[Ads-l] IDGAF--with quantities

Geoffrey Nathan 00001a558db4a26e-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Tue Nov 18 12:02:21 UTC 2025


Somewhat of a tangent,
but this discussion made
me wonder about when 'fuck'
became not only a
count noun but one that was
actually counted. So I
asked Google nGram
about 'zero fucks to give'
and found a citation from
2017. Not the best
research tool, but
probably suggestive.

(Apologies for the weird formatting
but if I don't keep lines shortened
the listserv machine screws with
Them)

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/

geoffnathan at wayne.edu

Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks.

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2025 10:25 PM
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Subject: Re: IDGAF

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You can find earlier examples in Jesse Sheidlower's _The F-Word_ (4th ed.,
2024):

1969 The Hatchet (George Washington University) (Mar. 20) 11/1: Mural
Softball Weekend Scores=E2=80=A6. IDGAF 8 -- Teddy=E2=80=99s Team 3.
1982 The Manet (North Quincy (MA) High School yearbook) 78: IDGAF, let the
Good Times Roll, "No Way Jose," "Whatever."
1993 RELEASE: Recent and Upcoming Album Releases: 93:41 in rec.music.misc
(Usenet newsgroup) (Oct. 15): 2 Nov Lyrical Prophets I.D.G.A.F.
1997 Re: creative acronyms in alt.tasteless.jokes (Usenet newsgroup) (May
28): IDGAF I Don=E2=80=99t Give A Fuck.
[etc.]

--bgz

On Sat, Nov 15, 2025 at 3:14=E2=80=AFPM Dennis During <
00001bcaf94bd005-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> in Wiktionary since 11/2/2011, with a single citation from 1993.
>
> On Sat, Nov 15, 2025 at 7:56=E2=80=AFAM Jonathan Lighter <
> 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > Md. Gov. Wes Moore on _The Weekend_ (MSNOW TV): I have five letter for
> the
> > _Washington Post_ [after an unfavorable comment]: I. D. G. A. F.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Can6993%40WAYNE.EDU%7C4ee4b1d9e9504f57fdf708de24bfe38a%7Ce51cdec9811d471dbbe6dd3d8d54c28b%7C1%7C0%7C638988603743562973%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=pd9XsQe25K1gJGsLGqqs9GFwI5dHzzky9mLYpOpJDCM%3D&reserved=0<http://www.americandialect.org/>
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> --
> Dennis C. During
>
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