Could care less & Couldn't care less...

[Zipzo]

Yesssss!

I totally wanted to make a topic on this after having a debate about it in-game.

So the origination of the phrase that spawned "Could care less" is "Couldn't care less". Generally used to assert that there is no lower level of care remaining. You simply don't care. "I'd look for a 10* but I couldn't care less". This person is saying that there is no amount more they couldn't care. They don't care.

I used the phrase "Could care less" which spawned the whole thing. Now, empirically, to assert that I don't care this phrase is for all intents and purposes...wrong. Could care less implies that care exists and that I could care less than that amount, which could result in various amounts of care being at stake.

So I pose an interesting perception of the two statements here. Try not to look at "Could care less" as the "wrong" version of "couldn't care less". Try to look at it as its own statement in and of itself.

"I don't really care that much for rares, I could really care less"

Based on the prefix here, it is being explicitly implied that there is very little care for said thing. By saying they could care less, is implying simply that while they do care (very little), it's possible that they could care less, implying that the amount of care they have at the current point in time is not at a threshold that they value that much to keep where it is.

Could care less makes a slight assumption that the listener or reader already has an at least vague idea of the writers/speakers care level, so this is where its usage is important in the face of its "Couldn't" adversary.

All this being said...doesn't "Couldn't care less" also invite some ironic themes? If you're simply trying to say "I don't care", saying "I couldn't care less" also assumes the reader/listener knows your level of care. While this statement in english is generally interpreted as "I don't care", if you read the statement as what it is, it's basically saying that they can't care less than what they do, which implies that care exists, just like "could care less".

This could mean a whole bunch of things as well! This could mean that they are at the lowest point of their care (which might not be zero), and they are unable to care less than that, because it's important they at least care about it as much as they do.

The same circular logic can be applied to both phrases, is the point I'm making here.

That being said, I propose that it's simply not more correct to say "I don't care" because if you do care a little, it would be a false statement.

Why would anyone want to express their feelings in a statement like "I could care less"? Well..why does anyone say anything, really? Just because they do. I know this is a stupid thing to think about it excessively, but I thought it was interesting and I magick'd up some logic and wanted to know what you guys thought.

[Neith]

I've always thought that 'Could care less' implies that you do still care somewhat, and is therefore an incorrect usage of the term. I've personally always used 'I couldn't care less' because it's the only usage that makes sense to me, given the context I would use it in.

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to things like this though. Whenever I hear someone say 'I ain't done nothing' it's the verbal equivalent of nails scratching on a chalkboard. :lol:

[Zipzo]

I've always thought that 'Could care less' implies that you do still care somewhat, and is therefore an incorrect usage of the term. I've personally always used 'I couldn't care less' because it's the only usage that makes sense to me, given the context I would use it in.

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to things like this though. Whenever I hear someone say 'I ain't done nothing' it's the verbal equivalent of nails scratching on a chalkboard. :lol:

It's only incorrect if you meant to convey the idea that you don't care. What if you DO care a little, but you COULD care less?

Apply this to the "correct" phrase.

If you couldn't care less, how do we know that you already don't care. Maybe you're implying that you feasibly can't bring yourself to care less than you do (which would mean you care, therefore making couldn't care less wrong too).

See my angle? It takes about the same amount of grammatical observation that it takes to say could care less is "wrong", that it does to point how how the "right" one is just as flawed, contextually.

[NoiseHERO]

Know what's more important than proper use of words?

Having enough people skills to know what the person meant regardless of how you communicate and moving on with your life.

[Emp]

"I could care less" cause of the 0 f****'s I actually give.

[Zipzo]

Know what's more important than proper use of words?

Having enough people skills to know what the person meant regardless of how you communicate and moving on with your life.

Hey, I'm totally with you on this. Infinitely.

You should tell that to the people who constantly feel the need to chime in and correct these types of things ＾－＾ one step at a time...

The thing is though, as a valid counter argument, many believe that letting those types of things slide is a slippery slope, and only contributing to the furthering of "improper" grammatical expression...

My take on it is it's just a phrase, and in a language, if everyone understands what you meant to say regardless of how you said it...did you really say it wrong? We aren't meant to assume language has set in stone rules started by God...language evolves and new words are made up all the time (that are put in english dictionaries around the world every year).

So contextually in the circumstance of saying "I don't care", "I couldn't care less" is noted as the "correct" version, yet a very high number of people say the "I could care less", without any confusion as to what they mean, even though they are technically using it improperly in accordance with grammar elitists.

Technically it's bad grammar to communicate in clicks of the tongue (it's not a usage of grammar in any form, actually), yet there is a culture somewhere out there that communicates as such. Essentially, unless you're grading a term paper or studying to be an english professor...why does it swell within people to correct these kinds of "mistakes", when it has ultimately no bearing on anything?

Very good point Mr. Rock.

[-Crokar-]

i usually use the i dont give a "insert 4 letter word here"

[Eman2417]

I use could care less.
It just sounds better and makes more sense to me. Not that people really care how you say it anyways, unless they're that bored and have nothing better to do.

[AgemFrostMage]

Agreed. I also despise ATM machine (the machine is already M!), misplaced apostrophes (especially in the words that end in s anyway, like writing "alway's" or "sometime's", though non-possessive plurals annoy too), and "her" when there is no specific female to reference.