What is the difference between "nevermind" and "never mind"?
I never remember the appropriate use of either of nevermind and never mind. What's the difference and how can I remember?
The only time I can think of that "nevermind" is written as one word is when it's used as a noun in the colloquial idiom "Pay me no nevermind" (or "Don't pay me no nevermind"), which as you might theorize means "pay no attention to me."
Nevermind is an album by Nirvana. "Never mind" means don't bother with something.
As Robusto clearly pointed out, Nevermind is the name of a rock album written and performed by the late (and great, depending on who you ask) grunge rock band, Nirvana. However, the legacy of the term "Nevermind" doesn't end there.
Nevermind is also an album name written / recorded by a popular Philly (Philadelphia, PA) punk band named Clockcleaner. You can check it out at Amazon here. It is, unfortunately, out of stock. No doubt because the fan-base didn't warrant a huge number of units. I am sure the album can be found elsewhere.
Nevermind is also a video game produced by SCE Studio Liverpool. Back in "the day", the development company was named Psygnosis and it was a subsidiary of that development company, called Psyclapse, that originally wrote the game and released it in 1989. It is a 3D isometric arcade puzzle game, which actually got quite a following from Amiga-heads. The game was distributed on Amiga computers in the UK, much like Window's minesweeper. You can check out the game over at Retrogames.co.uk
Nevermind is also a song written by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It appeared on the album Freaky Styley which was released by EMI in 1985. Now, THAT, makes me feel really old.
Nevermind is also a song written / recorded by a band named Violet and it appeared on their album, The Birthday Massacre. The album was released through Metropolis records in 2004.
Nevermind is also the name of a children's book written by Edward Irving Wortis (who prefers to be called Avi...just Avi). The eccentric man has written quite a few different titles in quite a few different genres.
Nevermind is, yet another, song name written / recorded by the underground cult group named Sonic Youth. It was the only single released from their 13th studio album called NYC Ghosts & Flowers. The album has an interesting history to it. The sound and production was very different from their norm. The interesting part is the reason for the "new sound". Evidently, the album was a direct retaliation to the theft of their instruments in 1999! The album is based on beat poetry and the music is riddled with crazy sound effects. They literally used anything they could get their hands on that would make noise.
And finally, for the boring answer. The term "Nevermind", when used in conversation, is a negation to attention and/or responsiblity. Some examples from dictionary.reference.com:
- Pay him no nevermind.
- It's no nevermind of yours.
It boils down to being the noun usage for the verb phrase "never mind", which originated in the early 1930's.
Well, this was my first answer. It was fairly fun, except for the editor messing up half the links. I had to fix them manually only to be denied and restricted to only posting two links. Sorry!
I was always under the impression it was a derivation/corruption from
Never you mind
and that it was idiomatic at best. Perhaps I've got the order reversed?