Why do we say "No ifs, ands, or buts"?

Meaning:

Without excuses or doubts

Background:

The most comprehensive explanation for this expression we found is in the grammarphobia.com blog which traces the use of "ifs and ands" to 16th century Britain, explaining that, at the time "and" was often used in a conditional sense meaning "provided that" - a usage that dates back to at least the 13th century. So, whereas today one might occasionally find oneself needing to say, "if it please your grace," back in the 16th century one could have said "and it please your grace" - which would have meant "provided that it please your grace." So, in essence, "if and ands" meant at the time "ifs and ifs."

The oldest known reference is found in The History of Kyng Richard the Third, an unfinished work by Thomas More dating to about 1513, in which mad King Richard pulls up a sleeve to display his withered arm (a birth defect) and claims the deformity is recent – the result of sorcery and treason.

His Lord Chamberlain answers, "Certainly my lorde if they have so heinously done, thei be worthy heinous punishment."

To which Richard responds, in a rage, "Thou servest me, I wene (suspect), with iffes and with andes."

Sometime between then and the late 17th century, "buts" got added to the expression, as used by Puritan theologian Thomas Goodwin around 1680: "The Grants of Grace run without Ifs, and Ands, and Buts."

The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms adds a twist to this saying that the modern day expression mingles two older expressions: "ifs and buts" and "but me no buts." The latter expression was, apparently, popularized by Sir Walter Scott in The Antiquity (1816) - whether it was in use some centuries earlier in order to have been commingled with "ifs and buts" is not clear.

More expressions and their source

Challenge yourself with BookBrowse Wordplays