waste breath

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

waste breath (third-person singular simple present wastes breath, present participle wasting breath, simple past and past participle wasted breath)

1. (idiomatic) To speak in a manner which is needless or futile; in discussion or argument to make points which are not appreciated or heeded.
   • 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 24, in The Prairie:

     Middleton and Paul saw no use in wasting their breath in remonstrances against this proposal.

   • 1906, John Kendrick Bangs, chapter 1, in R. Holmes & Co.:

     Why waste breath saying self-evident things?

   • 2009 May 19, “Akshay jealous of Sanjay's tattoos?”, in Times of India, retrieved 14 June 2009:

     "Please don't waste your breath asking me ridiculous questions," he says.

Usage notes

• Frequently used with a possessive adjective: waste my / your / his / her / our / their breath.

Translations

to speak futilely

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: դատարկ խոսել (datark xosel)
• Catalan: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 嘥氣／嘥气 (saai¹ hei³)

  Mandarin: 白說／白说 (zh) (báishuō)

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: puhua joutavia
• French: perdre sa salive, gaspiller sa salive
• Galician: gastar saliva
• German: Atem verschwenden
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Icelandic: eyða orku, eyða orku í
• Italian: sprecar fiato
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: szkoda słów
• Portuguese: gastar saliva (pt)
• Russian: говори́ть на ве́тер (govorítʹ na véter)
• Spanish: gastar saliva
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• like talking to a wall
• waste of breath