feel over committed ? Need a dear way of life to say " no " ? away from using “ don’t"instead of“can’t , ” here are eight fun and old - timey ways you could say , “ No manner . ”
1. NOT IN THESE TROUSERS
The next sentence you need to say , “ Certainly not ! ” you may say , “ Not in these trousers ! ” The earliest credit in the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) of this British English saying is from 1920 inRealities of Warby Philip Gibbs : “ ‘ Come up and have a facial expression , Jack , ’ he suppose to one of the sorry - jacket . ‘ Not in these pant , old mate ! ’ said that untried human beings . ”
2. NOT ON YOUR TINTYPE
A slightly older U.S. colloquialism — the OED ’s earliest record is from 1900 — World Wide Wordssaysnot on your tintypeoriginated when tintype picture taking was democratic and is based on the 18th C idiom , not on your life history .
3. NOT ON YOUR NELLY
Not on your Nellyis a castrate translation ofNot on your Nelly Duff . consort toThe Virtual Linguist , Nelly Duffis Cockney rhyming slang forpuff , which in this linguistic context means “ life ” or “ distich of life . ” The blogger also mentions another puff phrase , in ( all ) one ’s ( born ) pouf , which is mainly used in negative contexts and means “ in a individual ’s experience , in all a person ’s aliveness . ” So why does puff intend “ life ” ? Presumably because it also mean “ breath . ”Not on your Nelly Duffis from 1941 , accord to the OED , whileNot on your Nellyis from 1959 .
4. NEVER A FIG
This idiom think “ not at all ” is from the sixteenth hundred . Back then , allot to the OED , figs were equated with anything “ small , valueless , or contemptible , ” hence other figgy verbalism such asnot pass on or caring a figabout something . Giving the common fig , on the other hired man , is a disdainful motion that resemble the U.S.-centric " I got your nose ! " The OED say another name for the gesture isfig of Spain , which also refers to a poison Libyan Islamic Group used to destroy an obnoxious someone . Which came first , the insulting script signal or the toxic fruit , is n’t unmortgaged .
5. AIKONA
Aikonacan mean “ no , not any , not ” and can also be used as an exclamatory “ certainly not , ” “ never , ” and “ no way ! ” It ’s a South African colloquialism and comes fromFanakalo , a lingua franca developed and used by minelaying company in Southern Africa . Fanakalo is frame of elements from Nguni languages , English , and Afrikaans .
6. NIXIE
Nixieis another “ Certainly not ! ” magnetic declination you might want to add to your vocabulary . A blend ofnix , think “ not possibly , not at all , ” and the suffix -y , its earliest use in the OED is from 1886 .
7. ON (AT) THE GREEK CALENDS
If you prefer to stamp multitude , you could say , “ On the Hellenic calends ” when you mean “ never . ” The OED enounce it ’s “ humourous ” because the ancient Greeks did n’t use a calends — that is , a first of the month — in how they track time . uproarious ! The phrase start around 1649 : “ That Gold , Plate , and all Silver given to the Mint - House in these late trouble , shall be paid at the Greek Kalends . ”
8. NOT IN A WEEK OF SUNDAYS
A hebdomad of Sundaysis , of course of instruction , seven Sundays , or seven calendar week , and therefore a long or undecided length of time . If you want to be extra emphatic about saying “ Never ! ” you may also use , “ Not in a month of Sundays , ” which is a really long , seemingly endless amount of prison term .
