"no can do" meaning in English

See no can do in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

Etymology: From Chinese Pidgin English, calquing Chinese 不能做 (bùnéng zuò, “cannot do”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|cpi|-}} Chinese Pidgin English, {{glossary|calque|calquing}} calquing, {{calque|en|zh|-|notext=1}} Chinese, {{zh-l|不能做|cannot do|tr=bùnéng zuò}} 不能做 (bùnéng zuò, “cannot do”) Head templates: {{en-interj}} no can do
  1. (informal) I cannot do it. Tags: informal Related terms: nothing doing
    Sense id: en-no_can_do-en-intj-6u2ynm4T Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cpi",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese Pidgin English",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "calque",
        "2": "calquing"
      },
      "expansion": "calquing",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "zh",
        "3": "-",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese",
      "name": "calque"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "不能做",
        "2": "cannot do",
        "tr": "bùnéng zuò"
      },
      "expansion": "不能做 (bùnéng zuò, “cannot do”)",
      "name": "zh-l"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Chinese Pidgin English, calquing Chinese 不能做 (bùnéng zuò, “cannot do”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "no can do",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1981, “I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)”, in Private Eyes, performed by Hall & Oates:",
          "text": "But I can't go for that, no no / No can do",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Infinity War:",
          "text": "Tony Stark: If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down a garbage disposal?\nDoctor Strange: No can do.\nWong: We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "I cannot do it."
      ],
      "id": "en-no_can_do-en-intj-6u2ynm4T",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) I cannot do it."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "nothing doing"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "no can do"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cpi",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese Pidgin English",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "calque",
        "2": "calquing"
      },
      "expansion": "calquing",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "zh",
        "3": "-",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese",
      "name": "calque"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "不能做",
        "2": "cannot do",
        "tr": "bùnéng zuò"
      },
      "expansion": "不能做 (bùnéng zuò, “cannot do”)",
      "name": "zh-l"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Chinese Pidgin English, calquing Chinese 不能做 (bùnéng zuò, “cannot do”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "no can do",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "nothing doing"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English interjections",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms borrowed from Chinese Pidgin English",
        "English terms calqued from Chinese",
        "English terms derived from Chinese",
        "English terms derived from Chinese Pidgin English",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1981, “I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)”, in Private Eyes, performed by Hall & Oates:",
          "text": "But I can't go for that, no no / No can do",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Infinity War:",
          "text": "Tony Stark: If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down a garbage disposal?\nDoctor Strange: No can do.\nWong: We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "I cannot do it."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) I cannot do it."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "no can do"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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