"I could care less"

[Jolene]

It really bugs me when people type "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less". It's a really common mistake, and I have no idea why so many people make it.

I mean, don't these people actually think about what the phrase means before they type it out? Haven't they ever heard it being spoken? Haven't they seen it written down in a book or something? How is it even possible to think that "I could care less" is the correct phrase? It... it doesn't even make sense...

Doesn't it bug you too? Oh, and if you reply with either of the two afforementioned phrases, then it won't be witty because I predicted it.

 

[bit.trip void]

Well, it's possible. Maybe they could care less, maybe it doesnt really bother them?

 

[Jolene]

Well, it's possible. Maybe they could care less, maybe it doesnt really bother them?

Nobody ever means it like that though.

 

[bit.trip void]

I could care less.

It doesn't really matter. XD.

 

[Bagel]

I COULD CARE LESS!

This thread was screaming for that.

Why should you care about that? Does it really matter that much to you?

 

[Jolene]

Ahem. I believe that I already said in my opening post:

Oh, and if you reply with either of the two afforementioned phrases, then it won't be witty because I predicted it.

 

[Frequency]

Realizing that I use both when I talk, I'll say this.

I COULD care less about how I say it, but I COULDN'T care less about how I use it in a sentence.

 

[.little monster]

I always say "I could care less" as "It doesn't really matter", if I mean I couldn't care less I would say I couldn't care less.

 

[Citrinin]

I'm generally pretty tolerant to changes in grammar and phrasing - although I myself use "I couldn't care less".

 

[.Seth]

This is a little thing that irks me, nothing more.
But still, it does bother me. ;;

 

[Taemin]

Oh gosh.. I think the same thing. xD;

They intend for it to mean that they don't care at all.. when it makes it seem like the opposite. I always want to get all mean, and be like "Sooo.. you DO care, then? >w>" Of course, since it's a common grammatical error, they might not even realize why I was teasing them.

It doesn't annoy me, really.. just, kinda of temps me to into 'sarcasm mode', just to mess with them.

 

[Bianca Paragon]

For people that think saying "I could care less" means you don't care..you're wrong :X If you "could care less" you're saying that there are things you care less about than this; implying in-fact that you DO actually care about this.
That's why "I couldn't care less" is accurate; it means "of all things there is nothing I care less about than this".
Can we contribute our own peeves? People who can't properly say "For all intents and purposes". I swear everytime I read someone say "for all intensive purposes" I want to strangle a baby.

 

[Weatherman Kiyoshi]

I have looked upon the phrase and seen this,
It's very strange.

BUT I COULD CARE LESS. X3

 

[Camisado]

YES. I am such a nitpicker when it comes to the English language, and this sort of thing just makes me rage.

Though, really, I don't like people saying it at all because it's just rude. D;

 

[Taemin]

OH.

Then there's this one.. which happens more online then in real life conversations, but I've seen both.

It's "If it's any consolation," when it's correct, means 'if it's any comfort to you.'

Yet, a lot of people don't know the correct wording, and say 'constellation'.

"Well, if it's any constellation.. etc".

Seriously.. ? If anyone knows what constellation means, they should know that's not correct, but that's just my opinion. xD;

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

I always found "I could care less" as a more polite way of saying it since to me it's saying they don't really care but they're actually going out of their way to care a tiny bit for it. Just scratch that my words don't even make sense to me.

But "I couldn't care less" would definitely be the correct way of saying it and it doesn't bother me at all since English is apparently one of the hardest languages to learn even though I couldn't find a simpler language.

 

[Jolene]

For anyone who thinks that "I could care less" is a nicer way of saying it or whatever, you're wrong. "I could care less" is an utterly nonsensical phrase in any context because it doesn't specify how much you do care. It's not a usable phrase.

Seriously, if you've been wording it "I could care less", just admit your mistake and change your ways.

 

[Zeturic]

I couldn't care less means it is physically impossible for the person saying it to "care less" about what they are referring to. If you assigned points for how much you care, it would be zero.

I could care less means that it is physically possible for the person saying it to "care less" about what they are referring to. If you assigned points for how much you care, it would be X. X would be anything higher than zero.

"I could care less" is a rather nonsensical way of describing how you much you care about something, as it lacks an actual way of determining how much you actually care. Not zero isn't the same as a huge number.

 

[Chibi-chan]

To be honest, as long as the intended point gets across, I couldn't care less on how I say...'I couldn't care less!'
It's like arguing the political correctness of saying "God bless you". You know in what context they're saying the phase, it's not like it's in gibberish. Doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Cherrim]

I think I was guilty of this for a while until I stopped and thought about what I was saying, haha. So many mistakes just like that would be so easily resolved if people would take a second to question whether what they're saying actually makes sense but since it's apparently a well-accepted phrase (or so they think), they don't bother.

It doesn't bug me TOO much, and I don't call people out on it much anymore, but I always notice.

For people that think saying "I could care less" means you don't care..you're wrong :X If you "could care less" you're saying that there are things you care less about than this; implying in-fact that you DO actually care about this.
That's why "I couldn't care less" is accurate; it means "of all things there is nothing I care less about than this".
Can we contribute our own peeves? People who can't properly say "For all intents and purposes". I swear everytime I read someone say "for all intensive purposes" I want to strangle a baby.

This this this this this. >:( I hate when people get "for all intents and purposes" wrong. It's not a hard phrase but I guess if you've never seen it written out before, it can be hard to pick up on the actual wording. I'd say to just google it before you write it so you know the difference but I half-expect that the wrong one would bring up enough hits to make people assume it was right anyway.

Other peeves of mine are when people say "why did you do that for" instead of, you know, "what did you do that for" or "why did you do that". uggh. Also this one might just be me but "same difference" instead of using the phrase "same thing" really irks me. :(