Not Have A ______ Bone In One’s Body

Meaning of Idiom ‘Not Have a — Bone in One’s Body

This character idiom can be positive, negative, or neutral depending on the adjective used, such as lazy, honest, selfish, kind, etc. It means that the person being referred to absolutely does not possess the quality named. ¹Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.,² Pare, May. Body Idioms and More: For Learners of English. United States?: Mayuree Pare, 2005.

A related variant replaces “bone in one’s body” with “hair on one’s head.”

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Notes One Use

Any adjective that describes character can be used.

A person who does not have a lazy bone in his body is a person who is always willing to work hard and is never idle. Lazy is a common adjective used for this idiom and could be considered positive or neutral depending on the context.

It is unclear whether the idiom ‘lazybones’ is related to this idiom.

A person who does not have an honest bone in her body is never truthful, a negative trait.

Examples Of Use

“Tracy doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She’s definitely not the person who got you in trouble.”

“Whatever Mr. Tourner says to you do not do business with him. There’s not an honest bone in his body.”

“Well it’s true, Tom doesn’t have a lazy bone in his body. But that doesn’t mean he’s the right man for this job.”

Origin

Used since at least the mid-1800’s. It appeared in Mark Twain’s Library of Humor (1888) in the story The Vacation of Mustapha by Robert J. Burdette:

“Ofttimes he boasted to his neighbors that there was not a lazy bone in his body, and he swore that he hated a lazy man.”

More Idioms Starting with N

• Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat
• No Siree
• No Pain, No Gain
• No Hard Feelings
• Nine to Five (9 to 5)

More Body Idioms

• Play It By Ear

More Body Part Idioms

• Go Belly Up
• Stand On Someone’s Shoulders
• In One’s Face
• Give Someone the Cold Shoulder
• Know Something Like the Back Of One’s Hand

More Bone Idioms

• Work One’s Fingers To the Bone
• Bone Of Contention, a
• Have a Bone To Pick
• Skin and Bones (nothing but)
• Funny Bone

More Character Idioms

• Pain in the Neck, a
• Glass Half Empty and Glass Half Full
• Good Egg
• Bad Egg
• Show Your True Colors, to

More Have Idioms

• Have Something Out
• Have It In For Someone
• Have a Bone To Pick
• Have It Out With Someone
• If I Had My Druthers

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