hold no brief for, to

hold no brief for someone or something

not to tolerate someone or something; to be opposed to someone or something. I hold no brief for Wally and his friends. Rachel holds no brief for that kind of thing.See also: brief, hold, no

hold no brief for

Refuse to support, dislike, as in I hold no brief for liars. This term is a negative version of the legal expression hold a brief for, meaning "to support or defend a position by argument." The noun brief has been used in this way since the 1200s. See also: brief, hold, no

hold no brief for

not support or argue in favour of. The brief referred to is the summary of the facts and legal points in a case given to a barrister to argue in court.See also: brief, hold, no

hold no brief for, to

To refuse to endorse, support, or defend. The term comes from law, where to hold a brief for someone means to act as counsel for that person and to argue in his or her favor. The negative form of the expression became extremely common in the nineteenth century. The OED cites R. A. Knox writing in Spiritual Aeneid (1918): “When I was at Balliol we used to adopt the phrase ‘I hold no brief for so-and-so.’”See also: brief, hold, no