OT: Debate

[teal]

Greybeard said:

If you COULD care less, how much do you care? 10%, 20%?

I suppose you mean that you couldn't care less.

This misuse of English is one of my pet peeves, along with saying "quote, endquote, <quoted line>", instead of "quote <quoted line> endquote". Another one is "not available in all areas". Technically, this means that it is not available anywhere. What they mean is, "not available in SOME areas."

The "could" or "couldn't" care less was actually the topic of Atlantic Monthly's "grammar section" a while back. Their conlcusion.... both ways were correct, if you use "couldn't". For example, you can say "I couldn't care less" and "I couldn't care more" and both of them mean the same things. (albiet slightly different in texture).

"I couldn't care more" means that the debates are so meaningless that it would be physically impossible for me to care more about them, which is an odd way of thinging about it in the present cultural climate.

I suspect that the positive view "I could care less" is actually ok also under similar somewhat weird definitions. The most important thing about language is that you are understood and that people know what you are talking about. "I could care less" matches that test for me.

On the plus side being overly concerned about "correct" grammar leads to some great comments, such as Churchill's "... that is something up with which I shall not put." When told he couldn't have dangling something or others (participles?).

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