Do you care or not?
In the English language there are many ways to express that you do not care about someone or something. A line uttered by Clark Gable in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind was crowned the most iconic line ever by the American Film Institute in 2005.
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” alerts his leading lady, Vivien Leigh, and the audience, to the fact their romance is doomed.
But there are so many more ways to say that we are not interested.
It’s no skin off my nose – this one is a boxing metaphor, as boxers’ noses are generally more damaged than any other body part. It can also have a secondary meaning, namely “I don’t have a problem with this“.
I don’t give a monkey’s – A monkey’s what? You might well ask and it’s a good question. The consensus over Internet is that this expression generally ended in a word not used in polite society to describe a rear end. In time, the phrase was simply shortened to ” not giving a monkey’s.”
I don’t give a tinker’s cuss – A tinker was a word to describe an itinerant craftsman who mended pots and kettles for a living, with a very lowly status in society. Beggars and gypsies were also called tinkers. So the curse or swear word of an uneducated tinker was not seen as anything valuable. This one is pretty old-fashioned, illustrates the snobbery of past times and thankfully, has more or less dropped out of use.
There are several other objects we do not give when we don’t care.
We don’t give a hoot, a fig, a sod or a toss….and the toss maybe isn’t what you think, the saying originated as the toss of a two-pence coin.
If you want to say you don’t care in a way that cannot be misinterpreted you have the option of not giving a sh**, a f*** or even a flying f***. As these are not polite expressions, they are not recommended.
Do you know any more expressions on how to say you aren’t interested?
Disclaimer .. to any English language learners out there, none of these expressions in this post are suitable for any type of English language exam!
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