no skin off my nose
1
9.7
- idiom
- UK
:
no me importa
- If you want to quit your job, that's no skin off my nose.
Examples
-
Nathan: Personally, it is no skin off my nose.
Blog text (7) -
You can cancel the meeting; it's no skin off my nose.
-
Do the deed, that's no skin off my nose.
Fiction book (1999) -
She can wear whatever she likes; it's no skin off my nose.
Synonyms
1
9.9
It does not matter to me
1
9.9
To not care at all
Not upset or harmed when something happens to someone else
To feel no interest or concern about something
Antonyms
How Affected
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal parts ('no' + 'skin' + 'off' + 'my' + 'nose') transparently convey the idea of 'no physical harm' or 'nothing taken from me', so a learner who knows the constituents can infer a sense of not being affected. However, the pragmatic jump from 'not harmed' to the idiomatic conversational meaning 'it doesn't matter to me / I don't care' is a metaphorical shift that may not be fully predictable without prior exposure, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
No skin off my nose gives a clear picture: imagine the skin being taken from your nose, which would hurt, so if there is 'no skin off' you are not harmed. That's why the phrase means 'not affected' or 'I don't care'.