Meaning of Idiom ‘Who Cares”‘
When someone says “who cares?” they mean I don’t care; it doesn’t matter to me; it doesn’t bother me; I am not interested (in something). 1Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,2Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003.
Examples Of Use
“The principal made me stay after school but who cares?”
“If you don’t practice you will fail your driving test,” said Dad. “Who cares?” said Bobby. “I don’t even have a car.”
Origin
The expression who cares may have originally been followed by the preposition for and a noun as in “Who cares for wealth if you don’t have love?” In other words, money does not matter or one is indifferent to money if one does not have love. By the latter half of the 1800’s, it was being used as a standalone statement of indifference.
More Idioms Starting with W
- Wash Your Hands of (Someone or Something)
- What’s the Damage?
- Work One’s Fingers To the Bone
- Out of Wedlock
- The Whole Kit and Caboodle
More Care Idioms
More Idioms of Indifference
More Who Idioms
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Sources
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