waste breath

English

Verb

waste breath

(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, The Prairie, ch. 24:
  Middleton and Paul saw no use in wasting their breath in remonstrances against this proposal.
- 1906, John Kendrick Bangs, R. Holmes & Co., ch. 1:
  Why waste breath saying self-evident things?
- 2009, "Akshay jealous of Sanjay's tattoos?," Times of India, 19 May (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:
Mandarin: 白說 (zh), 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
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
Russian: говори́ть на ве́тер (govorítʹ na véter)
Spanish: gastar saliva
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

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