You come home and your wife is watching TV. You see that there's a pot of cold soup on the stove, but you don't know whether it's good to eat or whether it needs to be thrown out. You ask:
What's the deal with this soup?
What's the deal with (something)?
This is a question that you can ask to get general information about something. "What's the deal with ___?" isn't a specific question, so the person who you ask can give whatever answer is appropriate. In the situation above, the wife can give any of these answers:
Oops, I made that for lunch but I forgot to put it away.
It's an Italian recipe I came across the other day.
It's still good. Just heat it up a bit.
Ask "what's the deal with ___" for things that are a little strange or unexpected, when you want to find out information about them but you don't know what exactly to ask.
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