How does だからって usually work?


> 馬鹿だからって知らないわけじゃない

I translated this sentence as "It's not like I don't know that I'm stupid,"
while my friend who wrote it translated it as "I'm stupid, but I know that."
So I feel I understand the meaning adequately, but on closer inspection, I am
confused by だからって. Is it two words, だから and って, or one word, or a set phrase?

WJD provides this definition: だからって (exp) even so; all the same; nevertheless;
yes, but ...

So I suppose a better translation would be, "I'm stupid, but it's not like I
don't know it," where だからって is equivalent to "but." However, does it mean more
than "but" here? Is it also acting as a copula? What is the etymology of this
expression and, if it is made up of two words, how do they act upon each
other?




The って in からって is the quotative って, and there is a longer version which makes
this clearer, から **と** 言って. These are interchangeable in all cases that I can
think of. For some reason って is used in the short version, and と is common in
the long version.

The below sentence might make it clearer how to understand/parse the phrase:

> 「 **馬鹿だから** 知らないだろう」 **って** 言っても、 **知らないわけじゃない** You might say that I won't
> know because I'm stupid, but it's not the case (that I don't know).

Note the the object of knowing could be any fact, not necessarily the fact
that "I'm stupid"

The phrase means something like "It might be the case that ... , but ... ".

Some other usages:

> 暑{あつ}いからと言って[裸]{はだか}になるな It might be hot, but don't get naked.
>
> お客{きゃく}だからって態度{たいど}が悪{わる}すぎる He might be a guest, but his attitude is still
> too shitty.

