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Wallenstein
10-07-2001, 06:29 PM
Could one of the linguists out there explain this americanism that I have been seeing around the boards now and again, please...?

In this (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=91510) thread, msmith537 wrote

Personally, I could care less of some beurocrat has to sit through my mundane conversations with my girlfriend if it will prevent terrorists from driving a car bomb into the Lincoln tunnel or something.

Um, does this not mean that you do care?

What happened to "I couldn't care less"?

I ain't having a pop at msmith537 or anything - it's just that I happened to notice the phrase in his/her post. :)

To me it makes no sense (no change there then!), but p'raps someone out there could enlighten this confused Brit?!

-- Quirm
Mangetout
10-07-2001, 06:34 PM
yeah

I could care less = I care more than the logical minimum that I could care.

(another confused Brit checking in here)
Revtim
10-07-2001, 06:42 PM
American here. I always assumed it was a corruption of "I couldn't care less". And it's one of my pet peeves, I agree it means the opposite of what people think it means.
Gaspode
10-07-2001, 06:59 PM
This gained popularity in Australia about 15 or so years ago. It started out as "I could care less, but it would take an effort' or something similar. Basically I'm not completely disinterested, but damn close. From there it got shortened to "I could care less", which is thankfully not heard much. I assume something similar probably happened in the US.
Wallenstein
10-07-2001, 07:07 PM
Cheers Gaspode - that makes sense!

Wonder how long it'll be before we hear it this side of the pond... :)

-- Quirm
Earl Snake-Hips Tucker
10-07-2001, 08:23 PM
The words to not literally mean what the phrase means. It almost certainly sprang from "I couldn't care less," but somewhere along the way, the n't got dropped.

Similarly are the phrases "lock and load" and "head over heels," both of which were flip-flopped over time.
typo mna
10-07-2001, 08:29 PM
I used to bite people's heads off when they used this ridiculous phrase, figuring it was, indeed, a nonsensical abbreviation of "I couldn't care less". Then, however, I realized it COULD be interpreted as, "I could care less..." as in, "I could care less, but it would be difficult". Not as likely, I think, but food for thought, perhaps.
samclem
10-07-2001, 08:43 PM
Maven's (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19960610) gives a nice treatment, including time periods of usage.
Glenoled
10-07-2001, 08:47 PM
I always assumed that it was just a form of sarcasm...
like, "I could care less... really I could..."

Glenoled
msmith537
10-07-2001, 09:12 PM
Originally posted by Quirm
Um, does this not mean that you do care?

What happened to "I couldn't care less"?
[/B]


I think Glenoled has it right.

It's not as bad when people say things like "I am literally going insane" when they mean "figuratively". Or using made up words like supposably.
TheLoadedDog
10-07-2001, 09:23 PM
It sounds silly to me too, but I'm going to go with [b]typo mna[b]'s theory. That seems to me the most logical.
TheLoadedDog
10-07-2001, 09:24 PM
Damn. Preview is my casual acquaintance.