san fairy ann

English

WOTD – 28 July 2024

Etymology

A homophonic translation of French ça ne fait rien (“it doesn’t matter”), probably originating among British and ANZAC army soldiers during World War I (1914–1918).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /sæn ˈfɛːɹi æn/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: san fai‧ry ann

Phrase

san fairy ann

1. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, military slang, humorous, obsolete) It doesn't matter. [from early 20th c.]

   Synonym: (elliptical) fairy ann

   • 1920 March 10, “Won on the Posts. (With the British Army in France.)”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume CLVIII, London: […] Bradbury, Agnew & Co., […], →OCLC, page 185, column 1:

     “[…] It seems scrounging for fuel ’ad reached such a pitch in the village […] But our washing ’ad to be done, ’an I thought if I got the whole of this football team scrounging they might find something as everyone else ’ad overlooked. […]” / “‘Very well,’ says I, ‘San fairy ann. Napoo [i.e., n’y a plus] washing—napoo ball.’ […]”

     ‘Very well,’ says I, ‘it doesn't matter. No more washing—no more ball.’

   • [1930 October, Rudyard Kipling, “Toby Dog”, in Thy Servant a Dog […], London: Macmillan and Co., […], published October 1931, →OCLC, pages 87–88:

     We said he were wonderful brave dog about Upstart, which me and Slippers would not have taken on. He said: "Fairy Ann! Fairy Ann!" But he were most-happy dog.]

   • 1997, Christopher Hurst, “A Taste of Hell”, in The View from King Street: An Essay in Autobiography, London: Thalia Press, →ISBN, book I (The Pre-history of a Publisher), page 123:

     We stood to attention for a seeming eternity while the Adjutant, a runt-like little Guards captain, proceeded at a snail's pace along the ranks, closely attended by the dreaded R.S.M. Copp. […] His [Copp's] choicest utterance was 'I've had enough of your San-Fairy-Ann [ça ne me fait rien] attitude!' – was this an echo of 1914-18 or of our earlier wars against the French?

   • 2002, Melanie McGrath, chapter 1, in Silvertown: An East End Family Memoir, London: Fourth Estate, HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, page 10:

     Occasionally, when he has had too much to drink, he'll give voice to his disappointments, but Sarah only smiles at that and blows him a kiss and says, San Fairy Ann, dear, San Fairy Ann, and he will give up trying to explain.

   • 2005, Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black, London: Fourth Estate, HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, page 164:

     [G]oo-on, he says, goo-on, I'll give you 'alf, Morris, he says if she [a racehorse] romps home, romp, did she bloody romp, she ran like the clappers out of hell, dropped dead two hours after in her trailer but san-fairy-ann, what's that to me, and where's my fiver?

   • [2007, Annie Wilkinson, For King and Country, London: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 232:

     ‘Ça ne fait rien.’ / ‘San fairy Ann,’ she laughed. ‘Well, I suppose that’s English now, in a way.’ / ‘That’s what some of the soldiers say, san fairy Ann,’ one of the children piped. ‘What does it mean?’ / ‘Eet doesen’t matair.’]

   • 2023, Natali Clark, “San Fairy Ann”, in Staring at Medusa, Altona, Man.: FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 275:

     As Mrs. Jarvie loves to say "San fairy ann," or in other words, fuck it.

Translations

it doesn’t matter — see it doesn’t matter