ekki baun
Icelandic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]Adverb
[edit]- (colloquial) not at all, absolutely not, absolutely nothing
- Synonyms: alls ekki, alls ekkert, ekki neitt, ekkert, ekki baun í bala
- 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.”)