Could you care less?

[CDX_NSX]

OK, so this has bugged me for a long time; not specifically on this forum, but really throughout the Internet, and maybe beyond. I'm just venting here.

Not that I'm a stickler for proper English usage, but the uncorrected use of this term actually takes away from the inferred point that is being made.

I could care less means that you do care SOME, and really makes little sense as an expression. As an example, if one would say, "I could care less whether or not you like my car," one is really saying that one DOES care whether or not the other likes his/her car.

To make the point that one does NOT care, the correct expression would be "I could not care less whether or not you like my car." This means that the speaker cares so little that he/she could not possibly care any less than he/she already does. In shorter terms, he/she just doesn't care.

So, spread the word to help sharpen the words of uncaring!

 

[ABhagat]

Wow. I'm not alone anymore. I've been trying to convince people around me what they are saying is NOT what they are intending to say, but they just don't get it...

 

[12AMNSX]

It's the same thing with regardless and irregardless.

Regardless
adjective 1. having or showing no regard; heedless; unmindful (often fol. by of).
–adverb 2. without concern as to advice, warning, hardship, etc.; anyway: I must make the decision regardless.
—Idiom3. regardless of, in spite of; without regard for: They'll do it regardless of the cost.

Irregardless
is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.

 

[heySkippy]

I'm with you!

Add to that: Noone is not a word and neither is alot. While we're at it, there's no "e" in ridiculous and if you can't pronounce it as a word, it's not an acronym (it's an abbreviation or an initialism).

Thanks.

 

[CDX_NSX]

It's quite amusing that "irregardless" is actually listed in the dictionary, and as an "erroneous word".

So it's both legitimate (dictionary listing) and illegitimate (definition) at the same time....... Or is that illegitimateless?

 

[ericwgnsx]

How about when people mispronounce the word nuclear as "new-kyeler" (nucelar)? I hear the Pres. mispronounce it every time. Also, ex-Pres. Carter does the same thing, and he was a captain on a nuclear submarine! Someone suggested that it is a southern thing to pronounce it that way, but it still makes me cringe when I hear it.

 

[scorp965]

It's quite amusing that "irregardless" is actually listed in the dictionary, and as an "erroneous word".

It's incorrect, but was used in place of 'regardless' to such an extent that it has become somewhat vernacular... put it this way: why does regardless, and irregardless, with the prefix 'ir-' (meaning not) have the same meaning?

With regard to online forum use of proper English... There are different degrees of improper English, there is perfect English, which is rare, pretty good English, which I try to use, and it essentially goes downhill from there - in some cases it is not a matter of being petty with regard to structure, etc., sometimes posts are genuinely hard to decipher, if written bad enough. If the writing is _really_bad_ it points to the writer not really caring about what he is writing, or not being able to understand it is _really_bad_ - if this is the case, and there is some sort of disagreement between myself and the person who cannot write, pointing out his inability to construct legible sentences highlights the fact that he is either an Idiot, or doesn't care enough to clearly express his thoughts.

In most cases, if the general theme is legible, there is no reason to point out faults in online posts, but occasionally it is both constructive, and proper to do so... There are a number of phrases which are used incorrectly, and some words which are almost never used correctly (one of my peeves is the widespread incorrect use of the word 'hopefully', which roughly translates into 'in a hopeful manner', rather than 'I hope')

 

[ZacMan1987]

I 100% agree. My mother is an English teacher, my grandmother was an English teacher, and it drives me crazy.

 

[CDX_NSX]

I must admit that I have used "hopefully" in the less-than-accepted manner. It is certainly worth my effort to correct.

Interestingly, it does fill a gap, albeit small, in the established language.

Usage Note: Writers who use hopefully as a sentence adverb, as in Hopefully the measures will be adopted, should be aware that the usage is unacceptable to many critics, including a large majority of the Usage Panel. It is not easy to explain why critics dislike this use of hopefully. The use is justified by analogy to similar uses of many other adverbs, as in Mercifully, the play was brief or Frankly, I have no use for your friend. And though this use of hopefully may have been a vogue word when it first gained currency back in the early 1960s, it has long since lost any hint of jargon or pretentiousness for the general reader. The wide acceptance of the usage reflects popular recognition of its usefulness; there is no precise substitute. Someone who says Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified makes a hopeful prediction about the fate of the treaty, whereas someone who says I hope (or We hope or It is hoped) the treaty will be ratified expresses a bald statement about what is desired. Only the latter could be continued with a clause such as but it isn't likely. · It might have been expected, then, that the initial flurry of objections to hopefully would have subsided once the usage became well established. Instead, critics appear to have become more adamant in their opposition. In the 1969 Usage Panel survey, 44 percent of the Panel approved the usage, but this dropped to 27 percent in our 1986 survey. (By contrast, 60 percent in the latter survey accepted the comparable use of mercifully in the sentence Mercifully, the game ended before the opponents could add another touchdown to the lopsided score.) It is not the use of sentence adverbs per se that bothers the Panel; rather, the specific use of hopefully in this way has become a shibboleth.

I do agree that there is little need to nitpick on minor spelling and grammatical errors online. Far less so if the English is not the person's primary spoken language. Still, there are a few common and fundamental mistakes that I find a little disturbing because they come from English speakers. Nevertheless, I don't typically point them out. As a moderator of another forum, I will SOMETIMES discretely correct the spelling in thread titles if I think that they're distracting enough.

On another note, who here would like to have their cake and eat it too? The good news is YOU CAN!!! What you cannot do is eat your cake and have it too!

 

[flaminio]

Noone is not a word

Noone?

 

[12AMNSX]

And don't you love it when people add a "T" to the end of across making it acrosst?

And here's another one - tuna fish. Why add fish to the end? I'm going to have a tuna fish sandwich. Is there a tuna that is not a fish? It's like saying I'm going to have a steak meat sandwich. :biggrin:

 

[NSXGMS]

How about when people mispronounce the word nuclear as "new-kyeler" (nucelar)? I hear the Pres. mispronounce it every time. Also, ex-Pres. Carter does the same thing, and he was a captain on a nuclear submarine! Someone suggested that it is a southern thing to pronounce it that way, but it still makes me cringe when I hear it.

I've heard people who have been in the real estate biz for years pronounce realtor as real-a-tor. Nuclear is no different.

I've always respected the language and try to speak and write it perfectly. Language is either correct or incorrect and that's that. Obviously small mistakes are still understandable particularly if the words used together keep within the contextual rules, IOW the mechanics of the language. When one starts to use words that do not fit it gets worse.

I suppose there's a difference between being incorrect but able to get the point across and not. ESL speakers are in this category and I can't hold it against them too much. English has many many illogical rules and many, many words. Foreigners can often get the point across but the English is imperfect.

Internet talk is a bit of an exception as it seems to be a more conversational form and written quickly.

 

[NSXGMS]

And don't you love it when people add a "T" to the end of across making it acrosst?

And here's another one - tuna fish. Why add fish to the end? I'm going to have a tuna fish sandwich. Is there a tuna that is not a fish? It's like saying I'm going to have a steak meat sandwich. :biggrin:

On the east coast you get "idear" for idea. :biggrin:

 

[ShiftyBob]

just to add to that...:smile:

people that say something is "blue in color" or "white in color"... What, could it possibly be blue in shape or size? NO, it's just blue...

Also.. 'ink pen' vs 'pen' - we understand that it's got ink in it, because you spelled it 'PEN' and not 'PIN'!

My absolute favorite though... Pacifically in place of Specifically. The 'Urban dictionary' defines it as 'Ebonics'... I say it's lack of education.

But, everybody has their own quirks. I use the (non)word 'alot', mostly out of laziness, but I know it's not a word... I praise myself on grammar, but I think I over use punctuation. (also, I am using a wireless keyboard, which seems to be a little quirky, and a lot of times I need to go back and correct after I read my posts...)

 

[MLmotorsport]

People often use the word "anxious" when they mean "eager".

-Anxious- full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried; solicitous

-Eager- keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing

 

[KooLaid]

I couldn't, couldn't care less.

want to know whats odd? I was thinking the SAME thing that was bothering you when I read the title of this thread. Bizarre.

 

[steveny]

I usually say "who gives a $hit" or " I don't give a $hit"

 

[CDub]

I can't agree with you more

or

I can't agree with you less

:redface:

 

[Arshad]

j I praise myself on grammar, but I think I over use punctuation.

You also over use smileys

 

[ChopsJazz]

Your right! Their are more people then you can imagine that use words bad.

And don't get me started on definately, reidculous, et al.

 

[ShiftyBob]

You also over use smileys

:frown: :redface: I'll work on that :biggrin: :tongue: :wink:

 

[DocL]

I couldn't care le, even if I gave a fcvk. :biggrin:

 

[steveny]

I couldn't care le, even if I gave a fcvk. :biggrin:

Sweet. I will have to remember that one. I will work on the sarcasm and the roll of the eyes as I spit it out.

 

[KooLaid]

Your right! Their are more people then you can imagine that use words bad.

And don't get me started on definately, reidculous, et al.

LoL, you are one sarcastically funny sob! lol

 

[Zanardi 50]

And here's another one - tuna fish. Why add fish to the end? I'm going to have a tuna fish sandwich. Is there a tuna that is not a fish? It's like saying I'm going to have a steak meat sandwich. :biggrin:

You can tune a fork, but you can't tuna fish.