Why do Americans say they 'could care less'

[wodin]

___________________

[mjh215]

wodin; You just made me think if Gone with the Wind was made today the line would read, "Frankly, my dear, I could not f'ing care less!"

-MJ

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by mjh215

wodin; You just made me think if Gone with the Wind was made today the line would read, "Frankly, my dear, I could not f'ing care less!"

-MJ

Or maybe a more succinct, "Whatever!".

[Taylor514ce]

This thread begs the question, "could I care less?". And the answer, for all intensive purposes, is "no".

[Taylor514ce]

I had this conversation regarding "could care less" with someone I respect. Her take on it was that it was consciously sarcastic, in the sense that, one could care less, but can't be bothered to try (that's how little one cares). Or, that it was a way of expressing an infinite amount of not caring. No matter how little one currently cares, it's possible to care even less, ad infinitum.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

And the answer, for all intensive purposes, is "no".

Accckkkk! Runs screaming to hide head under pillow.....

[krisk]

Originally Posted by thibaulthalpern

In American English, "could care less" and "could not care less" means the same thing. Why that is, I don't know.

I'm not certain what "American English" you speak, but it doesn't work that way in my "American English".

[Daithi]

let me ax you question then why due peeplz say "could care less" and everybodies nos what dey mint? huh?

gramar is dum!!!!!!

[krisk]

Originally Posted by Daithi

let me ax you question then why due peeplz say "could care less" and everybodies nos what dey mint? huh?

gramar is dum!!!!!!

oh my gosh! you sound like so many people! my brain begins shut down mode when I hear people speaking like that.

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by krisk

oh my gosh! you sound like so many people! my brain begins shut down mode when I hear people speaking like that.

Oh, come on, that was funny.

[krisk]

yeah it was, and you got it right, I still HATE it when I hear people speak that way!

[Stitchawl]

We Americans do tend towards sloppy speaking in general.
'Shoulda,' 'gonna,' 'khuradi,' (that was 'karate,' kah-rah-tay ) carioki instead of karaoke (kah-rah-O-keh,) etc. 'Harry karry' instead of hara kiri. That really winds me up! And this isn't even taking into consideration regional variations. How do Californians understand folks from rural Georgia? Or Brooklyn?

Stitchawl

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by mogui

What a great thread this is!

English speakers in China often carry over their response to questions from the Mandarin. If you ask them, "You don't want a spanking do you?", they will say "yes". Why? Because they are responding to the truth or falsity of the question, rather than the content of it. The response often turns out to be the opposite of what we expect and creates many misunderstandings. But it is great fun to try and teach them the other answer form.

In Japanese, it's considered polite to ask someone to do something using the negative form. "Don't you want to have a drink with me?" It's thought to be less aggressive. In order not to be misunderstood, the response would include the action verb with a positive form. "Yes, let's go drinking."

When asking a student 'didn't you do your homework?' and he answers 'yes,' a western teacher will ask to see it, and the confused student will wonder why the teacher doesn't understand that the student didn't do it. He was acknowledging that fact by saying 'yes, he didn't do his homework.'

[Laine]

Last year on the train I sat behind a couple of early 20ish women and their conversation was riddled with - I'm like, he's like and she's like when they mean said.
e.g. He's like, "Where did you go?" And I'm like, "To Parramatta."
Irritated me no end. Reminded me of some years ago when they were saying I go, he goes and she goes for said. That came from a tv comedy program I think.

[nekokami]

"liberry."