Donate SIGN UP

Meaning of "I don't give an iota"

Avatar Image
clive | 10:35 Wed 04th Sep 2002 | Phrases & Sayings
3 Answers
What is the origins of I don't give an iota
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 3 of 3rss feed

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by clive. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
An iota being a teenie-weenie little thing ("A very small quantity or degree; a jot; a particle", according to Websters) the phrase means 'I don't care at all/ not one little bit". As to who may have used it first, well 'iota' comes from the Ancient Greek, so it's probably been used on and off for rather a long time!
"Iota" is the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to our "i", and is the smallest letter, so has come to mean a very little amount. The English word "jot" is derived from "iota" and means exactly the same. So when Tony Blair said recently that he hadn't changed his mind (about Iraq) "one jot or iota", he was simply saying the same thing twice.
It means not to give up even the smallest thing. Iota is the name of a Greek letter i.

The phrase relates back to the Council of Nicea in 325 when the heretic Arius was trying to teach that Jesus wasn't God - he would use the word homoioiusios (of a similar substance) to describe Jesus and the Father. The rest of the council used homoousios (of the same substance) - the iota wasn't given! That small letter would have changed everything for the Christian faith - giving the iota would have meant Churches would teach Jesus wasn't really God.

1 to 3 of 3rss feed

Do you know the answer?

Meaning of "I don't give an iota"

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.