"I could care less"

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peterbj7

Dive Shop Owner
Rest in Peace
Scuba Instructor
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San Pedro, Belize and Oxford, UK
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Where on earth did this expression come from? It's utterly meaningless, and I only started hearing it recently, from Americans (I'm British).

The expression always used to be "I couldn't care less" and as such was totally meaningful. AFAIK that is still the expression used in the UK, though on my brief visits recently it hasn't cropped up. Actually I don't recall ever seeing it written down, but it often sounded like "I couldn't care a less". Never "I could.....".
 
Issac Asimov said he didn't know anyone stupid enough to say it. It really is moronic.
 
i could care less, but then id have to care more. really though, i couldnt possibly care any less because i dont care at all. why not just say, "i dont care" irks me about as much as people who say "irregardless"
 
Yes, but so did the original. I don't really have a problem with that, though some American contractions do lose something. But these are individual words that have changed their meaning or spelling, not clauses where logic has been turned on its head.
 
i see your "i could care less" and raise you an "all the sudden". :D
 
Oh... I don't know...

Give it an obnoxiously sarcastic inflection, and "I could care less" sounds a bit less moronic...
 
There is a stand up comic (I wish I could remember his name) who does a whole bit on stupid expressions. The few I remember:

"I don't give a rat's ***" -Who wants to recieve a rat's ***?!?
"There is more than one way to skin a cat" -How many ways do you need you freak?!?
"He's on the lamb" -Someone get him a girlfriend...immediately!
 
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