hill of beans

American  

noun

Informal.

1. something of trifling value; virtually nothing at all.

   The problem didn't amount to a hill of beans.

---

Etymology

Origin of hill of beans

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Next to all that, a rocky relationship styled into an on-and-off situationship for a reality TV subplot is the proverbial hill of beans Rick Blaine mentioned in “Casablanca.”

From Salon

Moral victories don’t amount to a hill of beans in the NFL, but players see the upcoming schedule starting with the Bears and know this is the time to stack wins.

From Washington Times

“It’s not worth a hill of beans,” said Robinson, the Hall of Fame’s first Black inductee.

From Washington Post

“It won’t amount to a hill of beans for the fifth-largest economy in the world,” says finance department spokesman H.D.

From Los Angeles Times

A contrasting philosophy can be found in the scene in "Casablanca" where Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman, "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world," and in Bruce Springsteen's oft-repeated exhortation to his concert audiences: "Nobody wins unless everybody wins."

From Salon