NOT TO CARE or BE WORTH A CURSE, phr. (common).—To care or be worth little—or nothing at all. [CURSE may either = (1) the wild cherry; or (2) a corruption of A.S. cerse, watercress. Cf., CONTINENTAL (q.v.).
1362. LANGLAND, The Vision of Piers Ploughman.
| Wisdom and witt nowe is NOT WORTH A KERSE, | |
| But if it be carded with cootis as clothers | |
| Kemble their woole. |
1838. DICKENS, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xvi., p. 124. With regard to such questions … which one can’t be expected to CARE A CURSE ABOUT.
1881. G. R. SIMS, Dagonet Ballads (‘In the Workhouse’). I CARE NOT A CURSE for the guardians.
