not to worry

English

Etymology

The origin of the phrase is unknown. According to Partridge’s Dictionary of Catch Phrases the idiom dates from the mid-1930s with a surge in 1957–8.

Phrase

not to worry

1. There is no need for concern; there isn't a serious problem.

   She didn't catch this train, but not to worry: she can get the next one.

   • 1958, The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder, volume 65, Shipbuilder Press, page 371:

     For those whose economic outlook may be summarised in that hackneyed expression "Not to worry," then the latest figures could be interpreted as conducive to that conviction.

   • 1965, Plays and Players, volume 13, Hansom Books:

     Flynn: Not to worry. They'll get back before Sergeant Walker pays his visit. You'll be O.K.

   • 1986, Robert DeBellis, Suffering: Psychological and Social Aspects in Loss, Grief, and Care, Psychology Press:

     Still under the influence of "Havoline" and Demerol, I was drifting in and out of never-never land when a nurse came hurrying in and said, "Not to worry! You have some irregularities. We are going to give you a bolus of lidocaine, and it will all straighten out."