I COULD CARE LESS about I COULDN'T CARE LESS

[samhexum]

Of all the mistakes people make when speaking, either grammatical or misquoting expressions, the one that most drives me up the wall is when somebody says, "I could care less..." about something.

 

THAT MAKES NO SENSE! If you could care less about something, that means you DO care about it, at least a little bit, and it is possible that something could make you care even less than you currently do.

 

HOWEVER, when you use the correct expression, "I COULDN'T CARE LESS..." it means that nothing in the world could cause you to care any less, because you already care as little as is humanly possible for you to care.

 

GOD, I NEEDED TO GET THAT OFF MY CHEST!!!

 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[bigvalboy]

I tend to concentrate more on what people say, than how they say it.

 

 

(apologies if that sentence was grammatically incorrect)

[Jim Corrigan]

I tend to concentrate more on what people say, than how they say it.

 

 

(apologies if that sentence was grammatically incorrect)

Yes Miss Landers

[+ poolboy48220]

I try to as well, but there are certain words/speech patterns/whatever that are like fingernails on a chalkboard. A guy I work with, good guy all around, but hooked on "utilize" instead of "use". Another co-worker who'd consistently interrupt with "no no, I understand"...and he usually didn't understand. A dancer at the local club I chat with a lot, who always starts his sentences with "I was just gonna say...".

[gallahadesquire]

"Gifted." I gifted him a book. I was gifted a book.

 

It's give and gave and given.

 

I know English is a living language, but this is like fingernails on the chalkboard. In my case, it's the feel of etched glass, or unglazed porcelain being rubbed against itself ... ewwww.

[+ purplekow]

"I was just gonna say" is similar to "um" or "er" in that it is a device to allow one to collect one's thoughts and present them. One could make the argument that one should have one's thoughts in order before speaking, but how many of us do that?

Edited October 8, 2017 by purplekow

[+ purplekow]

I tend to concentrate more on what people say, than how they say it.

 

 

(apologies if that sentence was grammatically incorrect)

At times, how they say it is more important that what is said. I think a recent example is trump's multiple pronunciations of Puerto Rico. Although he repeated the phrase over and over again, each repetition of the same words took a different tone.

[+ poolboy48220]

I was just gonna say is similar to "um" or "er" it is a device to allow one to collect the thought and present it. One could make the argument that one should have one's thoughts in order before speaking, but how many of us do that?

I try. I leave it to others to decide if I'm succeeding. ;)And by pausing to do that, someone else has probably jumped in & started talking.

 

This is why I really appreciate my book club. We have a good group of people who actually listen, and let other speak without interrupting as soon as a thought enters their head. The older I get, the more I appreciate this.

[Rudynate]

I think "I could care less" is correct usage. It is an ironic way of saying "I couldn't care less."

 

i·ro·ny1

ˈīrənē/

noun

1. the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
   

[+ quoththeraven]

I think "I could care less" is correct usage. It is an ironic way of saying "I couldn't care less."

 

i·ro·ny1

ˈīrənē/

noun

1. the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
   

It is still confusing to the more literally-minded of us. And I'm not convinced it's always used ironically.

[+ WmClarke]

"Gifted." I gifted him a book. I was gifted a book.

 

It's give and gave and given.

 

I know English is a living language, but this is like fingernails on the chalkboard. In my case, it's the feel of etched glass, or unglazed porcelain being rubbed against itself ... ewwww.

Borrow.

 

I’m going to borrow her my lawn mower. No, you’re going to lend her your lawn mower.

 

He borrowed me a pen. No, he lent you a pen.

[Rudynate]

And I'm not convinced it's always used ironically.

 

I agree that most people probably don't use irony much in day-to-day speech. I'm one who does, and it used to get me in big trouble until I learned to be more mindful of my audience.

[mike carey]

It is still confusing to the more literally-minded of us. And I'm not convinced it's always used ironically.

Used ironically? Nah, flawed usage, not irony!

[+ Avalon]

That was a pet peeve of my father when people would make that mistake.

[+ bashful]

Borrow.

 

I’m going to borrow her my lawn mower. No, you’re going to lend her your lawn mower.

 

He borrowed me a pen. No, he lent you a pen.

 

Never heard people use borrow in that way until I moved to Chicago, and never have elsewhere.

[+ WmClarke]

Never heard people use borrow in that way until I moved to Chicago, and never have elsewhere.

Yep. Big here in cheese land. Maybe Chicago borrowed it to Wisconsin!

[Rudynate]

"Gifted." I gifted him a book. I was gifted a book.

 

It's give and gave and given.

 

I know English is a living language, but this is like fingernails on the chalkboard. In my case, it's the feel of etched glass, or unglazed porcelain being rubbed against itself ... ewwww.

 

 

"according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "gift" has been used as a verb for nearly 400 years."

[BasketBaller]

I have no source to cite, but I have heard that "I could care less" was originally a longer sentence along the lines of "I could care less, I suppose, but not much." And, like "as happy as a clam at high tide," it got elided in common usage.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I couldn't care less about those who could care less... And versa-vice

[+ Avalon]

I had a friend whose pet peeve was when someone would say "irregardless" rather than regardless.

[Good Grief]

Good Grief!

 

Grammar has been beaten to near death (and she's taken to her bed!)

 

https://www.companyofmen.org/threads/there-their-theyre-theres-theirs.124708/

[gallahadesquire]

I had a friend whose pet peeve was when someone would say "irregardless" rather than regardless.

 

You're misquoting him. The word is disirregardless. The two words flammable and inflammable are odd.

[+ Avalon]

You're misquoting him. The word is disirregardless. The two words flammable and inflammable are odd.

 

Thanks! Alas my friend passed away so I can't correct him.

[LaffingBear]

[gallahadesquire]

"according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "gift" has been used as a verb for nearly 400 years."

 

I sang in a church choir. One of the hymns, O Thou Font of Every Blessing, had the line "Here I raise my Ebenezer." We no idea what it meant.

 

We looked it up in the OED, which is (of course) based on historical usage. They had one quote:

 

Here I raise my Ebenezer ...

which came around full circle and taught us ... absolutely nothing.

 

One of the phrases that is of particular interest comes from the song O, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The lyrics of this song (which originally was titled Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing) were written by Robert Robinson in 1758. The second verse of the song begins with these words: “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” If you are like many who have sung this song, the word “Ebenezer” immediately brings to your mind visions of old Ebenezer Scrooge from Dickens’ Christmas Carol, screaming at Bob Cratchet to conserve coal and get to work. Yet, we all know that is not the idea behind this song. Where, then, does the term Ebenezer originate, and what does it mean?

 

In 1 Samuel 7, the prophet Samuel and the Israelites found themselves under attack by the Philistines. Fearing for their lives, the Israelites begged Samuel to pray for them in their impending battle against the Philistines. Samuel offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for His protection. God listened to Samuel, causing the Philistines to lose the battle and retreat back to their own territory. After the Israelite victory, the Bible records: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us’ ” (1 Samuel 7:12).

 

The word Ebenezer comes from the Hebrew words ’Eben hà-ezer (eh’-ben haw-e’-zer)

,

which simply mean “stone of help” (see Enhanced…, 1995). When Robinson wrote his lyrics, he followed the word Ebenezer with the phrase, “Here by Thy great help I’ve come.” An Ebenezer, then, is simply a monumental stone set up to signify the great help that God granted the one raising the stone. In Robinson’s poem, it figuratively meant that the writer—and all who subsequently sing the song—acknowledge God’s bountiful blessings and help in their lives.

 

The next time you sing about raising your Ebenezer, you will be able to “sing with the understanding” that you are acknowledging God’s help in your life (1 Corinthians 14:15).

http://ap.lanexdev.com/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=909