care a button | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic,dated,chiefly in the negative)Tocare(at all).Synonyms:seeThesaurus:care1596,Marin Barleti, translated by Zachary Jones,The Historie of George Castriot, surnamed Scanderbeg, King of Albanie‎[1], London: William Ponsonby,Book 5, p. 180:[…]the filthy and foule desire of gaine preuailed with one of the garrison, a most wretched and desperate villaine of all men liuing to be abhorred: who being corrupted by the large and perilous offers ofOttoman, did notcare a buttonfor the safetie of his citizens, of his countrey, nor of his frendes or kinsfolkes[…]1763,John Hall-Stevenson,A Pastoral Cordial‎[2], London: J. Hinxman, page19:If you are treated ill and put on,’Tis natural to make a Fuss;To see it and notcare a Button,Is just as natural for us.1843December 19,Charles Dickens, “(please specify the page number)”, inA Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London:Chapman & Hall,[…],→OCLC:Half-a-dozen gas-lamps out of the street wouldn't have lighted the entry too well, so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with Scrooge's dip. ¶ Up Scrooge went, notcaring a buttonfor that.1922,Walter de la Mare, “Seaton’s Aunt”, inBest Stories of Walter de la Mare‎[3], London: Faber & Faber, published1942, page86:You’re the only chap Icare a buttonfor[…]1940,Alice Duer Miller,The White Cliffs‎[4], New York: Coward-McCann, page60:Twenty years since we sat on topOf the world, amusing ourselves and sneeringAt other manners and customs, jeeringAt other nations, living in clover—Not any more. That’s done and over.No one nowadayscares a buttonFor the upper classes—they’re dead as mutton.

Examples:

EN: He don't care a button he just laughs all the time.
ES: No le falta de nada. Y siempre está riéndose.
EN: "And when the sieve turned round and round and everyone cried, 'We'll all be drowned,' they called aloud, 'Our sieve ain't big but we don't care a button.
ES: "Y cuando el tamiz gira y da vuelta y todo el mundo lloraba, todos nosotros no ahogaremos, ellos llamaron en voz alta, nuestro tamiz no es muy grande, pero no nos importa un botón.

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