# I could care less **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772 "2000-08-17T19:52:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/1 "2000-08-17T19:52:04Z")
Why do people use the ridiculous expression: “I could care less”? Don’t they realize that this is the exact opposite of what they are trying to convey? The intended meaning is that the person does not care at all, but the literal meaning of the phrase is that the person actually _does_ care. Does anyone follow what I’m saying? I think the proper expression would be to say “I _couldn’t_ care less.” Anyone know the story behind this? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/2 "2000-08-17T19:57:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyone know the story behind this? Yes. People are frelling idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/3 "2000-08-17T20:09:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AerynSun \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Anyone know the story behind this? > > Yes. People are frelling idiots. \*\* I’m sure I speak for us all when I say we could all care less. Marc ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/4 "2000-08-17T20:10:14Z")
I’m generally a real stickler for clarity of expression, but I’ve always let this one slide because somehow not getting it quite right seems to express even greater apathy. Not a theory of origin; just a sense that it’s somehow appropriate as is. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/5 "2000-08-17T20:10:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Outrider \* > \*\* > I think the proper expression would be to say “I _couldn’t_ care less.” > > Anyone know the story behind this? \*\* I just think they could care less about grammar. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/6 "2000-08-17T20:12:16Z")
Simulposts with simulsentiments! ---
**Author:** ![Outrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@Outrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Outrider)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/7 "2000-08-17T20:12:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\* > I just think they could care less about grammar. \*\* How did I know this was going to happen? There’s just something about meta-humor that otherwise intelligent people are powerless to resist. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/8 "2000-08-17T20:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Outrider \* > > I think the proper expression would be to say “I _couldn’t_ care less.” > > Anyone know the story behind this? I could care less. Head over heels. Cheap at half the price. WAG: irony. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/9 "2000-08-17T20:38:44Z")
I’ve always just heard this as sarcasm, along the lines of “I could care less … like maybe about the 1938 betel-nut production in Pago Pago”. ---
**Author:** ![Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/10 "2000-08-17T20:56:51Z")
I’ve always used both the common expession and the “correct” expression. Why? Because I look at it this way. “I could care less” to me means there are some things that I care less about, but not many. I couldn’t care less is of course the absolute bottom of the caring scale. Its a difference of degrees of not caring. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/11 "2000-08-17T21:14:08Z")
There ain’t no problem with that. ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/12 "2000-08-17T22:00:59Z")
> **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com?date=19960610)** > > Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/13 "2000-08-17T22:44:15Z")
I once went to my uncle to tell him a story I thought would concern him and he said: “Out of 100 things in life, I couldn’t care less about 99 of them… and this is one of them”. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/14 "2000-08-18T14:30:34Z")
So what was the 1938 betel-nut production in Pago Pago? I’m just dying to know… ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/15 "2000-08-18T14:54:33Z")
My dad told me about an expression people used when he was a kid, a facetious answer to a dumb question. (Since then, I use it myself) To wit: **“I don’t know, and I could care less.”** Meaning, “The answer to your question is ‘null,’ and my interest in the subject thereof is even less than that.” It probably mutated from that, much the same way that “irregardless” mutated from the legitimate terms “regardless” and “irregard.” ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/16 "2000-08-18T15:47:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mrblue92 \* > \*\*So what was the 1938 betel-nut production in Pago Pago? I’m just dying to know… \*\* [pulls a number out of thin air] About two hogsheads per capita. Rather a lot, really. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/17 "2000-08-18T16:05:50Z")
I always say it this way–\> “I could care less, but it would require a strong hit to the head, and specialized anti-caring equipment” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-care-less/29772/18 "2000-08-18T17:04:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Myron Van Horowitzski \* > “Irregardless” mutated from the legitimate terms “regardless” and “irregard.” Irregard ain’t a word. Disregard. This post has been brought to you in part by The Sosiety Fer Gooder Spellin An Grammer.