to save one's life

couldn't (do something) to save (one's) life

slang Cannot do something well or at all. Ugh, this art assignment is so annoying—I couldn't draw an apple to save my life. Rachel is so selfish! She couldn't consider another person's feelings to save her life.
See also: life, save

to save (one's) life

Regardless of one's effort, passion, or desire. Used after a negative verb construction to emphasize one's inability to do it. Ugh, this art assignment is so annoying—I can't draw an apple to save my life. Rachel is so selfish! It's like she couldn't consider another person's feelings to save her life.
See also: life, save
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

to save one's life

Even if one's life depended on it, as in I couldn't eat another bite to save my life, or Betty wouldn't climb a mountain to save her life. This hyperbolic expression nearly always follows a negative statement that one wouldn't or couldn't do something. Anthony Trollope used a slightly different wording in The Kellys and the O'Kellys (1848): "I shan't remain long, if it was to save my life and theirs; I can't get up small talk for the rector and his curate."
See also: life, save
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • can't (do something) to save (one's) life
  • can't do something to save your life
  • back at it
  • back at it (again)
  • butt-wipe
  • apple-knocker
  • can't stand
  • can't stand (someone or something)
  • be on somebody's back
  • be on someone's back
References in periodicals archive
At times, all it takes to save one's life is for one person to see what is precious in you.'
'At times, all it takes to save one's life is for one person to see what is precious in you.' Think of that message the next time you encounter someone unexpectedly, or when you feel like rushing through things.
What we can learn from 'Ignacio de Loyola'
So, every healthy human being aging between "18-60" should donate one's blood just to save one's life, they stressed.
World Blood Donors' Day observed, Need stressed to create awareness regarding blood donations Blood camps, awareness seminar, walk arranged marking Blood Donors' Day
From "Circumcision Controversy in Historical Context" to "Orthodox Rabbis Confront the War Refugee Board" to "Destroying Property in Order to Save One's Life", the essays are intellectually challenging, heavily researched and extensively referenced.
Turim, Volume One