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Glite Dictionary
to save one's breath

to save one's breath

7.7
To stop wasting time trying to convince someone who will not listen
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : ahorrar aliento
  • I'd save your breath for my questioning.

Examples

  • If you're going to argue with him, you might as well save your breath because he won't listen.

  • Save your breath, son.

    A Few Best Men (2011)

  • But she was... -...abducted by some friends of yours... -Save your breath.

    Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

  • Save your breath, we ain't stopping until you let us out.

    Custer of the West (1967)

  • Let’s have no more explanations, Save your breath and save your tears.

    Les Misérables (2012)

  • There's no point in trying to change his mind; just save your breath.

  • When she started complaining again, I told her to save her breath and focus on solutions instead.

How Worthwhile

to persuade
472 2.7
to explain
∞ 1.0
to save one's breath
  • Informal
7.7

Surface Forms

save one's breath infinitive
saved one's breath past
saved one's breath past participle
saving one's breath present participle
saves one's breath third person singular

Morphology

save + one + breath

The phrase literally evokes conserving one's breath (the air used for speaking), so a learner who knows 'save' (spare/conserve) and 'breath' (air used for speaking) can infer it means not to bother speaking or wasting effort on someone who won't listen. The possessive 'one's' is just grammatical; the relation between conserving breath and not wasting words is a straightforward metaphor likely predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Save one's breath comes from the simple image of someone holding back their breath instead of speaking when no one will listen. So, it means 'to stop trying to persuade or explain something to someone who will not listen or care'.