no ifs or buts

Idioms

Also, no ifs, ands, or buts. No reservations, restrictions, or excuses, as in You'd better be there tomorrow, and no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This expression uses the conjunctions to stand for the conditions and objections that they introduce. The earliest phrase to appear was ifs and ands in the 1600s. This phrase is actually an emphatic redundancy, for and often meant “if.” But was tacked on to this pair soon afterward.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Daniel Schaffer set a further hearing for 27 August, telling Ms Price: “You have to attend that date, no ifs or buts, no going abroad, no holidays.”

From BBC • Aug. 9, 2024

Who’s there to look adoringly at you, no ifs or buts?

From Seattle Times • Jul. 18, 2022

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey made it clear where his priorities lie, pledging to bring inflation back to target "no ifs or buts", even with an economy that's almost certainly headed for contraction.

From Reuters • Jul. 13, 2022

There are no ifs or buts about it - Newcastle's season is really all about their next two games, Norwich on Tuesday and then Burnley on Saturday.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2021

But there it was, on Page One, with no ifs or buts: the Metropolitan Opera had called it quits for the 1948-49 season.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023