не идет в голову

• НЕ ИДЕТ <НЕЙДЕТ> /НЕ ПОЙДЕТ В ГОЛОВУ <НА УМ> (кому) coll

[VP; if pfv, fut only]

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1. [subj: abstr, concr, or, rare, human]

⇒ the thought of sth. (or of doing sth.) does not occupy s.o.'s mind; s.o. does not feel like doing sth. (often because of his preoccupation with something else):

- X не шёл в голову Y-y ≈ Y couldn't (even) think of X;

- [in limited contexts] X never (hadn't) entered Y's head (mind);

|| Y-y ничего не идёт в голову{{}}≈ Y can't keep his mind on anything;

- [in limited contexts] Y can't think of anything;

|| (Y-y) ничего больше не идёт в голову{{}}≈ Y can think of nothing else;

- that's all Y can think about.

     ♦ "Ответа из дома нет, и я, признаться, затосковал. Еда и на ум не идёт, сон от меня бежит, всякие дурные мыслишки в голову лезут..." (Шолохов 1). "There had been no answer from home and I must say I began to feel very uneasy. I couldn't even think of eating and couldn't sleep, and all sorts of black thoughts kept creeping into my head" (1b).

     ♦ "Я пьян? Батюшка Владимир Андреевич, бог свидетель, ни единой капли во рту не было... да и пойдёт ли вино на ум..." (Пушкин 1). "Me drunk? Vladimir Andreyevitch, master, as God is my witness, I haven't touched a drop all evening, nor has it entered my head to do so" (1b).

     ♦ Я изнывал в отсутствие Зинаиды: ничего мне на ум не шло, всё из рук валилось, я по целым дням напряжённо думал о ней... (Тургенев 3). Away from Zinaida, I languished: I could not think of anything, I had not the heart to do anything, and for days on end all my thoughts revolved round her (3a).

2. [subj: a noun denoting some material, a subject matter etc that can be learned or memorized (often ничего)]

⇒ (sth.) is not remembered or comprehended by s.o.; s.o. cannot retain sth. in his memory:

- X не идёт (Y-y) в голову{{}}≈ X doesn't stick (in Y's mind);

- Y can't make X stick (in Y's mind);

- X doesn't sink in.