Comments on: "I could care less" is just wrong

By: evilhomer

evilhomer — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:04:08 +0000

I could care less is just one of those slangs that formed in America. While it may not make grammatical sense out of context, it’s subtext is actually “I COULD care less… but I don’t.” It’s just sarcasm. The but I don’t part was eventually dropped because everyone knew what they meant. Or like someone else on this forum said, “As if I could care less.” Similarly “like I care” actually means I do not care at all. It’s just sarcasm. No need to tear it apart.

By: Thom Sanders

Thom Sanders — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:49:34 +0000

This one was new to me: “i myself could careless”. So many things wrong with that sentence!

Found at: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/15/2800394/apple-factory-inspectors-offer-positive-spin-on-foxconn-conditions#91916750

By: Paul Annett

Paul Annett — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:15:18 +0000

I’m sure you couldn’t care less(!), but take a look at my new blog post about the misuse of the word “humble”:
http://nicepaul.com/2012/02/12/humble-misuse/

By: Bryan Hadaway

Bryan Hadaway — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 08:46:57 +0000

I couldn’t agree more (wordplay intended). Yeah, this one drives me crazy. Definitely the most often used saying that is almost always said ironically and annoyingly incorrectly.

It’s especially hysterical when in a debate of intelligence or battle of the minds on a subject and once you’ve cornered them they resolve to the defense mechanism “I could care less.”

I’m always thinking “Okay?? So, you COULD care less?” (it implies that they do have care for what I’m saying which just makes them sound moronic to their point)

Grammatically, I’m certainly no expert. Someone who’s traditionally trained could poke fifty holes in this very comment. But, this isn’t just about grammar, it’s about logic and common sense. As a blogger, my writing is always improving, but I still have a lot to learn.

Even so, I’ve always hated that saying. Quite literally, nine out of ten people say it incorrectly. I was just a kid when I first had an epiphany about the saying “Wait a minute, that doesn’t make any sense? Why does everyone say it incorrectly?”

I even got in an argument once trying to tell someone “It’s COULDN’T, not COULD.”

Been a pet peeve of mine ever since.

This and all the internet acronyms and not using punctuation is a true sign of our sheepish and lazy behavior. Monkey see, monkey do or in this case monkey hear, monkey say.

Thanks, Bryan

By: nicepaul

nicepaul — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:51:31 +0000

Using “most” to mean “almost” is another one. “Almost” means nearly. “Most” means more than 50% of. You can’t say “most all of us like it”.

By: vanderwal

vanderwal — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:45:40 +0000

I’ve only known it at ‘I couldn’t care less’, I’m wondering when this changed. I never noticed people mangling this.

By: Andrew Pryde

Andrew Pryde — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:54:02 +0000

David Mitchell agrees with you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw!

- @Prydie

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:57:27 +0000

Totally agree. I actually thought that it was a typo or poor diction, similar to “could of” etc. But no! I recently discovered that this is actually another Americanism. And one that really annoys me.

By: phil

phil — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:14:24 +0000

My own special annoying phrase is the destruction of the third conditional by Americanspeak. The correct form is ” If I had seen her, I would have told her” however Americans say “if I would have seen her I would have told her”. Gawd nose Y!

By: golaud

golaud — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:14:11 +0000

I lived through the transition from “I couldn’t care less” to “I could care less.” It went approximately like this:

1950: I wasn’t invited. I couldn’t care less.

1955: I wasn’t invited, as if I could care less.

1960: I wasn’t invited, like I could care less.

1965: I wasn’t invited. Like, I could care less.

1970: I wasn’t invited. I could care less.

The word-emphasis of “I could care less” gives its origins away. We say “I *couldn’t* care *less*,” but we say “I could *care less*.” The latter retains a distinct echo of the original “As if I could care less.”

That’s the long and short of it. No sarcasm or irony or Yiddish or anything else, only the relentless dumbing down of a silly phrase as it descended from the educated classes to the slangy masses.

By the way, the “as if” that disappeared from “as if I could care less” eventually resurfaced as a standalone expression of indifference and contempt.

1990: I wasn’t invited. As if.