"I could care less..."

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Kent

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Ok, the rumble strip is for off-topic junk with no real importance, right?

Well...
Does anyone else find it annoying when people say "I could care less" when they actually mean to say "I couldn't care less"?

Could means that you do care (even a little).
Couldn't means you care as little as possible (virtually saying you don't care).

This common mistake with words always bothers me.
So with that in mind, does it bother you and what are some of the other common annoyances you deal with in the speech of others.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong about all this. :p
 
I don't pay attention to stuff like that so no it does not bother me.
 
Absolutley!

I always thought it was a typical American thing, but I'm glad someone else has picked up on this.

I actually had a conversation about this very topic with a colleague a few days ago.

I never understood the "I could care less" thing. I'd read it and think, "so you do care about it then? But that goes against your arguement... :odd:" But now that you've pointed it out, Kent, I know I was right to think it was weird, and those people were infact confused.

Here's to correct grammar! :cheers:
 
It bothers me to no end. My suitemates at ’SD kept saying the incorrect form (like most Americans do), and I finally got irritated enough that I explained to them why “I could care less” is so wrong wrong wrong wrong.

I find it even more bothersome than my other two grammar standbys, which are subject-verb agreement and fewer vs. less.

People just don’t take time to think about what they’re saying. If you parse “I could care less”, it should be pretty obvious that it means the exact opposite of what most people intend it to mean.
 
What about...

Hi <insert name>, how are you this morning?

"Not too bad" or "Not bad"

So they're bad?, but not so bad that you should be worried? Or not bad in that they're good?, but not great?, maybe only ambivalent/undecided either way?

Mind you sometimes you gotta love the oxymoron... cause there are some pearlers...
 
I just assumed that it meant that you care so little that it wouldn't matter if you care less. Maybe it's meant as a sarcastic remark?

But "near miss" does sort of bother me, but the only place I have seen it is in the NFS games. I'm not sure about Burnout.
 
I agree that "I could care less" grates. Someone once tried to tell me that it's meant to be something like "I could care less, but it would be hard" or something like that, with the second part just left off, but I don't find that very believeable.
 
in Australia we just go

"I dont give a rats arse" or "I dont give a F..." or the most popular "I dont give a Sh.." Gotta love it hehe.

Personally i agree with Kent.
 
The thing that bothers me the most is the way most people say the word "often". They say it like it's spelled, but if you know even a little about grammar you know that THE T IS SILENT!!!:dunce: (sorry if that offended anyone)

:-)
 
^ Ah, I pronounce the "t" in often. That's another example of people shortening the pronouncation of words. I don't know if it's a British thing or something... :p

Another good example is "could of" and "should of". It should be "could have" and "should have". Another example of spelling the words on how you say them, except this one is definitely WRONG and annoys me to no end ever since I was told this at College a few years back.

On the original subject, I've been bothered by it a few times, but it isn't as bad as some of the more nigglesome ones like the one I mentioned above.
 
Yep, I agree that the could/should misuse is worse.:ouch: I'd forgotten about that one. I do it sometimes when I'm talking real fast.

:-)
 
:lol:
Glad to see I'm not alone on this one.

Another that really gets to me because of how common it is...

Good instead of Well.

As in,
How did Barry play last night?
Ah, he did good.

I'm not perfect with this stuff but I thought it as supposed to go...
How did Barry play last night?
Ah, he did well. 👍

The amount I see that mistake made is amazing.
 
Driving Park
The thing that bothers me the most is the way most people say the word "often". They say it like it's spelled, but if you know even a little about grammar you know that THE T IS SILENT!!!:dunce: (sorry if that offended anyone)

:-)
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Dictionary.com
Pronunciation note - Often was pronounced with a t-sound until the 17th century, when a pronunciation without the t came to predominate in the speech of the educated, in both North America and Great Britain, and the earlier pronunciation fell into disfavor. Common use of a spelling pronunciation has since restored the t for many speakers, and today /&#712;&#596;f&#601;n/[aw-fuhn] and /&#712;&#596;ft&#601;n/[awf-tuhn] [or /&#712;&#594;f&#601;n/[of-uhn] and /&#712;&#594;ft&#601;n/[of-tuhn]] exist side by side. Although it is still sometimes criticized, often with a /t/[t] is now so widely heard from educated speakers that it has become fully standard once again.
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Right. That should get us back on schedule...
 
I should've known you would've said something, Famine. But thanks for the correction.👍

:-)
 
Kent
Does anyone else find it annoying when people say "I could care less" when they actually mean to say "I couldn't care less"?
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Highly.
 
Yeah, the I could care less thing gets to me too.

The one that gets me more though is when people ask

"Do you mind if I do this?"

And you say "No."

And they take it as you don't want them to do that. I often (awf tuhn) get "Yeah, go ahead" when I ask if they mind... drives me nuts.

Just one of those things.
 
Azuremen
Yeah, the I could care less thing gets to me too.

The one that gets me more though is when people ask

"Do you mind if I do this?"

And you say "No."

And they take it as you don't want them to do that. I often (awf tuhn) get "Yeah, go ahead" when I ask if they mind... drives me nuts.

Just one of those things.
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Yup, that's another one that gets to me.
It's like people just don't think about the things they say. :ouch:
 
As long as you realise that the phrase "I could care less" is a lot more accurate than "I couldn't care less".

If you "couldn't care less" then the thing your commenting on has to be the one thing in your entire life that you care the least about. You can't not care less about more than one thing. But if you could say "I could care less" your basically saying your not bothered, if you thought about it you could care less about it but your arn't bothered thinking about it.

It makes no difference which one people use to me.
 
Hm. I say often as 'off-ten'. Duz this mean I is edumakayted, me?
 
Kent
Yup, that's another one that gets to me.
It's like people just don't think about the things they say. :ouch:
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Did you just now realize this? :dopey:

People don't, and its why "like" and similar is so commonly used to replace proper words such as "said."
 
Dave A
As long as you realise that the phrase "I could care less" is a lot more accurate than "I couldn't care less".

If you "couldn't care less" then the thing your commenting on has to be the one thing in your entire life that you care the least about. You can't not care less about more than one thing. But if you could say "I could care less" your basically saying your not bothered, if you thought about it you could care less about it but your arn't bothered thinking about it.

It makes no difference which one people use to me.
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Well, I can't agree with you on that...
Most importantly to me about what I don't agree with...
It is possible not to care at all about many different things. To act as if you can only not care about one thing is just silly. :sly:

When you can't care less it is because you don't care at all (the way you can't "less" something is by already holding the lowest possible value). That is exactly what it means and exactly what so many people mean when they mis-quote the phrase by saying "I could care less."
And to me, :lol:... I could care less does not mean you aren't bothered, it means you care atleast some or that you're an idiot incapable of distinguishing between commonly used words in the english language. :p
(or you mis-spoke and meant to say "I couldn't care less" because you just don't care about the subject at hand)
 
Another one I hate is when people say "This is real cool". It should be "This is really cool", and even more proper, "This is very cool." That just bugs me.

But the one I hate the most is when people say "that's good grammar." Sorry people, but saying "good grammar" is in fact bad grammar. While I'm not sure if "bad grammar" is correct, I do know that saying "proper grammar" or "correct grammar" is much better than "good grammar."

And for the ultimate bad grammar sentence:

Me sawed an car that was more betterer than your most bestest car and it was real cool.:dunce:

Yeah.:crazy:

:-)
 
Kent
Well, I can't agree with you on that...
Most importantly to me about what I don't agree with...
It is possible not to care at all about many different things. To act as if you can only not care about one thing is just silly. :sly:
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I didn't say you can only not care about one thing, I said there is only one thing you can't care less about. That and you can only not care about one thing are two very different statements. There's likely thoudsands, millions even of things you truely don't care about. You just don't actually know any of them.

When you can't care less it is because you don't care at all (the way you can't "less" something is by already holding the lowest possible value).That is exactly what it means and exactly what so many people mean when they mis-quote the phrase by saying "I could care less."
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As a figure of speech I'm all for the saying "I couldn't care less", but in reality it's a false phrase. The fact is you do care about everything you form an opinion on and you form an opinion on everything you know anything about. However miniscule that knowledge or opinion may be, it's there. That opinion, even the slightest thought about it means you care about it, however small or little you might care, do care to a certain extent because you've bothered to think about it in the first place. Hence, the phrase I couldn't care less in it's literal meaning is an impossiblity. If you couldn't care less it would be something you had never thought of before. You can't care less about sometihng you don't know or even suspect or speculate exists. Something that has absolutely zero effect on your life and your thoughts is something that you can't care less about. You do care about everything else, maybe not highly, but you still care about it.

And to me, :lol:... I could care less does not mean you aren't bothered, it means you care atleast some or that you're an idiot incapable of distinguishing between commonly used words in the english language. :p
(or you mis-spoke and meant to say "I couldn't care less" because you just don't care about the subject at hand)
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Or your being factual. Like I said, I don't care which of the two variations people actually use I've jsut had this debate before. But in terms of literal meanings, "I could care less" is the factual statement, "I couldn't care less" works fine as a figure of speech and nothing more, as the simple fact that you've thought about it means you care about it.

Saying "I could care less" means you do care about to a degree (as you would since you've thought about it), but that you arn't bothered to think about it more.
 

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