のなんのってyou wouldn't believe how …
A very casual outcry in the middle of telling a story: "it was so cold, you wouldn't believe it". It can be delight or a complaint.
it stops there
You wouldn't believe how cold it was at the summit!
a detail follows
Moving day was so hectic, I didn't even have time for lunch.
How to form it
Plain form of an adjective or a verb + のなんのって
Mostly in the past, since you are telling what happened: 寒かったのなんのって, 驚いたのなんのって. A な-adjective takes な: 静かなのなんのって. って can drop: 寒いのなんの.
- Before it
- What struck you: 寒い, 痛い, うまい, 驚いた, 疲れた, 喜んだ.
- After it
- A detail that shows how extreme it was. Or nothing: people often stop there.
- Tone
- Worked up, and enjoying the telling. Pleased or fed up, either way.
- Where you'll meet it
- Friends and family telling what happened to them; lines in novels and dramas. Not at work, and not in careful writing.
In use
How was the trip?
You wouldn't believe how much fun it was! The scenery and the food were both fantastic.
Someone suddenly called my name in the street. You wouldn't believe the fright it gave me.
Her story was so funny, everyone laughed till they cried.
This soup is unbelievably hot! I thought I was going to burn my tongue.
Two things to know
なんの asks nothing and denies nothing
The idea is "cold, or whatever you'd call it": no word is big enough. So 寒いのなんのって is very cold indeed.
It is for telling a story
It was so cold yesterday, you wouldn't believe it.
To friends, with relish.
It was very cold yesterday.
The same fact, to a teacher or a client.
Close neighbours
ことといったらN3
The same outcry in less slangy words, built with の and こと: 部屋の狭いこと, "how small the room is". It turns up in letters and travel writing too.
You wouldn't believe how small this room is. There isn't even space to open a suitcase.
といったら follows a noun, often one in さ: 寒さといったら. といったらない ends the sentence, after a noun or an い-adjective: "beyond words". Both are at home in an essay.
A packed train in midsummer is unbearably hot.
Check yourself
1What does this mean?
昨日の
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
冬の
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
With と and a verb of saying, のなんのと is something else: a string of excuses or complaints, "this, that and the other".
He says he's busy and this, that and the other, and never lifts a finger to help.
More sentences
Yesterday's gig was so wild, I was still buzzing for a while after it ended.
You should have seen how thrilled the children were. They kept opening the box to look inside.
That inn was unbelievably quiet. At night all you could hear was the river.
The sea was so beautiful, we couldn't tear ourselves away from the beach until dark.