"Could care less"
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2003 11:41 pm
Much is made of the differences between US and British English, which increasingly are becoming different dialects with all kinds of differences cropping up all the time. I know when I wrote a review for this site, there was a lot of debate about little slang terms I'd used which were rejected by Ian's SO which were then replaced and augmented with bits of US slang which I wasn't keen on and so on
I've noticed one in particular though which has become almost a pet-hate of mine; "could care less".
ie. "I could care less what drive LiteOn come up with next".
This implies that the person making the statement cares a little (or maybe even a lot) about the subject. This makes it a bit of a non-statement doesn't it? Especially as we in the UK would say
"I could not care less what drive LiteOn come up with next"
Which implies that the person does not care at all, in other words is completely indifferent. Surely logic dictates that is the more "correct" thing to say?
Or am I missing some detail here which will bring the whole thing into focus?
I've noticed one in particular though which has become almost a pet-hate of mine; "could care less".
ie. "I could care less what drive LiteOn come up with next".
This implies that the person making the statement cares a little (or maybe even a lot) about the subject. This makes it a bit of a non-statement doesn't it? Especially as we in the UK would say
"I could not care less what drive LiteOn come up with next"
Which implies that the person does not care at all, in other words is completely indifferent. Surely logic dictates that is the more "correct" thing to say?
Or am I missing some detail here which will bring the whole thing into focus?