ekki baun

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Icelandic

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Etymology

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Literally “not a bean”. The phrase is quite old; it is related to an older analogy of saying that something is less of a bellyful than a single bean, as a bean is quite small and insignificant.

Ekki baun í bala is a more recent saying.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /(ˌ)ɛhcɪˈpøyːn/

Adverb

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ekki baun

  1. (colloquial) not at all, absolutely not, absolutely nothing
    Ég skil ekki baun.
    I don't understand one iota.
    (literally, “I don't understand a bean.”)
    Hann er ekki búinn að gera baun í allan dag.
    He hasn't done anything at all today.
    (literally, “He hasn't done a bean all day.”)
    Það var ekki baun vont að fara í endajaxlatöku.
    Getting my wisdom teeth out didn't hurt one bit.
    (literally, “It wasn't a bean bad to go to the wisdom tooth removal.”)

Synonyms

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