Can someone please explain how "I could care less" and "I couldn't care less" can possibly mean the same thing?
LOGICAL ANSWERS ONLY, PLEASE.
46-50, F
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CountScrofula · 41-45, M
SImple.
"I couldn't care less" is the actual phrase, meaning that you don't care about the subject.
"I could care less" is a malapropism, someone is using the idiom incorrectly. But when they say it, the intended meaning is still the same and people tend to understand what they mean, just that they're getting the phrase wrong.
So they mean the same thing.
"I couldn't care less" is the actual phrase, meaning that you don't care about the subject.
"I could care less" is a malapropism, someone is using the idiom incorrectly. But when they say it, the intended meaning is still the same and people tend to understand what they mean, just that they're getting the phrase wrong.
So they mean the same thing.
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MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@Convivial So what? How does that explain in a logical manner how two opposite phrases can mean the same thing? 🤔
Convivial · 26-30, F
@MaryDreamilton it doesn't and it's not intended to... Can't give is the correct usage and means what it says, can give is incorrect and "does not compute"
BohemianBabe · M
Language is stupid. Originally, the phrase was only "I couldn't care less," which makes sense, but people kept missaying it until the wrong version became common enough to mean the same thing. The same thing happened with "head over heels." The phrase makes no sense, because it's an incorrect version of "heels over head."
MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@SunshineGirl People don't say "Eating your cake and having it", do they? It's "Having your cake and eating it".
SunshineGirl · 36-40, F
@MaryDreamilton But it literally means you buy a cake and eat it . . not what people take it to mean.
MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@SunshineGirl We don't mean the word "have" in that context.
DrWatson · 70-79, M
I have always interpreted "I could care less" as an ironic statement, meaning "In fact, I couldn't care less."
I imagine it spoken in the same tone of voice as "yeah, right", in which the person is not really agreeing that you are right at all. It's a statement which is meant to be interpreted as its "opposite."
I imagine it spoken in the same tone of voice as "yeah, right", in which the person is not really agreeing that you are right at all. It's a statement which is meant to be interpreted as its "opposite."
FreddieUK · 70-79, M
As others have said, they don't mean the same, but usage in the US in particular has overcome logic. The same with 'could have' or 'would have' being corrupted to the nonsensical 'could of'/would of'. This happened because of mishearing 'would've' and 'could've' and the users of such illiterate expressions not being corrected.
SunshineGirl · 36-40, F
They don't. Logically and grammatically they are quite different. But some people may use the former to mean the latter . . doesn't make it correct though 🙂
MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@SunshineGirl Where I come from people who insist they are right when they are wrong are expected to prove they are right using obvious facts even when they are wrong, and we dig our heels in until they've presented us with these nonexistent "facts".
SunshineGirl · 36-40, F
@MaryDreamilton Right, well I think you need to direct your questioning towards these people then.
MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@SunshineGirl I will, when I see them.
joe438 · 61-69, M
With “couldn’t “ it’s more grammatically correct. The other way is sloppy/casual/sarcastic but we all know what you mean when you say it.
MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@joe438 How do you all "know" what I mean when I say "could care less"? For a start, I don't say "could care less" and I've used it tonight in my Q & A simply to make a point and be a bit sarcastic as well. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I call a turnip a turnip and I see no reason to pretend it's a tulip. In other words, COULD CARE LESS and COULDN'T CARE LESS are OPPOSITES and you all know that because it's LOGICAL.
They don´t mean the same thing.
If you could care less , that means you do care.
At least a little 😄
If you could care less , that means you do care.
At least a little 😄
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MaryDreamilton · 46-50, F
@WildWings I know myself it doesn't, so why do some people pretend it does? Apart from troll purposes, of course.
WillaKissing · 56-60, M
You are the grammar specialists so why don't you break it down to us.
pride49 · 31-35, M
Heres the answer
[media=https://youtu.be/R-k7Wvuei5g]
[media=https://youtu.be/R-k7Wvuei5g]
Strictmichael75 · 61-69, M
They don’t
Yes 😅
uncalled4 · 56-60, M
"I could care less" needs fixed.
