Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
Language and logic have only a passing acquaintance. "I couldn't care less" and "I could care less" mean the same thing, even if we think they ought to mean the opposite. If someone used "I could care less" to mean that they had some quantity of caring, but they could in fact care at a lower level, that would be logically correct, but would only lead to confusion. People aren't confused by "I could care less", they understand that it means the same thing as "I couldn't care less".
I don't use "I could care less", but it communicates just as effectively.
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It only communicates as effectively because most people know what you mean.
"Are you able to pay less taxes?"
- "I could pay less taxes" (if I would fill out the form correctly)
- "I couldn't pay less taxes" (because I already pay none)
It's a big difference. If expressions fall out of use or spelling changes, all fine by me. However, the expressions above are not interchangeable because one is affirmative, the other is not.