Dictionary

be bothered en · VERB

Meanings

1. (in the negative) To have the enthusiasm (to do something).
   • An egg and rasher of bacon for breakfast supply quite enough nitrogenous food for the day. Sometimes I have a treat. A cauliflower, etc. But generally I can't be bothered. 1986, Vladimir Naumovich Zharkov, translated by William B. Hubbard, Interior Structure of the Earth and Planets, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 273:
   • I've been using a computer instead of a typewriter for four years now, but I can't speak the language at all. I don't need it, and I can't be bothered unless it's going to be useful. The only kind of mouse I recognize is the four-legged variety, and I can't tell a bit from a byte. 1992, Victoria Branden, In Defence of Plain English: The Decline and Fall of Literacy in Canada, Dundurn, →ISBN, page 88:
   • I can't be bothered to clean the house today.
   • He can't be bothered drying all those dishes.
   • This takes effort. It can be a lot of work. So, you see, magick is not an easy short-cut to achieving something because you can't be bothered to get it any other way. 1991, Raymond Buckland, Scottish Witchcraft: The History and Magick of the Picts, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 81:

Forms

Translations (9)

pdc meinde (have enthusiasm) · sv orka (have enthusiasm) · da gide (have enthusiasm) · pt estar animado (have enthusiasm) · sv idas (have enthusiasm) · ga bí gafa (have enthusiasm) · sv palla (have enthusiasm) · fi vaivautua (have enthusiasm) · it aver voglia (have enthusiasm)