Nothing If Not Meaning | Idiom Examples and Origin

Script: Nothing if Not Idiom Meaning: Nothing if not, followed by an adjective, means very, certainly; most of all. Examples of Use “Jane is nothing if not patient. She’s been putting up with George’s childishness for years.” “Richard sent more flowers to Maria asking her to forgive him. He’s nothing if not persistent.” “There goes Markus again in the same black t-shirt. He’s nothing if not consistent.“ Origin of Idiom: This idiom has been used since at least the late 1500’s. The notion here is that a person possesses a certain characteristic in such abundance that there would be nothing left if that characteristic was missing. Shakespeare used the idiom in Othello (c. 1603): “For I am nothing, if not critical.” Here are some other ’nothing’ idioms in English: Come to Nothing (or Come to Naught) To come to nothing means to be unsuccessful or unfruitful; to accomplish nothing. “The state spent millions on surveying for the new highway and now it’s all come to nothing. They canceled the project.“ Count for Nothing To count for nothing means to be worthless; of no value. “Your culinary school degree counts for nothing in a real kitchen,“ said the chef. Get By on Nothing To get by on nothing means to manage to survive on very little income. “I’m used to getting by on nothing. I don’t care that much about money.“ Here Goes Nothing (also Here Goes!) Here goes nothing or just ’here goes’ is something we say before we try something that we don’t think we will be successful in or about which we are nervous. “Here goes nothing!“ shouted Dwayne before he jumped off the cliff. In Nothing Flat In nothing flat means very quickly, in almost no time; immediately. “Wow, he prepared food for twenty people in nothing flat.“ Additional idioms with the word nothing covered: 00:58 Come to nothing (or come to naught) 01:16 Count for nothing 01:27 Get by on nothing 01:39 Here goes nothing (or here goes) 01:57 In nothing flat