not worth the powder
- idiom
- Archaic
:
no vale la pena
- She decided that the project was not worth the powder after considering the time it would take.
Examples
-
He realized that arguing with her was not worth the powder because she never changed her mind.
-
In this argument, your opinion is not worth the powder needed to ignite a fire.
-
You're not worth the powder it would take to blow you up.
Synonyms
298
3.0
Has no value or use
133
2.5
An action that will not help
1
7.5
Not having real importance or value
The result is too small to make the effort
Completely useless in real situations
A thing that has no value or use
Antonyms
How Worthwhile
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the transparent element 'not worth' with 'powder' (gunpowder) as a metaphorical resource, so a learner could plausibly infer the sense 'not worth the resources/effort'. However, the specific cultural/historical reference to ammunition and the uncommon collocation make the mapping only partly predictable without prior exposure, so it is not fully transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase not worth the powder may come from the time of old guns. People had to use powder to fire a shot, so if something was too small or not important they said it was not worth the powder, and today it means 'not worth the trouble'.