so much that
extremely
very
Structure
- Verb + のなんのって
- い-Adj + のなんのって
- な-Adj + な + のなんのって
[Aのなんのって(B) is a phrase used in casual language to emphasize a great degree of something like surprise, amazement, pain, and so on]
Can anyone help break down the Japanese here? I understand this is a phrase, but I’m having trouble figuring out what the distinct “words” are.
The って seems obvious: I’m guessing that’s the casual quote particle. The first の also seems to be nominalizing? So then, なん is なに and the の after it is emphatic/interrogative?
I could really use some help. 
I was just wondering this too!
I found this answer on Stack Exchange: meaning - Why does ～なんてもんじゃない / ～のなんのって mean とても？ - Japanese Language Stack Exchange
2 Likes
Aw, man, I always forget about the Japanese Stack Exchange. Thanks for the reference.
After reading the top answer there, I can’t believe that I actually parsed the syntax correctly. Even so, I couldn’t possibly have derived the right meaning from that alone.
That explanation from Stack Exchange helped quite a bit.
2 Likes