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Fine Dictionary

do-nothing

WordNet
Interesting fact
The term "dog days" has nothing to do with dogs. It dates back to Roman times, when it was believed that Sirius, the Dog Star, added its heat to that of the sun from July3 to August 11, creating exceptionally high temperatures. The Romans called the period dies caniculares, or "days of the dog."
  1. (adj) do-nothing
    characterized by inability or unwillingness to work toward a goal or assume responsibility "a do-nothing government"
  2. (n) do-nothing
    person who does no work "a lazy bum"
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. do-nothing
    Doing nothing; disinclined to work or exertion; inactive; idle; lazy; -- of people; as, a do-nothing policy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) do-nothing
    One who does nothing; an idler.
  2. do-nothing
    Doing no work; idle; indolent; inactive.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Do-nothing
    dōō′-nuth′ing one who does nothing: a lazy or idle person: a fainéant
Quotations
The man who has nothing to do is always the busiest.
French Proverb
Henry Fielding
When children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief.
Henry Fielding
Don't pity me now, don't pity me never; I'm going to do nothing for ever and ever.
James Agate
The man who tries to do something and fails is infinitely better than he who tries to do nothing and succeeds.
Lloyd Jones
Gertrude Stein
It takes a lot of time to be a genius. You have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.
Gertrude Stein
William Morris
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris
Usage in the news

Do-nothing Dolphins becoming irrelevant. tcpalm.com

Politics ACLU-TN Tells Haslam to Spank That "Monkey Bill," Governor Bows to Do-Nothing Legislature. nashvillescene.com

With Payroll Tax Cut Done, Is It Do-Nothing Congress Time. kuer.org

Antibiotics Do Nothing to Cure Sinus Infections, Study Says. usnews.com

Gingrich Says "We Shouldn't Give (Unemployed) 99 Weeks To Do Nothing". usf.usf.edu

Obama, Truman, and the ' Do-Nothing ' Congress. cnn.com

Obama says he would love it if Congress would act so aggressively that he couldn't campaign against a " do-nothing Congress.". cnn.com

Obama may be preparing to run against a "do nothing" Congress in 2012. cnn.com

Nasty outbursts do nothing for marijuana cause. redding.com

For those reasons and more, it is hard to see how the $6 trillion do-nothing option would be allowed to happen. blog.seattlepi.com

Can you do nothing and just relax for two minutes. 1027kord.com

When I ran across this test I thought…anyone can do nothing for two minutes…right. 1027kord.com

Why did we do nothing in Syria. ashingtonpost.com

Detroit bus drivers paid to do nothing. freep.com

And he made clear that President Truman's 1948 campaign line against a " do-nothing Congress" – a successful strategy – is in his playbook. csmonitor.com

Usage in scientific papers

Finally, if µ = 0, there is nothing left to do.
A Simple Proof that Rational Curves on K3 are Nodal

Note that the appearance of c in these expressions has nothing to do with assumptions about the speed of gravity, it merely represents the speed of the photon when we calculate relative distances and velocities.
The speed of gravity has not been measured from time delays

This multiplicative factor is derived directly from the integral of the gravitational potential along the line of sight, and has absolutely nothing to do with the speed of gravity, which we are assuming here to be instantaneous.
The speed of gravity has not been measured from time delays

For the moment, let us only point out that J (λ), which is the Jacobian of the transformation from random matrices to eigenvalues and eigenangles in the gaussian ensembles, has nothing to do with the Jacobian between the space of transfer matrices and the space of radial coordinates in the present case.
Random matrix theory and symmetric spaces

Note that the symmetry in P0 (w) has nothing to do with the LFSR method.
Pseudo Random Coins Show More Heads Than Tails

Usage in literature

But I'm sure you will excuse me if I say that we can do nothing at the bidding of that old cormorant. "Miss Mackenzie" by Anthony Trollope

He could do nothing, and something had to be done. "The Pirates of Ersatz" by Murray Leinster

In such circumstances it was not singular that he should say nothing and do nothing. "Cousin Henry" by Anthony Trollope

If I do nothing, neither party will believe in my doing nothing: each will suspect me of secret dealings with the other. "The Hour and the Man" by Harriet Martineau

Before you were indignant with me for doing nothing and being in earnest about nothing. "A Girl of the Commune" by George Alfred Henty

At first he would do nothing except grumble about his brother's childish obstinacy. "Gossamer" by George A. Birmingham

But I can't do nothing. "Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1909 to 1922" by Lucy Maud Montgomery

And I can do nothing. "Robert Elsmere" by Mrs. Humphry Ward

Yes, but I could do nothing in it yet. "Allison Bain" by Margaret Murray Robertson

Do you suppose you come here to do nothing? "An Old Man's Love" by Anthony Trollope

Usage in poetry
"Flash is nothing but a puppy;
So, Walter, do not worry;
If he knew that he'd done wrong,
He'd be sorry, sorry, sorry;"
"Walter And His Dog" by Eliza Lee Follen Author object (173)
That duty's the little door:
You must open it and go in;
There is nothing else to do before,
There is nowhere else to begin.
"Willie's Question" by George MacDonald Author object (244)
And findest to this very hour,
That this is still the charm;
Thou canst do nothing, till with pow'r
Thy Husband shew his arm?
"The Believer's Jointure : Chapter II." by Ralph Erskine Author object (545)
A laboring man, with horny hands,
Who swung the axe, who tilled his lands,
Who shrank from nothing new,
But did as poor men do!
"Abraham Lincoln: An Horatian Ode" by Richard Henry Stoddard Author object (556)
Yet hence I comfort do receive,
When nothing else can comfort give,
That greater is thy mercy, far,
Than all my foul offences are.
"Lamentation Of A Sinner" by Rees Prichard
She had her way; a lover the more,
And I had a friend the less.
For long there was nothing to do but wait
And suffer his happiness.
"Among The Rice Fields" by Laurence Hope