Could care less!!

[mnguy]

Just a random thing that seems so simple, yet people frequently say it wrong, and it baffles me. I often read/hear it said as, "I could care less." This means that you have some concern about the particular issue and there is still room to care less about it. Maybe this is what they mean, but I doubt it. So next time you want to use that phrase, please say couldn't or could not care less.

Another one I hear all the time is when reading a number people say "and" at places other than at the decimal point. "And" should only be said at a decimal point.

1,110 = one thousand one hundred ten
1,110.5 = one thousand one hundred ten and five tenths (or you could say "point five" and never say "and" at all)

(ok, Mr. English, thanks for the info )

[Lady Gaga]

Ugh, it annoys me so much when people say "Could care less."

I even hear it on TV. :|

Common sense people. If you could care less, then you do care.

[Owen]

I was about to write an angry response to this thread when all I saw when the title, but thankfully, I read it first. This one baffles me, too. Every time I hear it, I wonder, do people even listen to the things they say?

I know it's preaching to the choir at this point, but video is relevant.

+ YouTube Video

[malachite]

the phrase is I couldn't care less, but people's speech gets lazt and they leave parts out like s'up instead of what's up.

[Chandra]

Lots of things that people say in the English language are illogical when you examine them closely. This is just one example. Telling people they're saying a perfectly common phrase "wrong" or that they "should" say it another way (this, by the way, is known as prescriptivism amongst linguists) is really a waste of your time and effort, especially in the case of a phrase like this one whose usage has far surpassed the supposedly more "logical" alternative. I mean, go ahead and give it your best shot, but you won't get very far in making people change how they talk, and in the meantime you'll only make yourself look like a self-righteous know-it-all.

When people say "I could care less", you know perfectly well what they mean. The purpose of language is for people to express what they mean. There is no problem here.

[Nazo]

Another one that irks me: Same difference.

[Ridiculous]

Originally Posted by Gamer am I

I know it's preaching to the choir at this point, but video is relevant.

Youtube Video

Goddamnit, I was gonna post that video .

When people say "I could care less", you know perfectly well what they mean. The purpose of language is for people to express what they mean. There is no problem here.

The problem with "I could care less" is that they mean the COMPLETE opposite to what they are saying - it's like someone saying "I'm going to put this shirt on" when what they actually mean is "I'm going to take this shirt off". It's just wrong!

[splattered]

I say "could care less" but its only to make sense to the person I'm talking to. In my head I'm thinking "I couldn't care less" sense that makes a whole lot more sense to me but other people tend to do a double take when you speak properly.

[Pepsi]

It isn't incorrect. It's sarcasm. Grammar nazis. tsk tsk

[Owen]

Originally Posted by Chandra

When people say "I could care less", you know perfectly well what they mean. The purpose of language is for people to express what they mean. There is no problem here.

The problem is that "I could care less" is a sentence that actually means something. It means that you do care at least a little bit, and thus it has its uses. The problem is that you could never use it to mean that because everyone would assume you mean the opposite, which is why it's worth it to try to take it back.

[Pseudojim]

I had never heard "could care less" until exposed to americans on online forums.

You don't hear anything but "couldn't care less" around here

[Just Passing]

For me, it's couldn't care less and pretty much everyone I know says that. Something about could care less sounds... incorrect.

[Pseudojim]

agreed. it just seems logically absurd

[Chandra]

Originally Posted by Gamer am I

The problem is that "I could care less" is a sentence that actually means something. It means that you do care at least a little bit, and thus it has its uses. The problem is that you could never use it to mean that because everyone would assume you mean the opposite, which is why it's worth it to try to take it back.

I completely disagree. Anybody who studies the phenomenon of language will tell you that context, stress and intonation are just as important, if not more so, in conveying meaning than the actual words used. So if somebody really wanted to express the idea that there is an actual possibility of them caring less about something (and frankly, I find it hard to imagine a realistic scenario where this would be necessary) they could easily do so, for example as follows:

Person A: Do you actually care about this?
Person B: Well, a little bit, but I suppose I could care less, if I really tried.


You can apply this to almost any possible utterance. Think of common phrases like "Oh my God" or "no way", and how different their meaning can be depending on how people use them:

Person A: I just scored backstage passes to Lady Gaga's show!!
Person B: Oh my God!!!!

Person A: There's that girl again.
Person B: Oh my God, look what she's wearing.

Person A: I have cancer.
Person B: Oh my God, I'm so sorry.

or

Person A: I just ran into my old best friend from Grade 2! Remember her?
Person B: No way! How is she?

Person A: He looks just like your last boyfriend.
Person B: No way! he's much better looking.

Person A: Give me the keys.
Person B: No way, not a chance. You've had way too much to drink.

etc. etc.

---------- Post added 26th May 2011 at 11:34 AM ----------

Here's a question for you anti-could-care-lessers: How would you finish the sentence in the scenario below? Don't think too hard about it, just write down the first thing that comes to mind.

You took your friend Joe's advice, and and instead of asking out the cute person you've been eyeing, you pretended you were uninterested because Joe told you it's best to play a bit hard to get. Later on, you find out that the person liked you, but decided to date someone else because they thought you didn't reciprocate.

You say: "Well, that'll teach me __________________________________."

[Mr.Pushover]

I'm a grammar nazi, I think this is totally different. It's about using the appropriate word. It's not that important, I use sarcasm all the time. It irks people, I understand, but it's really not as big an issue as "of" and "have" (e.g. "I could of" "I could have" guess which one is right)

It's true though, using correct wording won't make a difference to anyone.