no skin off one's nose
No harm to one.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“It is no skin off my nose if you leave early.”
“It is no skin off her nose if they decide to cancel the party.”
“If you want to change the meeting time, go ahead; it is no skin off my nose.”
“You can choose the blue paint for the kitchen instead of the green one; it is no skin off my nose since I rarely visit.”
“The store manager said it was no skin off his nose if I returned the shoes, as long as I still had the original receipt.”
“He insisted that the minor adjustments to the contract were no skin off his nose, provided the final deadline remained unchanged.”
first recorded 21st c.
The expression is attributed to the sport of boxing, where it denotes a blow of such negligible force that it fails to remove any skin from the nose of the recipient.
The origin is cited in the Random House Dictionary of America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings: Second Edition Paperback, published in April 2000 by Gregory Titelman. It is further recorded by Christine Ammer in The American Heritage Dictionary Of Idioms, Second Edition Paperback, published in February 2013.
- 01
abound in one's own sense
To follow one’s own inclinations and opinions.
- 02
ace up one's sleeve
A surprise advantage of which others are not aware.
- 03
act one's age
To behave in a manner appropriate to one's age.
- 04
act one's age, not one's shoe size
Synonym of act one's age (“to behave in a mature manner; to avoid being childish”).
- 05
afraid of one's own shadow
Exceptionally timid.
- 06
air one's dirty laundry in public
To reveal one's sordid secrets to the public.
- 07
air one's dirty linen in public
Synonym of air one's dirty laundry in public.
- 08
albatross around one's neck
A characteristic, possession, associate, or previous deed that hinders one's ability to succeed.
Last updated August 10, 2026