Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to not care at all.

1628		R. Speed Counter Scuffle A2: He reckt not for his flesh a iot.
1733		Laugh and Be Fat 128: I shall not care one Jot / For all the kind of Allurements you have got, / Beneath that modest Veil the Petticoat.
c.1750		‘The Jew’s Triumph’ in Tom-Tit Pt 2 4: But if they get Money they care not a jot.
1765		‘When Fanny to Woman is Growing Apace’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) II 212: For mamma’s wise precepts she cares not a Jot.
1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 504: But whether we are drubb’d or not, / achilles does not care a jot.
1792		C. Dibdin ‘She Cannot Tell What’ in Buck’s Delight 40: For mamma’s wise precepts she cares not a jot.
1819		Beppo in London xvi: Beppo left her, caring not a jot.
1838		Lytton Lady of Lyons II i: I don’t care a jot whether you are a prince.
1842		‘The Charming Mot’ in Nobby Songster 40: Such women are no go for tailor’s / For treating they don’t care a jot.
1859		‘A Hit at the Times’ in Lingenfelter et al. Songs of the Amer. West (1968) 115: They don’t care a jot or a tittle who do buy / The corner lots.
1884		Leicester Chron. 7 June 12/: That’s his look out; if he cares a jot for you he can soon stop it.
1890		Sporting Times 22 Mar. 1/4: They’re backing Why Not; / But I don’t care a jot, / I’ll have it all down on M.P.
1901		‘Miles Franklin’ My Brilliant Career 118: I [...] don’t care a jot whether it is good writing or not.
1913		A. Lunn Harrovians 33: Who cares a jot, I should like to know, / Whether the game be toilsome or no.