no great shakes

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

no great shakes (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Something unexceptional, not noteworthy or special.

   Synonym: nothing to write home about

   • 1898, Gertrude Atherton, chapter XIX, in The Valiant Runaways, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, →OCLC, page 210:

     You're welcome to stay here, but this hut ain't no great shakes for such as you.

   • 1980 August 30, Patrice Keegan, “Ebersole Misses the Point”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 4:

     His tactic of pointing out the flaws of the Democrats does not mean that the Republican Party is any great shakes, as he intimates.

   • 2008 August 24, “Your definitive guide to the iPhone”, in The Times‎^[1], Johannesburg, South Africa, archived from the original on 15 September 2008:

     The iPhone's 2.0 megapixel camera is no great shakes, but it's good enough as cellphone cameras go.

References

• “no great shakes”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.