Give A Care

Give a **** - is phrase typically used in a negative context, i.e. I don't give a **** what you do from now on. We are done!

Give a care - is not used as a natural phrase. "Care" is a non-countable noun; thus, "a care" is grammatically incorrect.

So I cannot say "I don't give a care about that"?

SheltieBitesIs "give a care" a more formal version of "give a ****"?

I would say it's a more polite version of "(not) give a ****" or any other stronger expressions of indifference. It doesn't seem as rude as "give a ****".

dimsumexpressGive a care - is not used as a natural phrase. "Care" is a non-countable noun; thus, "a care"

That's correct. You cannot say "I don't give a care about that."
"I don't care about that" would be correct.
I have never heard the expression "give a care."

Hello! SheltieBites,

If you want to be polite while saying that you don't care about something/someone, use this.

"I am not concerned about/with something/someone"

Here, I'll write a quote as an example.

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me...All I ask is that you respect me as a human being"-----Jackie Robinson.

Hope this helps.

JohnParisYou cannot say "I don't give a care about that."

JohnParisI have never heard the expression "give a care."

My sentiment exactly! Informal or otherwise, from a pure English point of view"... don't give a care" just sounds off to my ear.

The phrase may be strange to some of us, but it produces over 1.3 million Google hits, including these, which all look reputable:

http://bethesdarecovery.org/?page_id=315

It's actually more about the pattern, not the word used (which entirely depends on the speaker's creativity).

More expressions following the pattern "I don't give a...":

I don't give a toss.
I don't give a rip.
I don't give a fig.
I don't give a darn.
I don't give a dang.

Maybe it's a New England phrase? It was something that we said as children in the 70's & 80's when we were too afraid to swear. Even though it is grammatically incorrect, it was definitely something you'd hear in the Boston area.