Improve Your Vocabulary: 26 ways to say you don’t care

"Bothered? Do you think I care?" These are some modern ways that many young

people say: "I don't care". Now, back in the old days with the classic film,

"Gone with the... Gone with the Wind", Vivien Leigh asks, with pleading eyes,

to Clark Gable's character: "My dear, where shall I go?" And Clark Gable's

parsing words are: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". Now, at the time,

there was a lot of controversy about the inclusion of those words in the final

film; and the censor, at the time, reluctantly approved that version of...

of the script to be included in the film. Now, our censors these days —

people working on social media — have... have to take down a lot of more

unpleasant things than those words. But those words: "Frankly, my dear, I don't

give a damn" — well, what do they mean? They say: "I don't care". In this

lesson, we're going to be looking at other alternative ways of saying that,

and I will be showing you more formal ways to say, you know... "Don't worry;

it's not a problem. I don't care; it's fine", and more casual ways. So, let's

begin.

If you are in the workplace, you're not going to say: "Bothered". You're going

to say more like: "Oh, don't worry". It's like water off a duck's back. Ducks

are in ponds, or some form of water most of the time. Yep. And water, because of

the way their feathers are, just glides off their back. And... this is saying,

like, you know... "If anything happens to me, it's just like... I don't care.

It's fine. It doesn't worry me". Or you could say: "Please don't worry; it's not

a problem at all". Yeah? Nice, straightforward, simple English. "Please

don't worry; it's not a problem at all". Now, look at the way I'm linking the

words and the way they're sounded together: "It's nota problem", so the

"t" goes into the "a" — "a problem atall", and this "t" goes into this "a"

here. "It's not a problem at all", "at all". So, it's more like the "t" is part

of this word, then this word. Or: "I wouldn't worry; it's fine". "I would not

worry. If I were you, I would not worry". Okay? Use of the conditional

tense. "It's honestly not a problem." Like, really — 100% — the absolute truth

is: This isn't a problem. "It's honestly not a problem". Or: "If it was a

problem, I'd let you know. If it was a problem, I'd let you know". Notice, past

participle "was", rather than "is", even though it's in the present tense. "If

this was a problem, I'd let you know". But it's not in the past; it's in the

present. "If it was a problem, I'd let you know". This is a problem, but we

say: this... "if it was a problem".

Now, it always makes it more personal if you use a person's name. "David, it's

absolutely fine. It's absolutely fine. Please". And then you can use a gesture.

David's just spilled a cup of coffee all over me. "David, it's absolutely fine".

Look, I'm putting my hands up like this. When you put your hands like this,

you're either saying: "It was me; I'm guilty" or it's like: "Look. It's fine;

there's nothing wrong. I haven't... I'm not going to, like, hit you with a stick

or anything. There's no weapons in my hands; there's no problem". Okay. Or:

"That's the least of our concerns". Your colleague has just ruined the business:

"That's the least of our concerns". Yeah? I'm being polite; I'm trying to

make them feel better. "That's the least" — that means the very smallest

one of our concerns — that's the smallest of our problems. "Don't you

about it". Okay. More casually... yep. And I've written these out just because

they're things that people say the whole time. So, what you're going to read,

here, you know... this isn't like perfect exam-style English; this is

conversational English. And it's here for the purpose of you sounding more

like a local. Yep. It's not to get you, like, an awesome mark in... in a grade;

in an exam, this; this is just to help you kind of to fit in. "That's okay.

Don't worry". And just on that subject, I think it's important that we do try

and fit in. You know... if you're... if you've come to study in a school in the

UK, and you come from another culture, it's important that you honour your own

culture, but also that you, you know... really try and integrate with the school

society that you're in. So, speaking like everyone else is gonna help that.

Okay, so I'm trying to say: "Don't worry; that's not a problem". "Never

mind. It's okay. Forget about it. Never mind". "Never" — don't ever think about

it. Stop thinking about it. It's already over. It's finished. "Don't worry about

that". Yep. So, I'm putting the emphasis; the stress on "that". "Why

would you think about that? That small problem? You've broken my ping-pong

ball? Don't worry about that". Or: "Don't worry about it. Don't worry about

it". I kind of, like, swallow the sounds at the end. "Don't worry about it. Don't

worry about it". Or: "I wouldn't worry too much about that. I would not worry

too much..." What you're actually meaning, here, is: "Don't worry at all.

Do no worrying". "I wouldn't worry too much about that". Okay? Very similar to

this. So, here we... often people say: "mate" to... to express some affection.

Sometimes they are actually our friend; sometimes they're not — it's just, like,

a kind of casual way of, you know... referring to someone. "Honestly, mate, I

really don't care. Honestly, mate, I really don't care". So, again, we've got

this: "honestly" in there. It's like: "You know... really, don't worry; it's

fine". "Oh, please. Really? You really think I'd get upset by that?" Okay? "Oh,

please". It's almost like you're saying: "Don't insult me. Who do you think...?

What do you think I'm like? Do you think I'm like the most complaining person in

the world? Really? Do you really think I would get upset? I would sort of get

upset by that?" Okay? Quite a range, there. Now, the purpose of this is to

show you ways of saying: "I don't care" without swearing. I'm not going to show

you swearing because there's much better ways of communicating where you don't

have to swear, but I'm now going to show you a few phrases that are a little bit

more sort of direct.

Okay. So, you want to learn these phrases to expand your vocab, so you're

not endlessly going to the same phrase and using it again, and again, and

again. I've got a book at home on how to say similar phrases in French and

Spanish, and sometimes it's fun to just say stuff in a foreign language. It kind

of makes it less personal, in a way. So, here are some other ways of saying: "I

don't care". Now, there's a sketch about a... a teenager in a classroom, who is

like a stereotype of an angry teenager. And the student is like: "Bothered? Am I

bothered? Do I look bothered?" Yeah. So, "bothered" is: "Do I care? Do I look

like I care?" Yeah? "Do I really care? Do I look like a care? Do I care?" Like,

no. Just like: "I'm not interested". So, "bothered". "Do I care?" But it's just

nice to be... to know what that means; I wouldn't sort of say: You should start

using that phrase in your everyday life. "I don't care". Yep. So, these are a

little bit slightly more cutting. A little bit too... more to the point than

the phrases on the last board. "I don't care". Yep. That's kind of, like, end of

conversation. "I couldn't give two hoots". So, "hoot". What...? What is a

"hoot"? Well, maybe you think of, like, a "hoot" on a sort of a bicycle horn.

Hoot, hoot. Yep. "I am so uninterested that I couldn't even go like that on my

bicycle horn". Yep. "It means that little to me". "I'm not too fussed". So,

"fussed" — very similar to "bothered". To make a fuss about something means to

make lots of noise; to create a bit of a scene. So, if you're not "fussed", then,

you know... it's not important. It doesn't... it doesn't bother you. "I'm

not too fussed" — "too", here, meaning excessively. "I'm not excessively

bothered by that; don't worry". "Doesn't bother me". Yeah. "Not a problem for me;

doesn't bother me". It doesn't create any unease, any headaches — nothing.

It's not a problem. "That — the last of my worries", meaning, you've said

something here, but like: "I'm dealing with this over here; like, that is the

last of my worries". Yeah. "This, here, is much more important. That's the last

of my worries". "Not a problem". Yeah. I would say that is the most friendly out

of this bunch. "Not a problem" is actually quite, like: "Yeah. Ah, we're

being nice again". I don't normally give you nasty things to say.

This one, again, it's a little bit more: You sort the problem out. "I'm afraid

that's your problem". Yeah? "Not my fault; your problem". "I'm afraid that's

your problem", meaning: "I'm really sorry..." No, he's not even sorry. Yeah.

"It's your problem". "Whatever". Yeah? This is a typical phrase that teenagers

use, saying... it's basically like this again, like: "Doesn't bother me. Like,

it's not my... it's not my problem, is it"? "Whatever. Whatever". It's quite,

like, dismissive. And we've got a... sort of a glottal stop on the "t"; it's

not fully, like, pronounced — the "t": "Wha... wha... whatever. Whatever". Can

you make that noise? "Whatever". This is more polite and formal: "Please

yourself. If that's what you want to do, you do that. I don't think it's a

particularly good idea, but you... please, you make yourself happy. Please

yourself". "See if I care. See if I care". So, the other person is doing

something; you don't think it's a good idea, and you say: "See if I care",

like: "You're going to go and do something really stupid, but it's your

responsibility. See if I care. I'm just gonna carry on living my life over

here". "Who cares?" Yeah? We've got a rhetorical question; it doesn't expect

an answer. "Who cares?" It's like... what we're saying here is: "Stop

thinking that everyone is obsessed about your drama over there". Yep. "If you're

going to have a drama, you go and have your drama. We don't all need to be part

of your drama. Who cares?"

This is perhaps my favourite one; I think it's an absolute classic: "Not my

circus; not my monkeys". It's quite satisfying to say. "Not my circus; not

my monkeys". And it's a really effective phrase because of the imagery that it

conjures up. Yeah? A "circus". You know... all kind of colourful, and

unusual, and imaginative as this. "It's not my circus" — yeah — "I am not the

ringmaster; I don't have to entertain all the crowd, I don't have to feed the

elephants, I don't have to put the monkeys in their cage. None of this is

my problem". Yeah? "And the monkeys aren't mine either — those cheeky

monkeys who are throwing bananas everywhere. It's not my circus, and it's

not my monkeys. This is not my problem". You however, have got a little problem

because you are going to have to pass the test now. The quiz. Yep. It's out of

ten. What do you think you can score? If you've enjoyed watching this video, I do

put out lots of different videos onto YouTube on... some on academic English;

some on business English, vocabulary, idioms — they're all there. So, if

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