I don't give a stuff

[Garson O'Toole]

Some of the following amusing terms found quickly via matching in
Google Books are still in use. But these terms are not as flexible as
"stuff".

1865 I don't give a sixpence
1887 I don't give a cuss
1890 I don't give a farthing
1894 I don't give a continental
1901 I don't give a continental hang rap
1904 I don't give a cent
1908 I don't give a pipeful of rabbit tobacco
1910 I don't give a rap
1910 I don't give a snap
1910 I don't give a hang
1914 I don't give a whoop-in-blazes
1917 I don't give a whoop
1917 I don't give a single whoop
1918 I don't give a dead rat
1918 I don't give a continental darn
1920 I don't give a hoot in hell
1922 I don't give a hoot

On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 1:47 PM, Federico Escobar
<federicoescobarcordoba at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Federico Escobar <federicoescobarcordoba at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: I don't give a stuff
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This isn't exactly what you're looking for, Paul, but a character in the no=
> w
> defunct show "My Name is Earl" would always say "snap" whenever
> real-worlders would say "shit."
>
> F.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 1:24 PM, Paul Frank <paulfrank at post.harvard.edu>wro=
> te:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Paul Frank <paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU>
>> Subject:      I don't give a stuff
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
>>
>> In the Aussie TV soap Neighbours (episode 6033 and going strong), the
>> word "stuff" is used instead of "fuck" in all cases when real-world
>> English speakers would say "fuck" or "fucked": I stuffed up; stuff
>> you; I don't give a stuff, and so on. Is there an equivalent and
>> equally versatile euphemism on American television?
>>
>> (In the unlikely event that you're wondering: Yes, I watch Neighbours.
>> It's the only TV show I watch, and I watch it every day with my
>> daughter. Is it trash? Yes. It is fun? Yes. Is it a waste of time?
>> Hell no. When my mother was dying of cancer in Amsterdam many years
>> ago, she got hooked on The Bold and the Beautiful. We spent her last
>> few weeks together, so sometimes I ended up watching this show too. It
>> used to irritate me to no end that she was wasting precious moments
>> watching undiluted drivel. When I finally told her that I absolutely
>> hated every minute of the The Bold and the Beautiful and suggested she
>> watch something else, anything else, she said, "I'm the one who's
>> dying here and if watching a silly show once a day gives me some
>> pleasure in my last few days in this godforsaken planet of ours, why
>> the hell shouldn't I?" Impeccable logic. I ended up enjoying quite a
>> few episodes of the Bold and the Beautiful with my mom. And now I
>> enjoy Neighbours with my daughter [my wife V=E9ronique refuses to watch
>> this crap]. But I digress...).
>>
>> So what's the American TV equivalent of "stuff" and "stuffed" with all
>> its declensions and semantic permutations?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Paul
>>
>> Paul Frank
>> Translator
>> Chinese, German, French, Italian > English
>> Espace de l'Europe 16
>> Neuch=E2tel, Switzerland
>> paulfrank at bfs.admin.ch
>> paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
>>
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