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Glite Dictionary
to give a rip

to give a rip

2 9.5
To not care at all about something
  • idiom
  • Slang
translation icon : importar un comino
  • He doesn't give a rip about the rules and does whatever he wants.

Examples

  • Why should they click like, follow you on Facebook, be your friend, tweet you, retweet you, or give a rip about anything you have to say or do?

    Blog text (15)

  • When it comes to their education, many teenagers simply don't give a rip.

  • The problem is, there are students out there who could give a rip about academics!

    Blog text (13)

  • The vast majority of them really don't give a rip about the health of their employees, let alone their customers.

    Blog text (33)

  • They want employers who give a rip about them.

    Blog text (28)

  • They don't give a rip about anyone else.

    Blog text (5)

  • I don't, and won't, give a rip about whether or not my phone's OS is open source or not.

    Blog text (12)

  • She's had since March to accept and realize that I don't give a rip, and she's obviously still not accepted it.

    Blog text (4)

  • Most people I know don't give a rip about celebrity gossip.

Synonyms

to give a damn
vsto give a rip
  • NSFW
172 8.8

To not care at all about someone or something

is the same idea but often used in negative sentences
to give a hoot
vsto give a rip
  • Archaic
9 8.1

To not care at all about something

is stronger and more coarse in tone than this milder expression
to give a rat
vsto give a rip
  • Slang
9 9.9

To care at all about something

is similar but usually appears in negative statements
to give a rat's arse
vsto give a rip
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To not care at all about something

is informal without the specific British regional tone
to give a flying shit
vsto give a rip
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To say in rude language that someone does not care at all

is less vulgar and usually used in negative sentences
to give a monkey's
vsto give a rip
  • Slang
1 9.9

To not care at all about something, usually in negative sentences

is similar but more general in register and use
to care a hang
vsto give a rip
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To feel no interest or worry at all about something

is usually negative but less idiomatic in fixed form
to give a hang
vsto give a rip
  • Archaic
9.3

To not care at all about something, used only in negative sentences

is like this but used more flexibly and less fixed to negatives
to care a pin
vsto give a rip
  • Archaic
9.9

To not mind something at all

is states complete lack of concern more strongly than this milder form

Antonyms

to disregard
119 3.9

Ignore something or someone on purpose

How Concerned

to care
∞ 1.0
to give a rip
  • Slang
2 9.5
to could care less
  • Informal
1 9.1

Surface Forms

give a rip infinitive
gave a rip past
given a rip past participle
giving a rip present participle
gives a rip third person singular

Morphology

give + a + rip

The sense 'to care at all' is not compositionally derived from 'give' (to hand or provide) + 'a' + 'rip' (usually a tear or shred); there is no predictable semantic link between the literal constituents and the idiomatic meaning. This colloquial negative construction is lexically fixed and similar to expressions like 'don't give a damn,' so a B1 learner who only knows the individual words would most likely not infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

The idiom give a rip may come from an old idea that a 'rip' was a tiny scrap or tear. The picture of someone who will not give even a small rip of attention helps explain why the phrase means 'to care at all'.