not to worry

English

Etymology

The origin of the phrase is unknown. According to Partridge’s Dictionary of Catch Phrases^[1] the idiom dates from the mid-1930s with a surge in 1957–8.

Phrase

not to worry

There is no need for concern; there isn't a serious problem.
She didn't catch this train, but not to worry: she can get the next one.
- 1958, The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder, volume 65, Shipbuilder Press, page 371:
  For those whose economic outlook may be summarised in that hackneyed expression "Not to worry," then the latest figures could be interpreted as conducive to that conviction.
- 1965, Plays and Players, volume 13, Hansom Books:
  Flynn: Not to worry. They'll get back before Sergeant Walker pays his visit. You'll be O.K.
- 1986, Robert DeBellis, Suffering: Psychological and Social Aspects in Loss, Grief, and Care, Psychology Press:
  Still under the influence of "Havoline" and Demerol, I was drifting in and out of never-never land when a nurse came hurrying in and said, "Not to worry! You have some irregularities. We are going to give you a bolus of lidocaine, and it will all straighten out."

References

^ Eric Partridge (1992) Dictionary of Catch Phrases, Revised and updated edition, Scarborough House, →ISBN, page 224.

[1] Eric Partridge (1992) Dictionary of Catch Phrases, Revised and updated edition, Scarborough House, →ISBN, page 224.

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