Knock yourself out

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Meaning

Go ahead freely; alternatively, make an exhausting all-out effort. Current; permissive use can sound sarcastic Regional use: Strongly established in United States slang; earliest located example is Australian.

Origin

The slang phrase refers to working oneself to exhaustion, not to a boxing knockout. Dictionaries mark it as U.S. slang, and American examples become frequent in the 1930s, but a 1924 South Australian example currently predates the located U.S. evidence. The permissive go ahead sense developed from a sometimes sarcastic invitation to expend as much effort as one wished.

Variants

  • don't knock yourself out
  • go ahead and knock yourself out
  • knock oneself out

Usage Examples

  • If you want to catalogue every button by colour, knock yourself out.
  • Nina knocked herself out preparing a dinner that vanished in ten minutes.

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