waste one's breath



waste one's breath

Speak in vain (because no one agrees), as in Don't waste your breath complaining to the supervisor-it won't help. This notion was first recorded about 1400 as wasting words. The exact idiom was first recorded in 1667. Also see save one's breath.
See also: breath, waste

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Latonia[lə'təunə]
Axelleak-SELFrench
Kresimir-Medieval Slavic
Shalev-Hebrew
BoŽEna-Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian
Napoleonnə-PO-lee-ən (English)History, English