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> Do people really say this? Is it exclusive? I've only heard the inverse: "I couldn't care less". "I could" is American. "I couldn't" is British. As AmEn is
by lproven 8mo ago
> Do people really say this? Is it exclusive? I've only heard the inverse: "I couldn't care less".
"I could" is American. "I couldn't" is British.
As AmEn is now more widespread, the former is widespread, but as a native speaker of BrEn I absolutely detest it and never ever use it.
- willrshansen 8mo agoNo, it's just propagated mistakes. Same for lose and loose.
- bigstrat2003 8mo agoNo, people who properly speak American English say "I couldn't care less" as well. It's just that there are a lot of people who don't speak the language correctly, and no social will to try to get them to learn to speak it correctly.
- lproven 8mo agoUm. ISTM that you're saying "this is a common mistake but some people don't make it." Is that fair? If so: no argument, but the error is now more common than the correct form, in my experience. A BrEn example: a mistake has propagated and is now common... "could have" [is shortened to] "could've" [is misheard as] "could of"... and the mistake gets repeated by people who don't know any better.