an ounce of regret
- idiom
- Informal
:
ni un gramo de arrepentimiento
- She acted without an ounce of regret, knowing the decision was final.
Examples
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Despite the criticism, he faced it all without an ounce of regret.
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The athlete walked away from the competition with not an ounce of regret in his heart.
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He's too damn important to show an ounce of regret or admit when he's f'ed up.
Blog text (28)
Synonyms
31
5.2
Not feeling sorry about something you did
Antonyms
How Regretful
481
1.2
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
an + ounce + of + regret
The phrase combines the measurable unit 'ounce' with 'of' + 'regret' to indicate a very small quantity of remorse, so a learner who knows 'ounce' as a small unit and 'regret' can probably infer 'not even a small amount of remorse'. However, using a weight unit as an idiomatic intensifier is a metaphorical extension and may not be fully predictable without prior exposure (even though many languages use similar measure-phrases), so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
An ounce of regret uses a clear image: an ounce is a tiny measure and regret is sorrow. Saying 'not an ounce of regret' paints the idea of not having even the smallest bit of sorrow, so it means feeling no regret.