I tried to visualize it via Ngram plots and it indicates that the usage started somewhere around early 1760s but can"t pin-point an exact source or timeline.
You are watching: For the life of me meaning
Is there any interesting etymology behind this expression?
OED has an entry for:
for (one"s) life (also for dear life, etc.): as if, or in order to, save one"s life.
and adds that:
Also hyperbolically in trivial use: (I cannot) for my life, (I cannot) for the life of me.
The early forms for (one"s) life and for dear life were used literally and OED"s earliest example is from c1275:
Þat he ne miȝte for his liue Iso þat man wiþ hire speke.
John Henry Grafton Grattan · The Owl and the Nightingale.
OED"s citation from 1632 might be the first idiomatic usage:
For my life I could neuer attaine to any perfect knowledge thereof.
William Lithgow · The totall discourse..of..trauayles, from Scotland, to..Europe, Asia, and Affrica
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edited Jun 15 "20 at 7:40
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answered Feb 13 "16 at 0:09
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