Not have a bean
Be destitute or penniless, as in He doesn’t have a bean, but she’s set on marrying him. Bean has been a slang term for a guinea or a sovereign coin since the early 1800s. The precise expression was first recorded in 1928.
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- Not have an earthly chance
Also, stand no earthly chance. Have no chance whatever, as in She doesn’t have an earthly chance of getting into medical school, or Bill stands no earthly chance of winning the lottery. The use of no earthly in the sense of “no conceivable” dates from the mid-1700s.
- Not have anything on
see: have nothing on
- Not have a pot to piss in
Related Terms not have a pot to piss in verb phrase To be very poor and deprived; be penniless: entering their middle years without a pot to piss in (1930s+)
- Not have a prayer
Related Terms have a prayer
- Not have brain one
verb phrase To be very stupid (1960s+)