Comments on: 41 ways to sound like a bonehead

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:45:20 +0000

I think you’re mistaking idioms and slang expressions with common grammatical errors.

“Couldn’t care less” or, with your argument “could care less”, alludes that the speaker feels the least concern possible for the situation. The statement is actual and the words reference literal meaning. The speaker means each word’s definition.

Idioms and slang are bound phrases that are referential in nature and are comprised of words that otherwise would make no sense without an attached underlying understanding. Slang and idioms use words that otherwise would never be part of the conversation. Here’s an example:

Phrase: couldn’t care LESS. (Care represents concern, similar by definition.)

Idiom/slang: couldn’t give a HOOT. (Is the speaker an owl? No. Hooting literally means voicing outrage but even then it doesn’t convey a literal translation. “I have no concern” does not also mean “I will not holler”.)

So based on this logic, “could care less” is simply a gramatically incorrect phrase.

By: Gary Williams

Gary Williams — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:26:59 +0000

I wonder whether the usage of “could care less” is driven more by stress patterns than by literal vs. ironic intent. In “I couldn’t care less” the strongest stress as well as the highest pitch is on “couldn’t”, on the negation of what follows. In “I could care less”, “could” gets the weakest stress and lowest pitch, while “care less” are both stressed, “care” slightly more strongly. Maybe those who say “I could care less” are putting the emphasis on the emotion they feel, (It _really_ doesn’t matter!) than on the denial of any emotion.

Not that this is a conscious decision, of course.

But if anyone wanted to make “I could care less” a literal statement, he would probably stress “could”.

By: tommy

tommy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:10:41 +0000

Inquiry, as used above, is bad syntax. That’s a separate issue. “Could care less” is a slang expression. It’s not bad grammar, syntax, or word usage. You just want the expression to make internal sense literally, which is fine. But that still doesn’t make it wrong, which is the purported aim of this thread.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:47:35 +0000

Tommy,

Today someone copied me on an email in which he wrote (changing things slightly here), “Many of the managers have inquiry about the program.” Now, I know what he meant to write (“inquired” as opposed to “inquiry”), so I understood his meaning – but that doesn’t make his statement correct. Using your logic, his statement is perfectly acceptable. After all, the writer and reader both knew what was meant, right??

Sloppiness such as saying “I could care less” rather than “I couldn’t care less” is just another example of the degradation of the language. One needn’t look any further than the national news or prime time shows to hear people regularly say things like, “He delivered the news to Joe and I.” It’s wrong. It sounds wrong. The fact that I know what the speaker means does not make it acceptable, or right.

The nuance of how “I could care less” came to be is not understood by (I would wager) 99.9% of the people who say it – it’s become accepted simply as the result of common usage. That doesn’t make it right.

I suppose it’s a small point – like “irregardless” now shows up in the dictionary – but I still cringe when people say it.

In any event, thanks for your comments!

By: tommy

tommy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:12:27 +0000

“it’s simply wrong” is not a rebuttal. the user of “i could care less” does not have to consciously engage in irony–the speaker and listener both know what is meant, even if the phrase’s sarcastic origins (an american spin on a british saying) are unknown to them.