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"Could give a damn" and "couldn't give a damn" can be used as synonyms in American slang. Or it might just be the South.
by phreaky 10y ago
"Could give a damn" and "couldn't give a damn" can be used as synonyms in American slang. Or it might just be the South.
- lostlogin 10y agoThanks, now this says something that squares with what I would expect it to mean. Strange how dropping that very key word leaves the same meaning. Still, English has many strange quirks.
- DigitalJack 10y agoIt's super annoying but it has to do with misunderstandings and mispronunciations finding their way into common language. Another terrible one is "I could care less" vs "I couldn't care less." Both mean the same thing in the common language, but if I hear someone say the "could" version, they lose a lot of respect in my eyes. Languages evolve, and mostly it irritates me. I hate that the English Dictionaries used to be an authoritative source, and are now just a reflection of common usage. Yet at the same time I recognize the need for languages to evolve as life does not stand still.
- mikeash 10y agoAre you also irritated by all the changes that happened before you were born, or is it just the new ones that bug you? Dictionaries as an authoritative source really just means that they reflect older common usage. It just makes them slow, not somehow better.
- DigitalJack 10y agoSo the "Urban Dictionary" should really be called the "Fast Dictionary."
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y agoLanguages evolve, and mostly it irritates me. I hate that the English Dictionaries used to be an authoritative source, and are now just a reflection of common usage We should start a club :-)
- TeMPOraL 10y agoDictionaries were never an authoritative (prescriptive) source. They are by their very idea a collection of common usages.
- JustSomeNobody 10y agoAs a Southerner, no, they are not interchangeable. Annoys me to no end...