There is a form of harmony in language that is kin to mathematics and I am sorry that you don't see it.
And this is not a crusade against a specific expression or idiom (even though this one is as wrong as it will ever get). This is a crusade against a blatant misuse of syntax in a language which to a greater extent is a struggle against ignorance and I don't understand how (as a book lover) you cannot appreciate that. But feel free to condone it if you want. I will never agree to it and the rift between well written or spoken English by some and incorrect English by others will only get worse.
It makes me wonder, what are schools doing about it, why aren't they making sure kids have a good knowledge of something as fundamental as the language they will use all their lives to communicate and interact with others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
Language is not mathematics. The analogy doesn't work, if you said "1+1=3", no one would understand what you meant. On the other hand, they would understand if you said "I could care less" and meant it to be synonymous "I couldn't care less."
Again, I don't use "I could care less", I'm just not joining a crusade against it. I don't need to condone anything.
An idiom is "A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words". Clearly, that's what "I could care less" is. If you said "I could care less" and meant that you were capable of having less concern than you have now, it would only cause people do be confused.
|