1

We all know and love the "I don't/couldn't give a f**k/shit/rat's ass" phrase. It helps a lot and relieves much tension. But would the rhetorical question form "What f**k do I give" be technically correct? I came up with this one time relying on my intuition with English. I've googled it and I saw that it indeed sees use, some apparently native speakers do use it in sentences.

Example of usage:

Jimmy: Hey, dad! I got an A on my math test.
Dad: Ok, Jimmy. But you need to answer to yourself a very important question.
Jimmy: What's that, dad?
Dad: What f**k do I give? The game's on and I'm watching. Now get the f**k outta here before I smack you.

Sorry for my morbid sense of humor, I hope it helped to get the point across :D

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    In a word, yes. That’s exactly how I would phrase it as a question. Similarly, it’s fairly common to hear (or see) such twists as “the amount of fuck I don’t give is infinite” and so on. It’s all about punning and turning set idioms into unexpected shapes, so anything goes.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 10:40
  • 1
    knowyourmeme.com/memes/look-at-all-the-fucks-i-give
    – mplungjan
    Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 10:40
  • I've never understood why we don't 'give' a shit/fuck! Presumably if we do give one we care, it is by not giving one that we don't. What's it all about?
    – WS2
    Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 10:50
  • Exactly what you surmise. I do give a *ç%& that someone took the last cookie. I don't give a *ç%& who took it
    – mplungjan
    Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 12:01
  • 1
    What do you mean? It is a well known idiom. Gone with the wind: Frankly, my dear I don't give a damn
    – mplungjan
    Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 13:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Yes, as a rhetorical construction "What fuck do I give?" is acceptable.

Given that the declaration "I don't give a fuck." is acceptable, there's no reason it can't be turned into a question.

A similar construction I've used is "Which of these no [x]s would you like?" When someone has asked me for something I (clearly) don't have.

Improve this answer
1
  • As a a native English speaker, I have never heard this particular turn of phrase, and it sounds awkward to me. Yes, it would make a viable rhetorical question, but it simply isn't idiomatic.
    – No Name
    Commented Apr 14, 2020 at 6:02

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .