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I could care less about bad grammar

FollowingHim

FollowingHim

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I just wanted to point out a little phrase that it seems every American keeps saying, and just makes so little sense that I can't help finally mentioning it!
rockfox said:
I could care less
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Daniel DeLuca said:
I could care less
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Verifyveritas76 said:
I could care less
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enlargeourtents said:
I could care less
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Slumberfreeze said:
I could care less
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Doc said:
I could care less
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I'll stop quoting people there, but there are many more examples I could give!

As I explained to @Mark C some years ago:
FollowingHim said:
It's "I couldn't care less", not "I could care less". "I could care less" means "I care a bit about it because it would be possible for me to care less than I do". "I couldn't care less" means "I don't care at all about it, so it would be impossible for me to care less than I currently do". Must be an American thing though, because you're not the only person who mixes up this phrase.
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The title of this thread means I actually do care about bad grammar, because it would be possible for me to care less about it than I do.

Logic guys, logic. Especially @Daniel DeLuca - you're really big on avoiding illogical fallacies, but you and @rockfox are the most common offenders in this particular crime against logic!
 
FollowingHim said:
I just wanted to point out a little phrase that it seems every American keeps saying, and just makes so little sense that I can't help finally mentioning it!





I'll stop quoting people there, but there are many more examples I could give!

As I explained to @Mark C some years ago:

The title of this thread means I actually do care about bad grammar, because it would be possible for me to care less about it than I do.

Logic guys, logic. Especially @Daniel DeLuca - you're really big on avoiding illogical fallacies, but you and @rockfox are the most common offenders in this particular crime against logic!
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That one bugs me too, lol!

If I’ve used it, blame it on autocorrect :rolleyes:
 
I wonder how this came to be? Is it just a misstatement that’s been repeated so often folks don’t even think about it? Or was it maybe said in sarcasm at some point, and then was repeated without the sarcasm? I’m with you though, it makes no sense; however, I’ve caught myself using it and then having to correct myself.
 
It is a mistake made so often that we read it as meaning I couldn't care less, even when the oposite and incorrect version is what is written.

One other thing I hear at times is "these ones" the double plural doesn't belong, though it might sound like a nice thing to poly minded folk. Lol

I could care less about other people choosing vaccinations. This is evident in that I will bring up the subject and encourage someone do research if I find myself standing in a checkout line next to a very pregnant woman.

I count not being injected as an infant a blessing and tell other people it is hard to convince someone who enjoys better then average health they need that junk when they have lived so well without it.
 
Joleneakamama said:
It is a mistake made so often that we read it as meaning I couldn't care less, even when the oposite and incorrect version is what is written.

One other thing I hear at times is "these ones" the double plural doesn't belong, though it might sound like a nice thing to poly minded folk. Lol

I could care less about other people choosing vaccinations. This is evident in that I will bring up the subject and encourage someone do research if I find myself standing in a checkout line next to a very pregnant woman.

I count not being injected as an infant a blessing and tell other people it is hard to convince someone who enjoys better then average health they need that junk when they have lived so well without it.
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Oh come on! Everyone knows you need aborted baby dna and pig juice in your blood stream in order to be healthy. It’s just common sense ;)
 
There are too many of these to keep up with honestly. "I could care less", is just one of literally thousands of phrases of bad grammar that have been so widely used, it is impossible to express as many views as are expressed here and elsewhere, where we are trying to defend extremely unpopular viewpoints, that making grammatical mistakes is inevitable. Calling out particular individuals for doing so, comes across as nitpicky; or is it nit picky.
 
@Daniel DeLuca, this entire thread is intended very lightheartedly, please take it in that fashion. It's not nitpicky, it's funny. I did find it amusing how many times you and @rockfox used this phrase as I was sifting through examples to quote, and made an offhand comment to that respect because I was in a humorous mood. I'm expecting someone to point out my own amusing idiosyncrasies, which I shall heartily laugh at also.
JimandMary said:
Irregardless.
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Yes, that's another one! However, it makes as little sense as "inflammable" and "flammable" meaning the same thing, and "inflammable" is a well accepted word. The whole English language is nonsensical.
 
I am really big on avoiding logical fallacies. I don't care too much about illogical fallacies.
 
Can we care less about the labour it took to analyse our American behaviour whilst setting about to antagonise us? You need to recognise that we were not taught to socialise under the friggin British tendency to avoid the letter Z and then add the letter U to places it doesn't belong.

Oh, and we prefer to butter our biscuits, or dip them in thick, heavy gravy, not dunk them in our tea!

God bless the USA!

:p
 
I suspect that "couldn't" got shortened to "could" in common usage. So an idiom shortened via vulgar slang into a related idiom that literally means the opposite of what is being said.

It's a common enough saying in American English that no one thinks about it and know's what is meant by it. Including myself; and I'm usually a stickler about grammar and spelling.

This reminds me how some of the words used in the 1611 Authorized Version have shifted meaning overtime to mean something different, and in a couple cases have come to mean the very opposite of the original use (e.g. awesome, terrific).
 
rockfox said:
This reminds me how some of the words used in the 1611 Authorized Version have shifted meaning overtime to mean something different, and in a couple cases have come to mean the very opposite of the original use (e.g. awesome, terrific).
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Like modern English utilizing gay and queer for meanings totally different than their actual meanings?

How about homely? It used to be a compliment for a woman. Now?
 
Mojo said:
Can we care less about the labour it took to analyse our American behaviour whilst setting about to antagonise us?
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Antagonise? No, just throw in a random topic to discuss that I found amusing. Analyse my behaviour all you like.

On an opposite note, I grew up using British pints and gallons whenever I wasn't talking in litres, and I've actually learnt from some comment by someone here (which got me digging) that the American system is actually the original one and the British one has been made nonsensical. Now I think in US pints and gallons because they're far more logical.

I care about logic. I'm not patriotic about language and measurements, and I don't set out to antagonise people (though I am very good at doing it unintentionally!).
 
FollowingHim said:
Antagonise? No, just throw in a random topic to discuss that I found amusing. Analyse my behaviour all you like.

On an opposite note, I grew up using British pints and gallons whenever I wasn't talking in litres, and I've actually learnt from some comment by someone here (which got me digging) that the American system is actually the original one and the British one has been made nonsensical. Now I think in US pints and gallons because they're far more logical.

I care about logic. I'm not patriotic about language and measurements, and I don't set out to antagonise people (though I am very good at doing it unintentionally!).
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Mine was lighthearted too. Hope you got that.:D
 
At first, I thought ‘I couldn’t care less’ about whether ‘I could care less’. Then I found myself actually reading this thread. As I read, I found myself in the ‘I could care less’ category. As I read these words of wit and lacking in wisdom, I actually found myself ‘caring less’. At the moment I’ve hit the bottom of this barrel and will find out later if I have reached the ‘I couldn’t care less’ category or if I am in the ‘I could care less’ category. So the question becomes, do I care at all?
 
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