: "Next to" means "almost" in this case. Imagine a scale of possible prices, from zero to infinity.
text: What sits immediately next to nothing (zero) on that scale?
text: "
text: Almost nothing."
text: "How next to?" is a jocose question whose purpose is to determine the degree of "almostness": how close to zero, exactly, is the price?
text: Does "almost nothing" mean a dime, a quarter, or ten dollars?
text: Closely related is the idiomatic phrase "next door to": STELLA: A rhinestone tiara she wore to a costume ball.
text: STANLEY:
text: What's rhinestone?
text: STELLA:
text: Next door to glass.
text: In this excerpt from A Streetcar Named Desire , a play by Tennessee Williams, Stella explains to Stanley (who thought that he was looking at something valuable) that the tiara is really, really cheap. "
text: Next door to glass" means "Those are not real diamonds.
text: They're fake.
text: They're made of rhinestone.
text: How expensive is rhinestone?
text: Barely more expensive than glass."
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/27173/Ricky
score: 14
sents: text: "Next to nothing" means "nearly no money"; the man is saying he won't pay much for it.
text: "
text: How next to?
text: " is not standard.
text: It's a play on "next to nothing"; just like someone would ask "How broken is it?" or "How cold are you?", the man is asking "
text: How 'next to' nothing does the price have to be for you to buy it?"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/20150/Deusovi
score: 4
sents: text: Next to = almost, very nearly.
text: You use the phrase "next to" for people or things that are very near or beside each other; in other words, it means almost or very nearly.
text: The amount that is next to nothing means the amount that is almost/nearly nothing; it's too small to be expected or wished for.
text: In light of this definition, the first sentence is clear.
text: As for the second phrase "How next to?", B wants to know how small the amount is that A will pay.
text: A. 50 dollars (for example).
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9259/Khan
score: 3
sents: text: "Next to nothing" implies that he would not pay anything (or a very negligible amount) for the car.
text: And generally, when someone says "Next to nothing", they mean exactly "nothing", give or take a fractional amount.
text: The second sentence implies that the second guy acknowledges the fact that the car is worthless and he would take any amount the first guy has to offer.
text: In plain words, "How next to ?" implies "What can you pay me for this crappy car?"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/27122/Varun Nair
score: 2
sents: text: You plugged the words out of the sentence in a very unfortunate way. "for next to" is total nonsense.
text: The original sentence should be read as: I'll buy it for (a very low price).
text: And "a very low price" was replaced with "next to nothing" -
text: the number that he is willing to pay isn't nothing, but very close to nothing.
text: The nearest thing to nothing he could think off.
text: The 2nd guy uses a bit of humour to ask "how close to nothing would your best offer be" - shortened to "How next to".
text: Which isn't proper English, but the kind of English that I might use in humour to play with words.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/6338/gnasher729
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
"Next to nothing" means "almost/nearly nothing. The man is saying he won't pay much for it.
The expression means a very negligible amount.