"I could/couldn't care less"

[Skinner]

Poll question: "I could/couldn't care less"

Admit it. Which one do you say?

[GOPisEvil]

1. I make a point to say the phrase correctly. I couldn't care less.

If you say "I could care less", then that means you care a lot.

[LynzM]

5. Same here.

It's definitely on my 'pet peeves' list...

[barb162]

22. Yes, I make it a point too, unless I was talking to my mom

because she always did it wrong. And unless I said it her way, she'd tell me I was a smartass brat and get even madder at me.

[Pirate Smile]

26. True. I say "Couldn't" and when said the other way it doesn't mean

what people are trying to say.:crazy:

[Dervill Crow]

31. My family tells me I said it incorrectly once while under the influence

of several margaritas. Perhaps the "'nt" was slightly slurred, but in all honesty, I cannot believe I would EVER do anything that grammatically incorrect.

Husband: You said you could care less!
Me: I did not!
Child #1: Yeah, you did. I heard it, too.
Me: I did NOT say that. I said I COULDN'T care less!
Child #2: No, you said you could care less!
Husband: You said it. I heard it.
Me: No way!

And on it went until I finally said, "whatever!" Of course, that was another word that I chastised the kids for, so it began again.

[biscodawg]

2. I admit nothing

don't you have some swedish fish to eat or something? :P

[XemaSab]

3. Why do you care?

n/t

[Skinner]

6. I care

because depending on the answer you give, I might secretly pass judgment on you.

[XemaSab]

8. Uhoh

:scared:

[Catshrink]

14. Uh-oh. Skinner's joined the grammar police.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

[Skinner]

20. No worries.

I'm not gonna delete your post or nuthin'. I'm just sayin' that secretly, I might be passing judgment...

[existentialist]

52. I could find a lot of things I care

much more strongly about.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

4. You first.

[AlienGirl]

7. "I could care less" suggests that I care

Which I don't, so I couldn't care less! :shrug:

Tucker

[Bucky]

16. Unless you say "could" sarcastically

As in "I could care less, but it would require being locked in small cage with a rapid puma." And let me tell you, that happens a lot more often than you'd expect.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Neither. I don't give an airborne intercourse. (nt)

[jpgray]

10. Could care less doesn't make much sense

All it means is that you are not at the absolute minimum of caring. You could care almost not at all, or you could care the maximum amount anyone could care. It's like saying "I could go north" in its meaninglessness--that one could accurately describe every location but the north pole.

[ghostsofgiants]

11. "Couldn't care less"

"Could care less" means that you do in fact care.

[texas1928]

12. I prefer...

I don't give a Flying F***

[VelmaD]

13. Are you really Skinner?

Or have the aliens abducted the real Skinner and replaced him with an incredibly lifelike replicant? Enquiring minds wanta know?

[Skinner]

24. Skinner is, in fact, asleep right now.

I'm a chat-bot that Skinner set up to give the appearance that he's online 24/7. You'll be seeing a lot of me...

[VelmaD]

27. Ok...now I know you're the real Skinner...

I'd recognize that dry wit anywhere. :)

BTWS, I have a question. How come we can't get into the old ATA threads anymore? I know the forum is gone, but I had some fun threads from ATA bookmarked (including the one where I got you to sing kumba ya in teh Lounge.)

[Skinner]

29. We felt that it was probably better if that forum went away.

Completely.

[VelmaD]

30. I suppose I understand...

but I'm still bummed that that kumba ya thread is gone...and the one where we asked for ice cream because we had gone 200 posts in a thread on the pope without anyone getting a post deleted. :)

There were good times to be had in ATA...if you could wade through all the crap.

[enigmatic]

15. Depends on if I'm drunk..

but I usually say "couldn't care less"..

[FuzzySlippers]

17. I bet you couldn't care less that sundog

is being a meanypants to me.:cry:

[sundog]

32. and he doesn't

:evilgrin:

[johnnie]

18. Both are correct

"Couldn't care less" is the correct phrase, but someone "could care less" if they didn't care much, but had room to care even less.

[Avalux]

19. "Couldn't care less"

which means I don't care at all. ;-)

[Redstone]

21. "I could care less" is a regionalism here and there,

but that doesn't make it any less wrong.

Just like when people say "have your cake and eat it, too." That's extraordinarily stupid...of course you can have your cake, and then eat it as well. It's doesn't take any magic, or even much skill, to accomplish that.

But what is more difficult, and was the original saying, is that you can't eat your cake, then still have it as well.

Nobody knows when the original saying got reversed to a really dumb statement.

Redstone

[kevsand]

39. Actually, it means exactly the same thing both ways.

You can't have your cake, and eat it too, because if you eat it, then you no longer have it. It doesn't matter which way you say it, it's the same thing. What's dumb is wanting to have cake without ever eating it. What's up with that?

[Redstone]

49. But you CAN have it and THEN eat it if you're talking about a

linear process.

But not the other way around.

Doesn't matter to me one way or the other, because I'd sooner eat dirt than cake, but there you have it anyway.

Redsonte

[kevsand]

56. As it is usually expressed,

the use of "and" in the phrase implies a simultaneous state. It only becomes linear if an additional word is added, as you have done. But I couldn't care less about it, either.

I am curious, however, about your apparent hostility to cake. As a baker's son, I have always assumed cake to be a universal force for good in the universe. You seem to disagree. Is there a story?

[Redstone]

59. No real story. I just lost interest in sweet food when

I was about ten years old.

I never eat candy, chocolate, cake, or anything like that. We do make fruit pies in the summer when the fruit is fresh, but we put very little sugar in them.

No health or political reasons. I just don't like sweet food.

It's OK with me for everyone else to like it. There's nothing wrong with it.

Redstone

[kevsand]

64. That's cool.

And something of a relief. Not that I lie awake nights obsessing over the role of cake in the cosmos, but as weird as things have been at DU the last few days, I was worried that I might have stumbled into some kind of "Democrats Against Cake" splinter group that I was previously unaware of...

[Redstone]

75. Oh, that's funny. Don't be surprised if such a group, or

one just as surreal, does acutally pop up.

Redstone

[youthere]

86. MMMMM....Cake. n/t

[no name no slogan]

23. I've heard both are acceptable

as in "I could care less, but why would I bother?"; and
"I really couldn't care less".

At least that's what that uptight old biddy Ms Manners says. :P

[Lady Effingbroke]

25. "I couldn't care less".

"I couldn't care less" implies a complete lack of caring, whereas "I could care less" indicates that the speaker, while disliking something greatly, still harbors a modicum of positive feelings towards the particular topic of discussion.

[bridgit]

28. oh, well...

i could care less ~

[Gormy Cuss]

33. I could care less

Irregardless of how you say it, its not going to effect me.
Couldn't, could. Whatever.

:evilgrin:

[tibbir]

34. I know the proper way to say the phrase

but I'm too lazy to go through the motions.

[kevsand]

37. Anyone who says they "couldn't" care less

is taking too long to talk, probably because they're in love with the sound of their own voice. That extra syllable means I'll be bored before the end of their sentence. :boring:

[Bossy Monkey]

35. I COULD care less. I could! I just don't.

:P

[nickgutierrez]

36. What's this, then?

Skinner? In the lounge? Not laying down the law?

But the full moon ended just a couple of days ago... ;)

(It's 'couldn't care less', by the way.)

[bridgit]

40. maybe 'gd' hit 'alert' on the whole lounge...

:cry: that we just don't care about the important issues of the day :shrug: :rofl: :kick: :patriot:

[Ikonoklast]

38. I don't give a fat rats' ass

either way. :shrug:

[youthere]

87. selfish! i want some of that fat rat's ass. n/t

[miss_kitty]

41. "I could care less...

...but I don't know how it's possible."
(With liberal use of :eyes:)

[Ramsey]

42. It depends

On what I mean to say.

"I could care less" means that there are things I possibly could care less about than the present situation, but it would really be a sarcastic thing to say.

The appropriate colloquialism is to say "I could not care less", which is what I think this phrase is generally meant to convey, which is a total disdain for the other conversant's point of view.

[khashka]

43. Don't you have better things to do than this

Mister Man?

Khash.
(I love it when you show that you are just as dumb as the rest of us :) )

[Evergreen Emerald]

44. My answer depends:

Is it chocolate cake?

[Floogeldy]

45. "I could care less" is a signal you haven't written the person off.

Very sly, to use that phrase.

:)

[WilliamPitt]

46. Irregardless

:)

[comsymp]

73. Between you and I, that was cute

;-)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

47. Depends

Am I at the end of my ability to care or do I still have a slight reserve left? That's really your question.

Meh... My glass is still 1/4 full I could care less.

*gulp*

Now I couldn't. :beer: :hi:

[samplegirl]

48. could'nt should'nt would'nt

but I do

[kodi]

50. i can't think of a more inflammable question, or is that flammable?

.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

51. Hi there, Skinner!

How nice to see you posting in such a light-hearted way...Maybe things have settled down enough that you feel you can mingle with the rest of us Lounge Lizards, and have some fun...

BTW, it's "couldn't"...




:hi:

[existentialist]

53. When it comes right down to it

doesn't it depend which of the two you mean?

Both are potentially correct and sensible statements, but their meanings are different. I believe that I have used both on occasion depending on the circumstance.

[swag]

54. "I could care less" reflects a New Yorker's sense of irony,

while "I couldn't care less" is for the hat-wearing literalists among us.

"I could care less" was coined as a phrase a long time ago, before we killed irony.

[swag]

57. The "irony" explanation , put forward by PInker et al.

often comes under attack, but I was talking about the origins of the ironic "I could care less" (vs. the sincere "I couldn't care less."), not the application of "I could care less" as used today. "I could care less" flowed down through generations of people and memes, and lost in ironic intention what it gained in stock phrase status.

As far as who says what, I couldn't care less.

[name not needed]

55. mmm. pancakes.

[RandomKoolzip]

58. It's SPELLED "I could care less," but it's pronounced "I'm really dumb."

[jurassicpork]

60. There's an old saying...

"Life is a comedy who those who think and a tragedy to those that feel."

In today's political climate, there's both: Our curse is that we care too much and do a bit too much crying and a bit too little laughing.

JP
http://jurassicpork.blogspot.com

[Rabrrrrrr]

61. I say it correctly, of course

I'm not a backwater shit-swilling half-brained gap-toothed ignorant fuck.

It is always "I couldn't care less", except in those rare instances when I really do mean "I could care less".

[Placebo]

62. I trained myself long ago to say "couldn't"...

after a grammar nazi turned me out for saying "could" :scared:

but i'm all the better for it in the end! :)

[trackfan]

63. When gramatically analyzed, of course "I couldn't care less"

makes the appropriate sense. However, "I could care less", I maintain, is still correct, and, in my opinion, preferable, as it is simply an accepted idiomatic expression which means (of course) "I couldn't care less".

Something doesn't have to actually MEAN what it says in order to make a point. "Fuck you" is a very strong expresssion of contempt and negative feeling, having, usually, nothing to do with the meaning of the word "fuck". When you say it, though, everyone knows what you mean. It's the same thing when you say "I could care less".

[terrya]

65. "I couldn't care less"

No, that's what I say. :-)

[ScreamingMeemie]

66. Ahhh...is this an effort to make us tow the line??

:shrug:

[New Earth]

67. who cares?

:o lol actually i do admit i say 'i could care less' :blush:

[Maeve]

68. Both

Depends on how sarcastic I feel.

[Midlodemocrat]

69. "I could care less" ranks right up there with irregardless and youse.

[Radio_Lady]

91. "More importantly" which drives me nuts. It's everywhere! n/t

[SmokingJacket]

70. Actually I COULD care less.

But I care so little, I can't even bother to care less.

[Maddy McCall]

71. Sometimes I say "I could care less" with heavy sarcasm intoned in my voice

On a message board, though, you can't hear sarcasm, so I type that I couldn't care less.

[Modem Butterfly]

72. Depends on how much I care

If I'm being sarcastic, I'll say "I could care less," as though, with some effort, I could become less concerned with the issue at hand. If I'm being flippant, I'll say, "I couldn't care less,", as in no amount of effort could get me to care even less than I do right now.

[Robb]

74. Answer "C":

Skinner is a Dingbat. :P



....What the hell kind of poll is this?!? :D

[Wapsie B]

76. I could care less

But who cares?

[Aristus]

77. ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!

MAJOR PET PEEVE! THE WORST! :grr::mad::grr::mad::grr::mad::grr::mad:

People! THINK about what you are saying!

I could NOT care less!

If you COULD care less, then you obviously care at least a little about whatever it is you are discussing, right? RIGHT?!?

People, THINK!





*that is all...*

[Hugin]

78. Is this like the "all you care to eat" controversy?

I remember "All you can eat" being protested by those
who said technically they could eat more, but, chose
not to.

[skygazer]

79. Drives me nuts when people say "I could care less"

I always ask them "how much less could you care?" which seems to confuse and piss them off.

[rasputin1952]

80. I have to say I care...I just went through thjis entire thread, and other

being secretly judged by the Big Guy, I am amused....:)

Yes, I could care less, then again...:dilemma:

[In_The_Wind]

81. dammit Skinner ~ I care!

on the other hand I could care less.

[HEyHEY]

82. Couldn't

[I Know How To Do it]

83. I could give crap.

[Throckmorton]

84. My Hovercraft is full of Eels

Drop you panties Sir William I cannot wait till lunchtime.

[Mutley]

85. We have way deep discussions around here I see.

:D

I say "couldn't care less".

[DemExpat]

88. I use both, but mostly "I could care less"......this article explains

how it might havve derived from the orginal British "I couldn't care less" in the U.S.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ico1.htm

Basically it says it is sarcasm, and possibly derived from Yiddish with similar type expressions like "I should be so lucky!" and "Tell me about it"....when the opposite is implied sarcastically.

I guess I have been around my Jewish friend for so many years that these expressions are familiar to me, along with "I could care less"....

To me it ranks in the same category as "I could give a crap..." "I could care less"......but I DON'T.

:D

DemEx

[bluecrush]

89. We could use another thread

on "bring" and "take!"

[bridgit]

90. agreed...

[Donkeyboy75]

92. Pet peeve numero uno.

"Could care less" makes NO sense.

[bridgit]

93. 'could' care less lends, for me, a sense of hope...

as though the process is still in a state of flux & that matters could, from within that process, be, somehow, cared for more, as a for instance, whereas couldn't care less, suggests the personification of the end-game itself. but i think you to be right @ your core opinion as is seen in the drivel twixt: thought & thinking