Thursday, January 6, 2011

Could you really care less?

If you cringe whenever you hear "I could care less," you'll be glad to know that someone has finally corrected this statement. It was on last night's Modern Family when one of the characters - the rather uptight Mitchell - corrected his partner who had said emphatically, "I could care less."

To express a complete lack of concern, you'd say instead, “I could not care less.” If you could care less, it means you still care. It means that there is still a reservoir of care left within you. If you could not care less, it indicates that you have not one smidgen of care left to give.

4 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to this new blog, Barbara. Always interested in your take on language.

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  2. Thank goodness for that! I thought I was the one who was out of step with, 'I couldn't care less'!

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  3. I am so with you on this!! I have to stop myself from yelling at people when they say it. I just say, "well if you could care less, then you care more than you think."

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  4. I'm with you, too, Barb! This is one of MANY grammar pet peeves I have! Don't get me started on people who say "feel badly" or don't know the (easy) difference between "further" and "farther." AND one of the biggest things that make me cringe -- when people don't know the difference between subjects and objects and say things like "Come to the meeting with Jan and I." Ouch! Or people who use "myself" in instances when it can ONLY be "I" or "me." "Myself" is only reflexive; it's not a substitute for "I" or "me." "I hit myself in the face" is fine, BUT "Please give a copy to Bill, Linda, and myself" is NOT. Okay, I'll stop now -- you can see you've really struck a nerve -- haha! Keep up the good work -- love your writing!

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