not give a... v. 1. in addition to the most popular combs. listed separately below, there are a number of less common phrs., all stating one’s absolute lack of interest in the topic, as listed here; examples are alphabetical rather than by date and the dating for these combinations can be anything from mid-16C to 1990s+.
In phrases
...a blister 1909 Sun. Times (Perth) 15 Aug. 4s/7: We don’t give a cuss / For O-phe-us / Nor a blister for Tanami.
...blue button 1864 letter quoted in Wiley Life of Johnny Reb (1943) 138: I cant tell what is best neither do I give a darn blew button.
...a crap 1963 M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 107: He doesn’t give a crap what happens to Sullivan. 1968 K. Brasselle Cannibals 55: They couldn’t give a crap about anyone. 2018 Sowetan Live 26 Feb. 🌐 Unemployed youth on verge of losing hope comments I honestly don’t give a crap about the druggies .
...a cuss 1900 Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 10 Oct. 1/1: It’s the fun of the world to be alive and possess a copper-fastened don’t-care-a-cuss feeling.
...a doggone 1920 H. Wiley Wildcat 9: I don’t give a doggone if de sun don’t neveh shine. 1947 W.D. Overholser Buckaroo’s Code (1948) 18: I don’t give a doggone how long it would last. 1980 Jackson & Christian Death Row 228: I don’t give a doggone about reading about some other guy’s experience.
...a 4X [punning on XXXX (i.e. blanked out fuck n. (2a) ), as coined by advertising for Castlemaine 4X brand of lager] 1999 Indep. on Sun. Culture 14 Nov. 4: Men turn down sex for our product/wouldn’t give a 4X for anything else.
...a frig 1993 S. King Dolores Claiborne 146: ‘That could be just your imagination,’ she says. ‘I don’t give a frig if it is,’ I shot right back.
...a hurrah (also ...three hurrahs in Hades )1896 S. Crane in N.Y. Journal 20 Nov. in Stallman (1966) 170: She did not give three hurrahs in Hades whether Bill lived or died. 1922 R. McAlmon ‘Summer’ in A Hasty Bunch 229: I didn’t give a hurrah what job it was I had.
...a kitty 1925 Z.N. Hurston Spunk (1995) 949: He struts ’round wid another man’s wife – jus’ don’t give a kitty. 1954 (con. 1920s–30s) J.O. Killens Youngblood (1956) 112: She didn’t give a kitty what happened to Robby. 1968 J. Hersey Algiers Motel Incident 23: I don’t give a kitty. 1969 Current Sl. III:4.
...a needle ...a piss 1994 Rebennack & Rummel Under A Hoodoo Moon 221: Fess just didn’t give a piss what people who were bad-mouthing him thought.
...a rassclot 1954 G. Lamming Emigrants (1980) 64: Them doan’ give a rassclot w’at happen.
...a rip 1906 Princetown Union (MN) 14 June 4/4: They don’t give a rip whether Johnson is re-elected or not. 1910 H. Hapgood Types From City Streets 39: It’s only an easy mark wot’d [...] give a rip wat happens. 1991 B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 74: A young, unemployed party buffoon who didn’t give a rip about his bank balance.
...a screw 1955 E. Hoagland Cat Man 142: Oh, did I get a pounding! They pounded the hell out of me. They didn’t give a screw for the wolf.
...a spit 2016 A. Wheatle Crongton Knights 22: I didn’t give a spit about physics, chemistry or slicing up frogs.
...a squirrel’s butt 2007 N. McCall Them (2008) 11: She didn’t give a squirrel’s butt about people ; she didn’t know diddly, and couldn’t care less.
...a stuff 2000 Indep. Rev. 22 May 1: I don’t give a stuff that he doesn’t know my name.
...a sugar 1996 (con. 1970) G. Moxley Danti-Dan in McGuinness Dazzling Dark (1996) II v: I couldn’t give a sugar about her.
...a toot/...a tootle ...a whoop 1909 N.Y. Tribune 24 Jan. 29/1: I don’t give a whoop if you’re the whole Supreme Court. 1917 O.O. McIntyre New York Day by Day 19 June [synd. col.] The breezy man from out-of-town, who does not give a whoop for silly conventions .