not for the world
1
6.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
ni por el mundo
- I have spoken to Himself on the subject of Step Mama, saying I would not wish her death, not for the world, yet "all men must die."
Examples
-
"I would not for the world trade where we are as a couple," she says.
-
No, my dearest love, I would not for the world.
-
No, my dearest love, I would not for the world.
-
"Oh, of course, I suppose in a family things are understood, though I wouldn't for the world say the wrong thing."
Fiction book (1994) -
Not for the world should you sacrifice a moral principle.
Blog text (20) -
Besides, not for the world would I interfere with your pleasures, as long as you don't interfere with mine.
-
"Not for the world would Jack ever admit he was glad to see Maggie."
-
No, my dearest love, I would not for the world.
Synonyms
20
4.2
Says that something must never happen in any situation
3
5.6
It is not true or possible in any way
1
8.1
A firm no when someone asks for something
Say it to show you will never do something
Refuse to do something no matter what happens
How Willing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'absolutely not under any circumstances' is directly derivable from 'not' (negation) plus 'for the world' understood as 'for anything in the world' or 'even for the whole world', so the overall meaning follows compositionally. This hyperbolic framing has close parallels in many languages, making the expression accessible to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Not for the world may come from the idea of refusing something even if someone offered you the whole world. So it means 'absolutely not' or 'no way'.