heck-care
English
Etymology
heck + care, based on expressions such as "not care a heck" and "care a heck of a lot".
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhɛk kə/
Adjective
heck-care (not comparable)
- (Singapore) Having a dismissively indifferent attitude; nonchalant.
- Some students have a heck-care attitude towards their studies.
- 1998 September 8, The New Paper:
- Okay, being heck-care about how you look doesn't mean you'll end up looking like this. But that doesn't mean it's all right to be heck-care.
- 2003 September 1, “Spreading like wildfire: Dragon Ash”, in The New Paper, page 35:
- THEY may look like "heck-care" young punks who hang out at Harajuku, but their powerful music is serious stuff.
- 2005, David Leo, Life's so like dat, page 73:
- The "heck-care" attitude ignores the fact that using a handphone while driving could distract a driver's attention and cause a serious accident.
- 2008 March 2, “Motorists' burden"”, in The Straits Times:
- This burden of responsibility is behind motorists' frustrations with the "heck-care" attitude of reckless jaywalkers.
- 2017 July 23, Jovi Ho, “Michelle Chong: Singaporeans “Don’t Care About What They Do"”, in popspoken:
- Local actress and director Michelle Chong took to Facebook on Saturday night to express her frustration with the “heck care” attitude she’s come across multiple times in her line of work.
Usage notes
Typically used in informal speech in Singapore, often used with quotation marks in the written form, and used interchangeably with "heck care".