3 ms·
I'll freely admit I'm loud about it because people saying "can't" to mean "won't" or "shouldn't" is a pet peeve of mine. It's misusing language to elevate perso
by beat 8y ago
I'll freely admit I'm loud about it because people saying "can't" to mean "won't" or "shouldn't" is a pet peeve of mine. It's misusing language to elevate personal decisions to logical imperatives ("I'm sorry, I can't come to your party"), or moral grey areas to moral black and white ("Facebook can't sell your data to other corporations!").
It's misleading and it shouldn't be used that way. Can't be used that way, even...
- AndrewSChapman 8y agoMeh, using shouldn't wouldn't have the same rhetorical impact. It's similar to the phrase "Can't complain.". Sure you could say "Shouldn't complain".. but it doesn't work.