"Why do people say "I could care less" when they mean they do not care at all?"

Asked by Gary4books 34 months ago

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One might expect them to say "I could not care less" or "I could care more." I think the less throws them off.


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"British linguist Michael Quinion can answer that!"
 by susanl on Mar 31 2007 (34 months ago)
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It has been suggested at that the difference between "I couldn't care less" and "I could care less" is the result of stress and intonation patterns between the two.  Or, there is a possible similarity between this phrase and other Yiddish or more particularly, New York Jewish manners of speaking.

 

Read the whole article at:  http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ico1.htm
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"I believe the original expression was "I couldn't care less""
 by PonderThis on Mar 31 2007 (34 months ago)
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But in our typical high speed, shorten everything you can, get it done yesterday world, the -n't portion of couldn't got swallowed up. Now it's become one of those generally accepted, though incorrect, expressions much like Valentime's Day or Old Timer's disease instead of Alzheimers.
Sources: personal thoughts
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"It could be sarcasm, or a shortening of a longer phrase"
 by Psi_Phi_Org on Mar 31 2007 (34 months ago)
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Two possibilities that I see as to how this usage came about:

First, it could be that someone used the phrase "I could care less" sarcastically, really meaning "I couldn't care less," but people who heard this didn't recognize that it was sarcasm and just took the phrase to be the correct one.  If this happened, there was probably some root source for it, such as a famous movie or political quote, though I am not aware of one.

Second, they could be referring to the phrase "I could care less, but I'd really have to try," which I've heard on a few occasions from different people, but which doesn't seem to be very common.  This is of course a twist on the original phrase, "I couldn't care less."

Anyway, those are my guesses as to how this became so common.
Sources: My guess
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"Defenders claim it's ironic"
 by TeeSeeJay on Mar 31 2007 (34 months ago)
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At the core of the issue is a simple linguistic shortcut, the dropping of a syllable to make it easier to say. This happens all the time; it's why we have contractions. In this case, though, dropping "n't" from the end of "could" changes the meaning of the sentence. I have three things to say about this:

1. It is, technically, a careless mistake, but not one that I consider symptomatic of a larger struggle with English (unlike, say, conflating "could've" with "could of").

2. It doesn't matter, because "could care less" has become idiomatic in the english language, whether you like it or not. See also "ain't". That doesn't stop me from rolling my eyes though; but as implied in #1, I let it slide in people whom I know are intelligent unless I'm feeling particularly snarky.

3. In what I think is a post-hoc rationalization, defenders of "could care less" call it ironic, as though the intention all along was to convey the opposite of what was communicated. I find this contention weak, and prefer more honesty: "Oh, that's just what I happen to say. So what?"
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"Holy Crap!"
 by SOTWord on Mar 31 2007 (34 months ago)
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I love you now!  I’ve been asking that for years!  Any why in the h--- do the words "ravel" and "unravel" mean the same thing?

 

Go figure!
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Latest post on this question's discussion board:

When it comes down to it, I tend to use "I don't give a flying ****" which is about as direct as you can get, won't be misinterpreted, and is every bit as nasty as I intend to be without having to resort to baroque sarcasm. :)
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