But way to do your research.

[Luis Fleming]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1311248013914898433

I don't understand what "way to do something" means. Could anybody clarify it?
Btw, how offensive is it to call somebody an absolute pelican?
Kyrgios is Australian, for what it's worth.

 

[emsr2d2]

Variations on "way to go" are pretty common these days. You can read it (in this example) as him sarcastically saying "Yeah! Well done on such great research". He is suggesting that Khachanov is wrong to say that he (Kyrgios) just plays video games all day and that, if he had done his research better, he would have discovered that Kyrgios does a lot of charity work.

"Pelican" here is used as a derogatory term. Even though it's not a common use (in BrE, at least), it's clear from the tone and from the preceding words "you absolute" that it's meant rudely.
There's a British stand-up comedian, whose name I can't recall right now, who did a whole sketch once about how you can put just about any noun after "you absolute" and it comes across as an insult. For example:
You absolute plughole.
You absolute crocodile.
You absolute telephone.

The speaker's tone of voice and the content of the rest of what they're saying would make it clear that it's an insult, regardless of the noun.

 

[teechar]

I think he mistyped what he wanted to say, probably due to the emotions involved. I suspect he wanted to write something like "But way to go. Do your research you absolute pelican".

 

[probus]

Doubtless Kyrgios intended it derogatively, but I've never heard pelican used as an insult. Pelicans are cool.

 

[teechar]

A humorous variation of "pillock"?

 

[emsr2d2]

I think he mistyped what he wanted to say, probably due to the emotions involved. I suspect he wanted to write something like "But way to go. Do your research you absolute pelican".

I have to disagree there. I don't think he mistyped anything. I've heard multiple variations on "Way to go", in which "go" is replaced by a different verb.

 

[Tarheel]

The expression can be used positively or negatively. (See below.)

Way to go! Great job!

Way to go, you moron!

 

[teechar]

I have to disagree there. I don't think he mistyped anything. I've heard multiple variations on "Way to go", in which "go" is replaced by a different verb.

I disagree. If what you're saying is right, then where is the verb after the "way to + go/do/whatever"? I mean "way to go" (or any variant of it) is an exclamatory phrase. It does not obviate the need for a verb in the sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

where is the verb after the "way to + go/do/whatever"?

I don't understand the question. "Go/Do/Whatever" is the verb.

 

[teechar]

I mean the phrase it "Way to go" is the set phrase.
Even if we concede that "do" may substitute for "go" (which I have not encountered before, and so I don't agree with), a verb is still needed in the sentence that follows.

way to go!

1. used to tell someone they have done well, or used humorously when someone…

dictionary.cambridge.org

In your analysis, "way to" becomes the (variant) set phrase. Is that what you're saying?

 

[jutfrank]

In your analysis, "way to" becomes the (variant) set phrase. Is that what you're saying?

Yes, this is what emsr2d2 is saying. It's common, especially in American English.

 

[teechar]

Which means ... the OP was meant to be: "But way to. Do your research, you absolute pelican".
Is that what you're saying?

 

[SoothingDave]

It's just sarcasm. A mock cheer.

Someone trips: "hey, way to walk!"

 

[jutfrank]

Which means ... the OP was meant to be: "But way to. Do your research, you absolute pelican".
Is that what you're saying?

No. I think we've misunderstood each other. The pattern is 'way to + verb phrase'.

Here are some examples I've made up:

Hey, way to make a girl feel loved!
Way to ruin the moment, idiot!

The original sentence effectively means something like 'Great job at doing your research, you pelican!', meant sarcastically, of course.

 

[teechar]

I must say that I haven't come across that one before. I wonder if it started life as (and at some point split off from) "What a way to" +V, which is standard across the different varieties of English?

 

[jutfrank]

I wonder if it started life as (and at some point split off from) "What a way to" +V, which is standard across the different varieties of English?

I imagine it came about as a development of the simpler fixed phrase that you've mentioned, Way to go!, where the fixed word go is replaced and extended into a longer verb phrase. As SoothingDave says, it's a mock cheer, specifying the thing that the addressee has done wrong. It isn't always meant sarcastically like this, but it very often is.