Now, I have done an advanced search and couldn’t find a thread on this topic anywhere, so hopefully I am not duplicating any previous discussion.
The reason the thread is in General as opposed to Great Debates is because I would like to know whether the American expression “I could care less” has always been accepted usage, or whether the UK expression “I couldn’t care less” has ever been common currency in the States, and somehow became transmuted into “I could care less”.
I am not seeking to provoke a debate here on the relative merits of either expression (although obviously I do have a strong opinion) , rather I wish to ascertain whether the UK usage was ever the preferred usage in the States.
I have a bet with my wife that among the first ten replies on this thread, somebody will post up “I could care less” as the entire content of the post. Don’t let me down …
I can’t point to any cites, but I’m American and I say “couldn’t”, as do several other people I know. My assumption is that “couldn’t” was the original saying here, but it morphed into “could” sometime in the last few decades.
I’m sure an etymologist will be around shortly to straighten us both out.
In my experience, the couldn’t version is more common in the US, and the could version always sounds like the person saying it doesn’t know what the words mean, and couldn’t care less.
I disagree strongly that the ‘I could care less’ version is senseless; it has an inventive inversion or implication that makes the listener think. In fact it seems to be an evolved form of the original idiom, which is somewhat dull and pedestrian.
I don’t buy it. I’ve heard “I could care less” defended before, but I’m not convinced. I believe that, at least nine times out of ten, the person who says “I could care less” is simply being careless (no pun intended) and doesn’t think about the actual meaning of what he/she says, though I’d be interested in any hard evidence you have to the contrary.
**“I could care less” is absolutely useless as an indicator of how much you care because the *only *thing that it rules out is that you don’t care at all which is exactly what you are trying to convey.
‘I could care less’ has many possible interpretations.
I could care less but that would be difficult and I really can’t be bothered.
I could care less, but not much less.
I could care less,* but not by much.*
and so on.
And (as pointed out in that link), it is an example of a sarcastic inversion, like Tell me about it!
All in all, a much richer idiom than the ‘couldn’t’ version.
I could care less because I care very deeply.
I could care less because I’m caring with 100% of my soul.
I could care less or more because I’m right on the fence.
The fact that “I could care less” covers every possible amount of caring except the situation in which the speaker doesn’t care at all, which is what they’re trying to convey, makes “I could care less” absolutely meaningless.
Folks that insist “I could care less” is some witty, sarcastic saying are merely covering their asses.
When I was younger I assumed it was a humorous slant on “I couldn’t care less”. I could care less theoretically, but my level of caring is so low I can’t be bothered to actually care less.
In reality, it’s simply negation by association. The phrase stopped being analyzed as separate parts but as a single concept and the negatory aspect of the not was applied to the entire phrase. The not ended up getting deleted through lack of emphasis but the phrase retains its negatory sense. Same thing is true with “I couldn’t/could give a damn.”
Sarcasm uses tone of voice to reverse the meaning of the literal words. In the extreme case it becomes a joke unto itself, like the example of a double negative meaning a positive being “yeah, right.”
Clearly the original was “I couldn’t care less.” At some point people started using it sarcastically and saying the equivalent of “yeah, right, I could care less,” with every clause being a sarcastic “who cares?”
But as people have correctly said, idiom has its own rules. Idiom does not need to make literal sense. It does not need to conform with grammar. It has a life of its own and must be accepted for what it’s intended to mean, not what the words separately might mean in a dictionary.
“I could care less” is an idiom. It is completely correct and proper when used as intended.
Sorry, pedants. This seems to be another example of your knowing everything about English except how it actually works. Complaining about “I could care less” is a giant red flag.