Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to make no odds

to make no odds

8.1
To not be important in a situation
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : no importa
  • But it makes no odds because the other action that Stephen Fry has been undertaking is accepting press invitations to talk about Twitter.

Examples

  • She wasn't worried about the delay; it makes no odds to her schedule.

  • (Wells was writing things that were recognizably sci-fi and had a defined sense of genre; he didn't call it sci-fi, but scientific romance is close enough as to make no odds.)

    Blog text (9)

  • Whether we leave now or later makes no odds; we'll still get there on time.

  • He insisted that it makes no odds if they choose a different restaurant for dinner.

Antonyms

to matter
∞ 1.4

To be important or make a difference

to make a difference
482 2.8

Cause a clear, positive change in a situation or person

Surface Forms

make no odds infinitive
made no odds past
made no odds past participle
making no odds present participle
makes no odds third person singular

Morphology

make + no + odds

The components 'make' (cause) + 'no' (not any) + 'odds' (chances/probability) yield a readable sense of 'cause no change in likelihood', which maps onto 'doesn't matter'. However, the use of 'odds' in this evaluative collocation and the phrasing 'make no odds' is somewhat regional/idiomatic and may not be predictable to a B1 learner who merely knows the individual words, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Make no odds may come from betting. If two horses have the same odds, choosing one will not change the chance, so the choice 'does not matter', and that's why make no odds means 'to not make any difference'.