# When did "couldn't care less" become "could care less"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2002, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358 "2002-10-22T10:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lou\_E.Thunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Lou\_E.Thunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lou_E.Thunder)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358/41 "2002-10-24T08:28:16Z")
I dont know if its been said yet but maybe it started out as “…Like i could care less” and then people got lazy? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358/42 "2002-10-24T15:14:44Z")
Public illiteracy among those who should know better is becoming rampant. The other day on NPR I heard one of the announcers say _statue of limitations_! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358/43 "2002-10-28T13:44:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hari Seldon \* > \*\*What about, “Have your cake and eat it too”?, which bugged the Unabomber. \*\* Huh? I know he hated technology, but incorrectly phrased aphorisms? ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358/44 "2002-10-28T15:27:44Z")
People, people, people. When are you going to realize that language isn’t math or formal logic? Language is not for the literal-minded. That’s why everyone knows that a double-negative is _more_ negative than a single, and that “I could care less” means the opposite of its constituent words. Both should be avoided in formal writing, whose audience is presumed to include those for whom English is a second language. But amongst ourselves, these phrases are much more vivid than the pallid alternatives pendants prefer. Look at the fate of Esperanto and you’ll see that a language’s robustness depends on its illogic. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358/45 "2002-10-28T16:25:14Z")
On Saturday Night Live in the early 80’s, Edwin Newman (rather famous news anchor) did a ‘bit’ about grammar and what not. He said that he was tired of hearing people say “I could care less” when the implication is supposed to be that you care so little that you “couldn’t care less”. I couldn’t care less that you have 2,000 posts. So, it ain’t a recent thing. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358/46 "2002-10-28T23:33:36Z")
Yes, as noted earlier in the thread, it’s been around in the US since the 60’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-couldnt-care-less-become-could-care-less/133358.md?page=2)