5 ms·

It's one of those interesting phrases that, I believe, came about from its opposite. "I could not give a shit about that," literally, "I wouldn't even pay one s

It's one of those interesting phrases that, I believe, came about from its opposite. "I could not give a shit about that," literally, "I wouldn't even pay one shit to buy that," or similar (no doubt with some mixing up with non-english words), has gradually added people who would give a shit — which only makes sense if they are giving a "shit-ton" of money for it. Showing your enthusiasm for something by handing over a turd is a strange way to show your gratitude. :)

sambeau 3y ago
Here's an interesting discussion on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2rgl7i/how_did_i_dont_give_a_shit_become_synonymous_with/ https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2rgl7i/how_did_i... Further down is the suggestion that "give" in the phrase, means "care". Which it does, in part, but as the way language goes, so many words and phrases have double meanings that merge to make one subtle meaning. "I couldn't give a toss," is a common variant. As is, "I couldn't give a flying fuck." But neither has the positive version in the same way — you don't normally give a toss about something specific, and a flying fuck is never positive. But, interestingly, you can give a toss in general. English, as you have realised, has layers of weirdness and subtle traps.
- arrowsmith 3y ago
  > "I couldn't give a toss," is a common variant. Not in the US - this is very British.
  - sambeau 3y ago
    Yes. I should have said that.
    - jjgreen 3y ago
      Worth noting that (in BE) one of the uses of "toss" is masturbate, hence tosser, toss off, toss-pot; the register a bit more polite than "wank", but not much.
      - sambeau 3y ago
        I've always assumed that's the version of toss being used here
      - Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
        As an American, I've always wished "tosser" would catch on in American English.
notahacker 3y ago
One that amuses me is how the popular "I couldn't care less" (I really really don't care) got converted by people who couldn't care less about syntax and meaning into "I could care less" That and "literally" being so frequently abused it now has a dictionary entry to explain that it can also be used to emphatically refer to non literal stuff. If you think showing enthusiasm for stuff by handing over a turd is weird, you'd also love the (nineties) British habit of complimenting something by saying it's "the dogs bollocks", as if canine testes were renowned for their desirability...
- Nursie 3y ago
  The dog certainly seems to spend a lot of time licking them! (I believe this is the origin of the saying)
- bee_rider 3y ago
  I have always interpreted “I could care less” as something like “Well, it is technically possible for me to care less.” Like, if you ask someone “how was your food” and they said “it was edible” or how their trip went and they responded “we made it back in one piece,” they don’t seem to be saying something good. Describing a very low lower-bound doesn’t technically say anything negative, but it sure implies it.
  - maxbond 3y ago
    There's a phrase for this too; damning with faint praise.
  - ralferoo 3y ago
    The important thing about those other phrases is that they originated in the UK where we use understatement as a form of humour, but it's important to understand the relationship between the speaker and listener and hidden shared context. E.g. your example "how was your food" ... "it was edible". If you've just been to a fairly average restaurant, that would be understood to mean it wasn't terrible but you didn't really enjoy it. If you're at a close friend's house for dinner and they served something amazing, and you replied "it was edible", it would be understood to mean that it was really good and far better than anything you could have made yourself. If you said the same thing to a mutual friend who didn't know about their cooking skills, it would be interpreted negatively. Another example would be replying to "How are you?" with "I'm not dead yet!" could mean anything without context, but most likely would be said to someone who knew your situation and that there'd been bad stuff going on, and would probably mean you were actually doing better than might be expected. As for "I could care less", I think it was probably just misheard as the negative is very weak "I could'(n) care less". Coupled with the end of "could" and start of "care" being the about the same position in the mouth, and the (n) requires the tongue to quickly block and release the air in the mouth whilst also nasalising the sound that lasts a fraction of a second, it would be easy for a lazy speaker to not make it clear and/or omit it, and then if the listener never bothered to think about the meaning, they could repeat it wrongly. The deliberately inverted meaning only really makes sense if it was followed by "but" that later got omitted. To me "I could care less, but ..." (and then just stopping) would have about the same effect as "I couldn't care less".
rfrey 3y ago
This one isn't exactly the opposite though, in the same way that "could care less" is literally the opposite of what is meant. Bring the only one who would give a shot implies nobody else there meets even that incredibly low bar.

sambeau 3y ago

Here's an interesting discussion on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2rgl7i/how_did_i_dont_give_a_shit_become_synonymous_with/ https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2rgl7i/how_did_i... Further down is the suggestion that "give" in the phrase, means "care". Which it does, in part, but as the way language goes, so many words and phrases have double meanings that merge to make one subtle meaning. "I couldn't give a toss," is a common variant. As is, "I couldn't give a flying fuck." But neither has the positive version in the same way — you don't normally give a toss about something specific, and a flying fuck is never positive. But, interestingly, you can give a toss in general. English, as you have realised, has layers of weirdness and subtle traps.

arrowsmith 3y ago
> "I couldn't give a toss," is a common variant. Not in the US - this is very British.
- sambeau 3y ago
  Yes. I should have said that.
  - jjgreen 3y ago
    Worth noting that (in BE) one of the uses of "toss" is masturbate, hence tosser, toss off, toss-pot; the register a bit more polite than "wank", but not much.
    - sambeau 3y ago
      I've always assumed that's the version of toss being used here
    - Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
      As an American, I've always wished "tosser" would catch on in American English.

notahacker 3y ago

One that amuses me is how the popular "I couldn't care less" (I really really don't care) got converted by people who couldn't care less about syntax and meaning into "I could care less" That and "literally" being so frequently abused it now has a dictionary entry to explain that it can also be used to emphatically refer to non literal stuff. If you think showing enthusiasm for stuff by handing over a turd is weird, you'd also love the (nineties) British habit of complimenting something by saying it's "the dogs bollocks", as if canine testes were renowned for their desirability...

Nursie 3y ago
The dog certainly seems to spend a lot of time licking them! (I believe this is the origin of the saying)
bee_rider 3y ago
I have always interpreted “I could care less” as something like “Well, it is technically possible for me to care less.” Like, if you ask someone “how was your food” and they said “it was edible” or how their trip went and they responded “we made it back in one piece,” they don’t seem to be saying something good. Describing a very low lower-bound doesn’t technically say anything negative, but it sure implies it.
- maxbond 3y ago
  There's a phrase for this too; damning with faint praise.
- ralferoo 3y ago
  The important thing about those other phrases is that they originated in the UK where we use understatement as a form of humour, but it's important to understand the relationship between the speaker and listener and hidden shared context. E.g. your example "how was your food" ... "it was edible". If you've just been to a fairly average restaurant, that would be understood to mean it wasn't terrible but you didn't really enjoy it. If you're at a close friend's house for dinner and they served something amazing, and you replied "it was edible", it would be understood to mean that it was really good and far better than anything you could have made yourself. If you said the same thing to a mutual friend who didn't know about their cooking skills, it would be interpreted negatively. Another example would be replying to "How are you?" with "I'm not dead yet!" could mean anything without context, but most likely would be said to someone who knew your situation and that there'd been bad stuff going on, and would probably mean you were actually doing better than might be expected. As for "I could care less", I think it was probably just misheard as the negative is very weak "I could'(n) care less". Coupled with the end of "could" and start of "care" being the about the same position in the mouth, and the (n) requires the tongue to quickly block and release the air in the mouth whilst also nasalising the sound that lasts a fraction of a second, it would be easy for a lazy speaker to not make it clear and/or omit it, and then if the listener never bothered to think about the meaning, they could repeat it wrongly. The deliberately inverted meaning only really makes sense if it was followed by "but" that later got omitted. To me "I could care less, but ..." (and then just stopping) would have about the same effect as "I couldn't care less".

rfrey 3y ago

This one isn't exactly the opposite though, in the same way that "could care less" is literally the opposite of what is meant. Bring the only one who would give a shot implies nobody else there meets even that incredibly low bar.