for the love of me
1
9.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
por nada del mundo
- For the love of me, I couldn't understand why they made that decision.
Examples
-
She tried, for the love of me, to explain the instructions clearly.
-
For the love of me, do not finish it!" (49).
Academic text (1990) -
I can't, for the love of me, remember where I put my keys.
Synonyms
Cannot do something no matter how hard you try
How Possible
- Informal
4
6.5
- Informal
1
9.9
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is an idiomatic intensifier meaning 'no matter how hard I try' that cannot be compositionally derived from the literal meanings of 'for', 'the', 'love', 'of', and 'me'. A B1 learner who knows the individual words would not predict the conventional negative/inability use without prior exposure, so the expression is language-specific and non-transparent (cf. 'for the life of me').
Etymology
For the love of me may come from the image of a person holding their heart and begging, saying for the love of me to show a very strong wish. That's why it is often used with words like 'can't' to mean 'no matter how hard you try' when you still cannot do something.