No skin off my nose

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Meaning

No harm, inconvenience, or important loss to me; therefore not something I mind. Informal and sometimes dismissive. It expresses personal indifference and can sound uncaring when the matter harms someone else. Regional use: Informal English in several regions.

Origin

The expression is documented from the early 20th century. Its exact origin is unknown. A boxing explanation, in which an outcome costs the speaker no scraped skin, has often been proposed, but reference works explicitly note that evidence for it is lacking. The image works without a specific incident: if no skin is lost from one's own nose, one has suffered no personal damage. Claims about a 1926 Punch coinage or a Yiddish source should not be stated as fact.

Research Sources

  1. no skin off someone's nose Merriam-Webster
  2. no skin off one's nose Dictionary.com, incorporating The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

Variants

  • No skin off one's nose
  • No skin off my back

Usage Examples

  • If you would rather take the later train, that's no skin off my nose.
  • The rival shop can extend its opening hours; it is no skin off our nose.
  • He said the venue change was no skin off his nose because he lived nearby.

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