"That's a way to~" Is it okay to only say "Way to ~"?
In the movie, The Boss Baby, Tim wants to hang out with his parents, but he has something more important to do with the boss baby. So when the parents ask him to hang out with them, Tim says "No, thanks." At the time, the baby is very worried what if Tim is going to hang out with his parents without helping him. After hearing Tim's "No, thanks," the boss baby says to Tim, "Way to keep your eyes on the prize, Templeton."

I think it should be "That's a/the way to keep your eyes on the prize, Templeton."
(The prize here is this: After they finish what they need to do, the boss baby will leave the family which Tim really wants.)

Is it even possible to say without "That's a/the?"
Or is there another meaning of "Way to keep your eyes on the prize?"

Thanks so much! :)

Question

"That's a way to~" Is it okay to only say "Way to ~"?
In the movie, The Boss Baby, Tim wants to hang out with his parents, but he has something more important to do with the boss baby. So when the parents ask him to hang out with them, Tim says "No, thanks." At the time, the baby is very worried what if Tim is going to hang out with his parents without helping him. After hearing Tim's "No, thanks," the boss baby says to Tim, "Way to keep your eyes on the prize, Templeton."

I think it should be "That's a/the way to keep your eyes on the prize, Templeton." 
(The prize here is this: After they finish what they need to do, the boss baby will leave the family which Tim really wants.)

Is it even possible to say without "That's a/the?"
Or is there another meaning of "Way to keep your eyes on the prize?"

Thanks so much! :)

Answer

The movie is correct. I would not normally say it with "that's a/the" here.

"Way to X" is often used as encouragement or sarcasm. For example:
*) "Way to go! I knew you could do it!" (really good).
*) "Way to go, Einstein. You really messed thing up this time" (really bad).

If somebody said "That's the way to keep your eyes on the prize", then it feels to me like it's more just stressing how the action is happening, or the fact that it's happening at all. But in that case, maybe a more natural way would be something like "Now that's keeping your eyes on the prize!". But I don't think the phrase is really used that often anyway.

Answer

"That's a/the" is implied.  The meaning is the same.

Answer

It's very common to use the this expression in the US. We don't really use it in the UK but everyone understands it.

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