to care a hang
- idiom
- Archaic
- She doesn't care a hang about the latest fashion trends.
Examples
-
He said he doesn't care a hang whether they win or lose the game.
-
Nobody seems to ever care a hang about the other fellow.
-
They care a hang about their pets, but not about the environment.
Synonyms
To feel that someone or something matters to you
To not care at all about someone or something
To not care at all about something
To care at all about something
To not care at all about something
To not care at all about something
To not care at all about something, usually in negative sentences
To say in rude language that someone does not care at all
To not care at all
To say you do not care at all, often to show you actually do care
To not care at all about something, used only in negative sentences
Not care at all about something
To feel no interest or concern about something
To not mind something at all
Not be very interested in something, said as a joke
Antonyms
How Dismissive
- Offensive
- Offensive
- NSFW
- Archaic
- Informal
- Slang
Surface Forms
Morphology
care + a + hang
Although the verb 'care' is transparent, the element 'a hang' does not have a literal additive meaning that yields 'not care at all' — it functions as an idiomatic intensifier (like 'not care a damn'). The overall sense is unpredictable from the constituent meanings and is archaic/colloquial, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not reliably infer the MWE meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom care a hang may come from old speech where hang was used like a tiny, useless thing or a mild swear, so saying you did not care a hang gives the idea of not caring even a little. That's why it means 'not care at all'.