5 ms·

The phrase "could care less" has a logic error. It makes more sense for someone to say, "I couldn't care less" when the person wants to express that he doesn't

by chulk90 12y ago

The phrase "could care less" has a logic error. It makes more sense for someone to say, "I couldn't care less" when the person wants to express that he doesn't care.

brianmcc 12y ago
In the UK, we pretty much always use the "couldn't" version. I'm guessing "could care less" is an Americanism; it always jars for me when I read it.
- DanBC 12y ago
  Could care less is very rare in England, although use is growing from Internet usage. There's some suggestion that it comes from Yiddish style dialect. "I should be so lucky!", for another example.
  - kazinator 12y ago
    Both "could care less" and "could not care less" work well in conveying the semantics "I care little". One says, "although I care very little, there is some wiggle room to care even less". The other says, "I care so little, I couldn't care less than I do now". Either way, I care little is the main message. However, "couldn't care less" is more sensible, because what is the point of expressing that you care little, but still have room to care less? That sort of expression would only serve as a retort against an accusation that you do not care. ("A: You don't care at all! B: That is not true, I could care less.") B admits that he or she cares little, but objects to being characterized as entirely uncaring. We should choose the expression based on its logical sensibility, rather than regional dialect.
    - brianmcc 12y ago
      I enjoy your analysis :-) I don't know about "could care less" conveying the semantics - I genuinely paused when I first read it to work out which meaning it had. Let's saying "caring" goes 0 to 10. "Could care less" includes everything from 1 to 10, assuming integer granularity - it's very much the right hand side of the scale, anyway. Only "couldn't care less" covers that 0 rating. So - perhaps it's terrible in conveying semantics and only context/tone imply the disinterest being communicated?
teh_klev 12y ago
Don't get me started on "could care less", my eyes sting when I read that. My other pet hate is "so fun", as in "that was so fun"...I blame those US kids channels for that one.
- jameshart 12y ago
  Why is 'so fun' so wrong? Fun can usually be substituted freely for a word like 'entertaining'. Is there something wrong with saying "That was so entertaining"?
  - teh_klev 12y ago
    Because "fun" in that context is being used like a countable or mass noun, therefore "That was so much fun" would be the correct usage. "Entertaining" is an adjective and you can use "so" as a modifier to express how entertaining whatever you were doing or watching is or was. This probably explains it better than I can: http://www.grammarphobia.com/qa#a31 http://www.grammarphobia.com/qa#a31
    - jameshart 12y ago
      Fun also functions as an adjective. "That was a fun movie. It was fun. How fun? So fun." I agree, there's definitely two conflicting usages here: and activity can be the noun "fun", in the same way that doing something can be can be "bliss" or "hell" or "a complete waste of everyone's time". And so while I can say "My drive in to work was hell", I can't say "My drive in to work was so hell" (because not an adjective). But if I can say "My drive in to work was enjoyable", and even "My drive in to work was so enjoyable", then what's wrong with saying "My drive in to work was so fun"?
    - jack-r-abbit 12y ago
      I had no idea that fun was not allowed to be an adjective.
  - eridius 12y ago
    I assume the issue is with the construct "so fun", not the word "fun". And in that construct, the word "so" is an intensifier. It emphasizes the nature of the next word. You'll hear it in constructs like "that was so cool", or "that was so awesome", or other such phrases that kids like to say when they're excited about something.
kmm 12y ago
Who cares if it has a "logical error", whatever that even means, if you understand. And I know you understand it. Millions of people use this idiom completely intuitively, following their instincts of language that I, as someone who doesn't have English as their native language, can only be jealous of. "I could care less" is either meant to be taken sarcastically, or it came to be because the "dn't c" consonant cluster is hard to pronounce, the same reason you don't pronounce the 'l' in could, the 'k' in knee, knight or knave, the 'p' in psychologist or pneumonia, or half the letters in Wednesday.
tracker1 12y ago
see: sarcasm

by chulk90 12y ago

The phrase "could care less" has a logic error. It makes more sense for someone to say, "I couldn't care less" when the person wants to express that he doesn't care.

brianmcc 12y ago

In the UK, we pretty much always use the "couldn't" version. I'm guessing "could care less" is an Americanism; it always jars for me when I read it.

DanBC 12y ago
Could care less is very rare in England, although use is growing from Internet usage. There's some suggestion that it comes from Yiddish style dialect. "I should be so lucky!", for another example.
- kazinator 12y ago
  Both "could care less" and "could not care less" work well in conveying the semantics "I care little". One says, "although I care very little, there is some wiggle room to care even less". The other says, "I care so little, I couldn't care less than I do now". Either way, I care little is the main message. However, "couldn't care less" is more sensible, because what is the point of expressing that you care little, but still have room to care less? That sort of expression would only serve as a retort against an accusation that you do not care. ("A: You don't care at all! B: That is not true, I could care less.") B admits that he or she cares little, but objects to being characterized as entirely uncaring. We should choose the expression based on its logical sensibility, rather than regional dialect.
  - brianmcc 12y ago
    I enjoy your analysis :-) I don't know about "could care less" conveying the semantics - I genuinely paused when I first read it to work out which meaning it had. Let's saying "caring" goes 0 to 10. "Could care less" includes everything from 1 to 10, assuming integer granularity - it's very much the right hand side of the scale, anyway. Only "couldn't care less" covers that 0 rating. So - perhaps it's terrible in conveying semantics and only context/tone imply the disinterest being communicated?

teh_klev 12y ago

Don't get me started on "could care less", my eyes sting when I read that. My other pet hate is "so fun", as in "that was so fun"...I blame those US kids channels for that one.

jameshart 12y ago
Why is 'so fun' so wrong? Fun can usually be substituted freely for a word like 'entertaining'. Is there something wrong with saying "That was so entertaining"?
- teh_klev 12y ago
  Because "fun" in that context is being used like a countable or mass noun, therefore "That was so much fun" would be the correct usage. "Entertaining" is an adjective and you can use "so" as a modifier to express how entertaining whatever you were doing or watching is or was. This probably explains it better than I can: http://www.grammarphobia.com/qa#a31 http://www.grammarphobia.com/qa#a31
  - jameshart 12y ago
    Fun also functions as an adjective. "That was a fun movie. It was fun. How fun? So fun." I agree, there's definitely two conflicting usages here: and activity can be the noun "fun", in the same way that doing something can be can be "bliss" or "hell" or "a complete waste of everyone's time". And so while I can say "My drive in to work was hell", I can't say "My drive in to work was so hell" (because not an adjective). But if I can say "My drive in to work was enjoyable", and even "My drive in to work was so enjoyable", then what's wrong with saying "My drive in to work was so fun"?
  - jack-r-abbit 12y ago
    I had no idea that fun was not allowed to be an adjective.
- eridius 12y ago
  I assume the issue is with the construct "so fun", not the word "fun". And in that construct, the word "so" is an intensifier. It emphasizes the nature of the next word. You'll hear it in constructs like "that was so cool", or "that was so awesome", or other such phrases that kids like to say when they're excited about something.

kmm 12y ago

Who cares if it has a "logical error", whatever that even means, if you understand. And I know you understand it. Millions of people use this idiom completely intuitively, following their instincts of language that I, as someone who doesn't have English as their native language, can only be jealous of. "I could care less" is either meant to be taken sarcastically, or it came to be because the "dn't c" consonant cluster is hard to pronounce, the same reason you don't pronounce the 'l' in could, the 'k' in knee, knight or knave, the 'p' in psychologist or pneumonia, or half the letters in Wednesday.

tracker1 12y ago

see: sarcasm