by Grammar Girl
Why do people say they could care less when, logically, they mean they couldn’t care less?
In the early 1990s, the well-known Harvard linguist Stephen Pinker argued that the way most people say could care less — the way they emphasize the words — implies they are being ironic or sarcastic. Other linguists have argued that the type of sound at the end of couldn’t is naturally dropped by sloppy or slurring speakers.*
Regardless of the reason people say they could care less, it is one of the more common language peeves because of its illogical nature. People often call in about the error when I’m a guest on radio shows. To say you could care less means you have a bit of caring left, which is not what the speakers seem to intend. The proper couldn’t care less is still the dominant form in print, but a Google Ngram search shows could care less has been steadily gaining ground since its appearance in the 1960s:
Stick with couldn’t care less if you don’t want to irritate people. As Michael Quinion says on his World Wide Words blog, sarcasm “loses its force when put on paper and just ends up looking stupid.”
*The Garner’s Modern American Usage entry cites a 1973 article by Atcheson L. Hench in the journal American Speech.
Mignon Fogarty is the author of Grammar Girl’s 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
Irritating grammar leads me to say “I could care less.” In this case, it means I do care. Poor grammar is a speech issue more often than a writing problem, I’d bet. With writing, we may take the extra time to check for mistakes. With speech, we’re forced to stumble and correct ourselves if our inner editor is working at all.
I even suspect that we often don’t hear our errors. Even if we know a word use is wrong, we don’t consciously notice our bad speech habits.
The argument for it being used sarcastically simply indicates how certain regions of the world fail to understand sarcasm. Sarcasm is more subtle than simply saying stuff that isn’t true in a silly voice. I blame Daria.
I have always heard it audibly almost ending with ellipsis, as if to imply “I could care less. . .”
-but it would be difficult
-but it would require too much effort
-but why bother
However, since I’ve never SEEN it end with ellipsis, I’d stick with “I couldn’t care less” in written form as you suggested.
Huh, that’s a good point. Perhaps if you italicised the “could” in print it would have the desired effect.
I think “I could care less” is less common in Britain, in speech and print alike, but I could be wrong.
You’re right – I’ve never heard a British person say it.
Pinker’s idea is strange. Everybody I know whom I have corrected did not realize they were saying it wrong.
That the usage of “I could care less” is on the rise only underscores the rising rate of illiteracy in our society.
According to Wikipedia (if you want to treat that as a reliable source, I’m sure there are good reasons not to), “World illiteracy halved between 1970 and 2005″.
This comes with some caveats, of course:
we have to trust that the way that they are measuring literacy is valid to begin with;
we have to trust that the statistics are not being misrepresented in some way;
we have to trust that the trend has continued in the last six years and not undergone a very dramatic reversal.
In regards to the first, Wikipedia appears to have a very strong descriptivist bias when it comes to language, so if you are more prescriptivist you will probably disagree with its assessment of what constitutes a literate individual.
Other than that I trust it. It fits with what we know about increasing levels of prosperity and the vast improvements in various channels for the dissemination of information.
If anyone with a solid background in stats wants to weigh in here I’d be grateful.
Link here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy
This misuse is one of my pet peeves. I’ve come across it a number of times in books that I’ve proofed and copyedited. The regular misuse in speech seems to be causing it to crop up in writing, too. I recently featured this this topic on my blog.
-Neal
Fascinating graph. It tends to substantiate something that I have believed for many years: America began to get stupid with John F. Kennedy. Whether Kennedy’s presidency was the cause of stupidity or the result remains unclear. I suspect the latter.
//That the usage of “I could care less” is on the rise only underscores the rising rate of illiteracy in our society.//
In my experience, when people learn idioms, they don’t think too much about them. For example, I used, “Oh my stars and garters,” for years before I bothered to learn where it came from.
As in Frank’s case, every person I’ve corrected didn’t realize they were saying it wrong.
I’ve always gone by my 2nd Grade teacher’s advice for communication: Pay attention to the word order, it can be critical to the meaning of what you intend to say.
“I couldn’t care less” = “I have more interest in how many total Golgi Apparatus there are in the deer population of Montana.”
“I could care less”= “I have more interest in what we’re talking about than all those Golgi Apparatus in Montana deer.”
It bugs me so much that I made a page on Facebook for this exact incorrectly used phrase! Now, I need all of you grammar geeks to tell me how to correctly title my page, which now reads, “I couldn’t care less”, and other phrases people use incorrectly. Thanks
Oops! I meant, “I COULD care less”, and other phrases people use incorrectly.
If we’re to be pedantic, I think you mean “how to title my page correctly”, not “how to correctly title my page”, since the latter involves the use of a split infinitive. You should NOT split your infinitives;-)
That’s actually a myth, Shimona. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/split-infinitives.aspx
True, if you want to be pedantic, but in point of fact, this is merely a convention derived from Latin, where it would have been impossible to split an infinitive. This is a pointless prescriptivist rule and only someone as dogmatic as a pedant would care about it. I, for one, couldn’t care less.
This has been a most enlightening column with great comments. The Google Ngram is worth the price of admission! I love your passion everyone! @Frank, I’d agree with your experience vs. Pinker’s theory. @J. Worthington Squeegie and @ Curmudgeon: I suspect dropping grammar from the curriculum along with a younger, less rigorously educated media has promulgated increasing misuse, along with writing by the masses, a new phenomenon, in digital media. @ Alyssa, I’ll “Like” your page
@ Drew, “stars and garters” is a funny one. A new Ballpoint app called PhraseWit—which includes this phrase—will hit the App Store in a couple of weeks. I’d love to have your favorites included. Thanks again, Grammar Girl!!!
David Mitchell’s rant about “couldn’t care less” is one of the funnier of his soapbox videos. It starts around 0:50. Complete with a bar graph showing amount of caring.
Brilliant, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Though I suppose I could’ve said it better if you want to use the American vernacular.
LOVE this — not only because you’re a local (I’m from Reno, too!), but also because hearing someone utter “I could care less” is one of my biggest grammar pet peeves.
I mean, come on: The incorrect usage of this phrase can actually mean the exact opposite of what you’re trying to say.
Thanks for bringing this important issue to light. Now about “irregardless”…
I was going to leave a response of my own, but you said everything I was going to say–including the reference to “irregardless.” I think it DOES matter that we speak and write correctly. Otherwise, we may as well revert to grunts and crude gestures. Thanks for the post!
Gosh you are smart. I have been one on the trend of “could care less”, perhaps out of laziness. I will use my sarcasm appropriately going forward!
Based on the title, I knew I was going to love this entry even before I read it. Reading it simply confirmed my suspicion.
Once in a while, I hear “could care less” used sarcastically. Most of the time, it’s used to indicate its speaker really couldn’t care less about whatever they’re discussing.
That being said, I try not to focus too much on a person’s specific words as long as I understand what they’re attempting to express. Still, this is one that does get under my skin for a moment or two . . . as long as it takes for me to brush it off and ask if I value pointing out the error more than I value my friendship with its perpetrator.
Ask myself if I value pointing it out, that is!
I just graded a paper with that very error on it. It’s very ironic that you posted this, because I talked about it this morning as I reviewed “The Elements of Style” by Strunk & White.
I still love that handbook! Writers who don’t have it by their side should spend the few dollars on it and get it. It’s worth it!
Congrats on FP! I enjoyed the post and intend to read more. It never occured to me that “sarcasm ‘loses its force when put on paper and just ends up looking stupid.’” Maybe that’s been my problem all along. I tend to be sarcastic but usually end up sounding mean spirited or angry in writing! I’ve Got to watch that!
I was fortunate to have been raised by parents whoi emphasized proper English usage. As commonly used, “I could care less”, meaning the issue is of no consequence, is a paradox. If what you imply is that the subject in question holds no interest to you, then, QED, the logically consistent phrase is “I could not (coundn’t) care less.” This ought to be beyond dispute.
People mess up cliches all the time! In my family, my mom would sometimes refer to people as “bald as a billiard.” I’ll never forget the day when my toddler-aged sister yelled from the back seat of the car, “It’s hot as a billard in here!”
As a long-time editor and cranky grammar person, I have actually lightened up as I’ve grown older. I realize that idioms are often illogical, and that language just works that way. However, I do still have a few pet peeves of my own. It’s not “chomping at the bit,” it’s “champing at the bit,” a usage increasingly unfamiliar in an era when very few people ride horses (and then it’s either stupid western saddle rides or snobby eastern equestrian events, but I digress). Along the same lines, there’s a popular hiking trail in the White Mountains that people call “the Old Bridal Path.” No, we don’t have a procession of brides marching up to Franconia Ridge. It’s “Old Bridle Path.” Never mind.
This will probably be the downfall of civilization, so we must nip it in the butt.
dustin: You dog, Bud! [grin]
the20spot: Do you only read music? [/sarcasm]
ouch!
oh my lord, i am SO happy you wrote this! i’ve been saying this my entire life. except i do say “we’ll play it be year” and many people tell me its “ear”…
and by saying “this,” i mean arguing that it’s “couldn’t care less”… i realized that sounded like i’ve been saying it wrong!
I really didn’t know this was the wrong way of saying it, I’ve been saying it my entire life. I could care less…is how I usually say it to emphasize sarcasm, I usually, my point gets across. lol Thanks for sharing.
Ah, yes…I have had this debate with many people, many times. I stick to the “couldn’t care less” as it is the only thing that makes sense. Why don’t others get that??
Great post and congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Lol. I will remember now to say “I couldn’t care less!” Merci for sharing the info.
Felicitations for being freshly pressed!
I’d always assumed that the verbal use of this came about from a written sarcasm. That is “I could care less?” the answer being “Nah!”. The problem with the verbal use being that most folks say it with a dead pan voice and thus it meaneth nothing much. I don’t think I could get my head around using it though as “I couldn’t care less” was one of those phrases of adolescence that brought down the wrath of the Almighty upon one’s head if uttered out loud and so it became a major part of my internal dialogue of minor rebellion as a result and resides with me still.
Thank You!!!!!!
And congrats on being freshly pressed.
Reminds me of near miss vs near hit.
thanks. As the David Mitchell film suggests, it’s not something that has caught on in Britain, but give it time! So yes, let’s all hold down the fort on this one…
Re: the fort,
According to this UK source, one should simply “hold the fort.”
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/59/messages/937.html
We get into trouble with words all the time, even when we do our best.
As a child I knew the pronunciation word cantaloupe (long o for the ou) which my family ate regularly, so when I read a book about a girl named Penelope, you can guess how I embarrassed myself in the elementary school classroom when I read my book report aloud for the first time.
Every time some nags me with a “Could care less” I’m going to give them a proper English lesson. Thanks
Thank you! What shocks me most about this mistake is even West Eing characters seem to make it.,, and it seems like Aaron Sorkin ought to know better!
Obviously, that’s West Wing. Not the world’s best place to make a spelling mistake…! I blame the iPad keyboard…
You just hit on one of my top pet peeves! I’ve even gone on great diatribes about this issue and the response I usally get from those within ear shot is that they “could care less”. Sigh……….
Congrats on getting FP.
ya know, i never really thought about that. and now that i read your blog, everytime somebody misuses the phrase, it’s going to drive me crazy! i’ll be sure to correct. thanks for sharing!
(Responding to Shimona’s comment about splitting infinitives): I believe the rules have changed about splitting infinitives. It may be because we got lazy as a society or our journalists got lazy, because I see infinitives split all of the time and proposal writers excusing the once iron-clad rule. Congrats on being FP’D!
Pinker is wrong here. People say it wrong because they don’t pay attention to meaning when they use sayings and cliches.
There’s nothing wrong with splitting infinitives in English. Language mavens have long understood that its ban was due to a belief that classical Latin was the “best” language; ergo, since it is impossible to split an infinitive in Latin, one must not do it in English. William Safire wrote a very nice column showing that by placing the adverb closer to the verb it modifies, splitting infinitives often makes good sense in English. Maybe that’s why it sounds better sometimes.
Fortunately, to split an infinitive may be perfectly correct or lazily incorrect depending on the intent of the splitter. Thus, language maintains its mystery and allows those of us who are not athletically adept to be expert in our own playing field. [Not sarcasm! We all need to feel good about something we do!] The nuanced use of split infinitives is infinite! To boldly split an infinitive insinuates a more rash and daring act than to split merely boldly.
If my lowest limit on caring about something is 50%, when I get to 50%, I couldn’t care less. A proper way to say you are at 0 is “I do not care.”
It’s easy to understand why many people find learning the English language so confusing!
But you could always care less than you do. If you’re bothering to comment on something at all (by saying that you don’t care in any of its forms, sarcastic or otherwise), then you do actually care. Ergo, you could care less. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said anything in the first place.
i could care less about the difference between “could or couldn’t care less”. In fact, I SHOULD care less…but unfortunately, i care…..and it is ……”I COULDN’T CARE LESS” !!! and lately i have noticed people say they will “try and do this” or “try and do that”. It is “try TO do this” or “try to do that”. we need to think before we speak , or at least after we speak.
It’s called an idiom, you fucking morons. Idioms do not need to be grammatically correct.
A. Idioms should, however, be at least logically correct. “I could care less” is not actually what the person is trying to say. It’s the opposite, in fact, so it doesn’t make sense.
B. Is there any reason why you couldn’t have said the same thing without being so rude?
people are not using this expression as an idiom, they are simply not thinking about the words they are using…
i have something else to talk about, but thats “a whole nother” matter :p
I needed to send you one very small note in order to thank you very much again for your pleasing