Jtdylktuy

I found the idiom "not move/budge/change an inch" used when talking about something that won't change as someone's stubborn opinion.

Example from Cambridge Dictionary:

She's definite that she wants to do it, and she'll not give
an inch, however hard you try to persuade her.

I want to use it for this dialogue:

• So, you haven't changed your mind, have you?


• Not even an inch.

I'm not sure of the phrase. But I want it to mean as the idiom above. I didn't use the idiom instead as I don't find it makes a good fit in the sentence with its current construction.

Thus, is the phrase (not even an inch) correct and deliver the meaning I mentioned above? If not, how to achieve the meaning by using the idiom, if possible?

This conversation would work:

So, you haven't changed your mind?

--No, I haven't moved | budged | retreated an inch.

You need some verb relating to physical space in order to use an inch idiomatically. That verb could appear in the question or in the answer.

There's no way I can get you to come a little closer to our way of thinking?

-- Not an inch.

For example, this would not be idiomatic:

I hadn't seen her for thirty years. What was amazing, she hadn't changed an inch.

Although the expression not even an inch is perfectly idiomatic, it doesn't fit well into your proposed dialogue. The origin is the idea of soldiers holding the line against an enemy - of not yielding to an attack.

The problem is that the two metaphors (changing your mind and moving an inch) don't fit easily together in this construction. And it's not clear whether the response Not even an inch is from the questioner or the person to whom the question is addressed.

Alternatives, depending on your intention, might be:

So, you haven't changed your mind, have you?

Not at all!

In no way!

Certainly not!

Otherwise you need to rephrase things:

So you are not ready to change you mind, to give a little ground?

Not even an inch!

As a middle-aged native English speaker (US), the intent of your dialog was clear to me and I understood the reference to not giving an inch.

So, you haven't changed your mind, have you?

Not even an inch.

You could even shorten the response to

Not an inch.

I would consider this somewhat informal in tone. Other ways of having the same conversation (if you were willing to drop the "not give an inch" reference) might be

So, you haven't changed your mind, have you?

Nope.

No.

Not a bit.

I'd agree with the other answers - the metaphor is more having to do with distance, but it works. "Not a bit" might be safer but it's a bit more bland and less firm than "not an inch".

I'd recommend: "Not one bit." That is as strong as "not an inch" but doesn't have the connotation of distance.