give a monkey's

present singular third person gives a monkey's · participle present giving a monkey's · past gave a monkey's · participle past given a monkey's

1. UKidiomaticinformalTo care; to have an interest or concern.

   I couldn't give a monkey's. What I am interested in is the things that drive the big numbers.

   2002, a British Manufacturing Director, quotee, edited by Robert Westwood and Stephen Linstead, The Language of Organization, page 71

   3 more examples

   He knows what he can do with his calendars. I don't give a monkey's. I'm leaving. I've got another job.

   1998, Willis Hall, Keith Waterhouse, Billy Liar

   Though a huge majority of the population may have continued not to give a monkey's for Derrida, Lacan, or Foucault themselves […]

   2004, Randall Stevenson, The Oxford English Literary History, 1960–2000

   A friend living in France reports that the French don't give a monkey's about unpasteurized dairy products (cheese, etc.) but that they are completely paranoid about le toxoplasmosis.

   2005, Justine Roberts, Carrie Longton, Mums on Pregnancy: Trade Secrets from the Real Experts

   Synonyms: becare, bother, care, concern oneself, heed, mind, reck, trouble oneself