We Americans mangle the Queen's English with double negatives, and the word "Aint" and ebonics. It's what sets us apart from the British y'all.
Ditto. While my age (and affinity for the English language) probably has something to do with my having to google the meaning of ftfy, I'm going to fall back upon blaming America for that too.
Idk if anyone answered this but my stepdad told me once that I could care less became kind of a shortened version of an old phrase. He said people used to say I could care less but I'd really have to work at it or something along those lines. One day someone shortened it and just said I could care less but didn't say the second part. Overtime this became the standard and I could care less earned the same meaning as the original longer saying. At least that's what I've heard.
There are many things I wonder why people do. Saying 'I could care less' is not one of them. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I could care less is an inappropriately reinforced phrase. The phrase is "I couldn't care less." It's been bastardized by people using it improperly and other people catching onto it, to the point that it's accepted. Most people don't know any better. Most people don't care. It's like the word "irregardless." Not really a word, but it is now in the dictionary because so many people use it interchangeably with "regardless"... Also, the word "literally" has also recently been added to the dictionary to mean the opposite of literal... like, "I literally died!" No you didn't, bitch, otherwise you'd be dead! .... But now, now you can use literally for emphasis, instead of saying, "I figuratively died!" Language is ever-evolving, and a lot of times it is due to people using it improperly, also the influence or technology and different languages and cultures.
Also, the whole concept or "right vs wrong" develops overtime. I'm not going to get super-philosophical, but if more people take up the idiom of "I could care less," and it is attributed to an exact former meaning, well sorry, but the latter stands. I bet these are the same people who want me to still pronounce "knight" with a k, instead of "night." Or maybe these are the guys who just get really irked when I throw around anyway/anyhow/anyways. lol, umad? We add words, change meanings over time, and throw new rules in and out all the time. Popular belief is the highest standard of communication. Everything else, while necessary, becomes secondary. So to answer the question, we say "I could care less" in order to express that we basically do not mind something. Problem solved, that's what we are trying to say. It's like saying 2+2 = 4. Then all of a sudden, I say, "okay, from now on four (4) IS five (5). I haven't added an extra apple to my sack for the picnic, I just changed the connotation. So 2 + 2 = 5 I kept the meaning I was trying to express in my form of communication, it's just the mechanics that change. And mechanics change overt time. How does this usually happen? For us humans, it's a majority. For me, well, I'm like a god. So if I'm saying four is now five, then it is so. But me being a deity is a another tall tale for another time. Exactly, the whole fact that there is an English language in the United States and an English language in the UK where words can be spelled in the same order of letters in both languages, but have different forms or meanings, is basically one giant example of what I/we were explaining.
oi jolly good show ripping good laugh pip pip cheerio bobs your uncle kidney pie mary poppins but no seriously, who cares.
I understand exactly what you're saying - but why does nobody seem to care that by changing the phrase in that way, there's no point in saying it at all? I wouldn't tell you I'm sad, when I mean I'm happy, because those two words have separate meanings. I mean I could start swapping opposite words around when I'm speaking to people, but it will make communication a lot more difficult... which seems counter productive and illogical How can some people care so little about something so important as communication?
I agree with you. I think it's ridiculous that people are complacent to let their language, their most effective mode of communication, slowly deteriorate. Unfortunately, in America, language isn't important. Almost EVERYWHERE I go I read signs with grammatical or spelling errors. It's embarrassing. But you can't make people care, especially when it's easier, and requires less effort, not to.
Agree totally Sass. One expects (or should expect) professionally-made signs to be, well, perfect. And years ago they were. Today, probably many business owners don't even KNOW that the sign they paid a lot of money for is wrong. WTF. It's the relaxing of standards that we see everywhere, not just in the language. In recent years the two errors I see (mostly online) that drives me crazy is the interchangeable use of "then" and "than." Fuck, the meanings aren't even close (I have an online penpal who doesn't know the difference and she's in her mid-40s). The other one that drives me nuts is "loose" and "lose." How fucking stupid are we becoming? It's all on your shoulders, Sass. You'll have to carry your entire generation to "the other side." Good luck!
I think a lot of people are forgetting that the term "I could care less" is just another saying created by a given culture. Grammatically incorrect as it may be, it really doesn't matter. I mean you obviously understand the basic gist of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to warrant blatant ignorance over your own language, but when it comes to something as simple as sayings... generally speaking, I could care less .