no great shakes

English

Etymology

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Pronunciation
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Noun

no great shakes (uncountable)

  1. (idiomatic) Something unexceptional, not noteworthy or special.
    Synonym: nothing to write home about
    • 1898, Gertrude Atherton, chapter XIX, in The Valiant Runaways, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, →OCLC, page 210:
      You're welcome to stay here, but this hut ain't no great shakes for such as you.
    • 1980 August 30, Patrice Keegan, “Ebersole Misses the Point”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 4:
      His tactic of pointing out the flaws of the Democrats does not mean that the Republican Party is any great shakes, as he intimates.
    • 2008 August 24, “Your definitive guide to the iPhone”, in The Times‎, Johannesburg, South Africa, archived from the original on 15 September 2008:
      The iPhone's 2.0 megapixel camera is no great shakes, but it's good enough as cellphone cameras go.

References
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