# Idioms/Proverbs/Sayings That Don't Make Sense **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243 "2013-10-25T20:47:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/141 "2015-04-15T19:36:23Z")
My latest annoyance are people leaving the key modifier out of an established saying of measurement, leaving it meaningless. Beatles: “Made the bus in seconds flat.” So what? Without a units provided the .0 means nothing, what if it was 99999999999.0 seconds? I am not impressed with that at all. Stupid radio commercial that keeps saying “costing you cents on the dollar” Also totally useless. If it’s “a few cents on the dollar” I may be interested. “But 99 cents on the dollar” or even “250 cents on the dollar” is still “cents on the dollar” You must be clearer man. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/142 "2015-04-15T20:08:42Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > My latest annoyance are people leaving the key modifier out of an established saying of measurement, leaving it meaningless. > > Beatles: > “Made the bus in seconds flat.” > So what? Without a units provided the .0 means nothing, what if it was 99999999999.0 seconds? I am not impressed with that at all. > > Stupid radio commercial that keeps saying > “costing you cents on the dollar” > Also totally useless. If it’s “a few cents on the dollar” I may be interested. “But 99 cents on the dollar” or even “250 cents on the dollar” is still “cents on the dollar” You must be clearer man. I’m coining a new term: recreational ignorance. If you know what the speaker means, the phrase is successful at communicating. But you pretend that you’re ignorant of the intended meaning because you enjoy the satisfaction you get from finding a supposed error in what someone is saying. Recrational ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/143 "2015-04-15T20:31:58Z")
Welcome to this message board,\*\*\*\* lemaypower. \*\*\*\*Please note that this is an older thread (what we call a “zombie thread” around here,) and the original posters might not be replying to the thread anymore. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/144 "2015-04-16T14:22:47Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I see both versions as, basically, making sense. “I couldn’t care less”, is obvious. “I could care less” might be construed as “I suppose I could – just – care less about this issue, than I actually do; but it would be very little less.” (Sarcasm, as mentioned above?) I do feel that “I could care less” has a little more of a contemptuous “bite” to it, than “I couldn’t…” The way I look at it, “I could care less” actually means, “I could care less, but I just can’t be bothered now.” > [@](#): > > I remember a long discussion about “couldn’t care less,” and “could…” ditto, on a discussion board devoted to English-language matters. Consensus of opinion reached, was that “could care less” is what students of language usage call a “sturdy indefensible”: an expression which is at least to some degree wrong / nonsensical / inaccurate, but which many people persist in using, **regardless**. Did you mean “irregardless”? ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/145 "2015-04-16T14:34:15Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > “Nature abhors a vacuum.” > > Then why is way over 99% of the universe a pretty hard vacuum? It’s an ecological niche that has yet to be exploited. Just wait a couple of billions of years… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243.md?page=7)