not give a..., v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

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+.

2. see also not care a... v.

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

c.1785

‘A Drop of Dram’ in A. Carpenter Verse in Eng. in 18C Ireland (1998) 397: I wou’d not give a needle for ’t, a devil or a dam.

...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 rat’s shit

1982

P. Radley My Blue-Checker Corker 143: Even if Duck had copped Swiftie at Buglugs and spread the word, Swiftie wouldn’t give a rat’s shit.

...a (royal) 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.
1978		(con. 1965) J. Carroll The Basketball Diaries 95: Shit I don’t give a royal screw what a commie is [ibid.] (con. 1966) 111: I don’t give a screw about trips to camp anymore.

...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 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

1961		R. Gover One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding 20: Nobody give one fas’ toot bout no room but her.
1986		S. King It (1987) 456: They didn’t seem to give much of a toot one way or the other.
1988		T. Jones Curse of the Vampire Socks 114: They didn’t give a tootle / What sort of whales they shot.

...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 .

...a wombat’s piss

1982

P. Radley My Blue-Checker Corker 117: ‘I don’t give a wombat’s piss about that fat galoot in Kincomba’.