Why do people continue to say, "I could care less" when the actual phrase is "I COULDN'T care less".
"I couldn't care less" makes sense, it means that you care so little about something that you could not possibly care any less.
"I could care less" means you actually do care.
2007-07-20 09:58:48 · 13 answers · asked by Mitchell . 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Probably because the people who say it wrong, heard it the wrong way so much that they started saying it the wrong way themselves. And then they never stopped to think about what they're saying. I agree with you. It bugs me too.
2007-07-20 10:08:28 · answer #1 · answered by bdc3141 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because people tend to throw that phrase out without thinking about what they're saying. It SHOULD be "couldn't" but so many people get it wrong, that many other people simply LEARN it wrong, and don't stop to think about the difference. It's just a phrase, people don't think about what it actually means, like saying "I don't give a rat's [butt]"-- it's more about the intent than the actual words.
Someone tried to tell me once it's because "could" care less is sarcastic, and "couldn't" care less was direct. But is definitely NOT true, because people don't use the phrase with the intent of sarcasm, with the subtlety of sarcasm, or the right INTONATION for it to be sarcasm. (This also comes from ignorance of what actually constitutes "sarcasm"; it's not JUST saying one thing and meaning the opposite, not really.)They say it to MEAN "I couldn't care less" without stopping to think about what the actual words they're saying. Which is annoying. And wrong.
2007-07-20 18:24:52 · answer #2 · answered by KJohnson 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I often get annoyed when people make that mistake. However, I think it depends on how they say it. If it's said sarcastically, then I think it carries the same meaning, and perhaps even more emphasis than saying, "I couldn't care less." I suppose I just think it's a little more subtle. Of course, this all stems on delivering the statement just so in order to imply that one means they suppose they could, in fact, care less...maybe.
As you might have assumed, I'm a big fan of sarcasm!
2007-07-20 17:05:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I could care less that I couldn't care less doesn't mean the same thing as I could care less.
2007-07-20 17:05:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because if they really couldn't care less they wouldn't say anything at all. They must care at least a tiny bit to bother to reply.
2007-07-20 17:16:47 · answer #5 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the original phrase was "Like I could care less".
Eventually, the "like" was dropped.
2007-07-20 17:10:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The same reason people misuse alot of the english language---they don't know any better! My pet peeve is someone saying "they disenrolled or unenrolled" from school. Those are not words. The correct phrase would be "they withdrew"!
2007-07-20 17:13:24 · answer #7 · answered by lolo2459 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're right!! Just like "fat chance" doesn't really mean "highly likely to occur", which doesn't make sense in the context in which it's used. A "slim chance", on the other hand, meaning "not bloody likely" is actually what is meant.
2007-07-20 17:16:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I totally agree with you.
I suppose people are just lazy. There are lots of phrases that don't make sense or that people misquote into something that doesn't make sense.
Boourns, i say. BOOURNS.
Proper English-speaking people UNITE! (unite or untie?)
2007-07-20 17:33:44 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i couldn't care less about this question. who cares?
2007-07-20 17:06:06 · answer #10 · answered by skyway 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋