Comments on: As it turns out, I could care less

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 02:01:47 +0000

I thought you were fine, and right on the money with the child. I mean -- movies are SO EXPENSIVE, and time really is money, and it is a tension-filled creative task with hundreds (well, okay, maybe dozens) of people standing around for the director to make a decision. I don't think you were out of line at all.

You are not there to make friends, all that counts is what ends up on the screen.

You should move to NYC where we are tough on the outside, and kinder (more "real", not fake friendly) on the inside.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:49:09 +0000

I disagree completely with the lady at the Random House site. Her explanation is tortured. The phrase doesn’t make sense as sarcasm, and I don’t think people use it as sarcasm. I’m sure people just dropped the “n’t” without thinking about it and most people don’t notice — they know the intended meaning. That happens often with figures of speech because the phrase becomes so common it is almost like a single word — so if you hear something pretty close you “get it”. I can think of lots of figures of speech where I know the intended meaning but I have no clue what the literal meaning is. (Like “dressed to the nines” — I have no idea what the nines are, but I know what the phrase means.) Anyway, just because we know what the speaker intended is no excuse for getting it wrong. So I’m putting my foot down and saying “I could care less” is unacceptable.

Otherwise, clever people like John won’t be able to make a play on words without all this confusion.

By: Reader 101706

Reader 101706 — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 17:02:15 +0000

It sounds like you handled the situation with the little girl well, considering how unpleasant it was. You may have been short-tempered, but you weren’t abusive. Your post made me think of a comment I read on the web about a young woman director. Her crew had commented on how nice she was. Obviously, if she was able to be consistently nice and get the job done, that’s great, but I hope the fear of being thought a b***h wasn’t a factor. Sometimes you have to put your foot down and make people mad; women still get much more flak for that.

By: Reader 101706

Reader 101706 — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:46:35 +0000

I thought I fixed the typo in “Yiddishisms” the first time around. Sorry.

By: Reader 101706

Reader 101706 — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:44:41 +0000

I think the discussion below is helpful. As the the writer in the linked article explains, “I could care less” is not meant to be taken literally, and to me it does have more bite than “I couldn’t care less.” Elsewhere on the web, a writer suggested that the expression was similar to Yiddishims such as the sarcastic “I should be so lucky.”

BTW, I’m not a usage slob. I always use “alternately” and “alternatively” correctly, as well as “uninterested” and “disinterested”, and “continuously” or “continually” (sometimes I have to think about the last pair). I always use “judgment” or “call,” not “judgment call;” and I say “I can’t help” or “I can’t but,” not “I can’t help but.”

I can’t help wondering if it matters a lot of the time.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19960610

By: Cath

Cath — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 11:24:36 +0000

Coming from the UK, I've noticed that in the USA the phrase "couldn't care less" has been pretty exclusively changed to "could care less" but with the same meaning. I agree with Andy that this is an inappropriate alternative (don't get me started on the meaning of alternate) as it has almost the opposite meaning. However, language is organic and now Reader says it's accepted.

So, John, forgive us if we didn't get your play on words when some of us thought it meant the same as "couldn't care less" and the rest of us just thought it was just another mistaken rendering of the phrase.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 16:00:49 +0000

Reader --

"I could care less" is often mistakenly used, but does that make it acceptable? Considering it means the exact opposite of the point you're trying to get across?

By: brandin

brandin — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:56:38 +0000

K. That's what I thought. The repeated use of could care less throughout the entry made me a bit unsure.

Nice post.

By: Reader 101706

Reader 101706 — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 05:03:51 +0000

--I believe that "I could care less" is also acceptable.

By: John August

John August — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 03:25:17 +0000

Again:

I am specifically saying "I could care less" because the post is about how I learned to be less caring.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 01:01:12 +0000

First it’s hard not to be nice then it’s helpful not to be nice when writing the dirty bad guy. Personally, I am into Athena and Persepherone, we watch the giant gods fall. Don’t all writers have to become gods?