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Wait, "couldn't care less" is British?
by Vinnl 3mo ago
Wait, "couldn't care less" is British?
- Symbiote 3mo agoMany/most Americans say something like "I could care less about the World Cup". British people say "I couldn't care less about the World Cup". Both are saying they have no interest at all in the World Cup. I don't know why Americans phrase it that way. To give a documented example, the lyrics of Teenagers by My Chemical Romance: They said, "All teenagers scare the livin' shit out of me" They could care less as long as someone'll bleed
- Vinnl 3mo agoAh, I'd heard that latter one, but I thought that was just a mistake in the sense of "could of". TIL!
- HardlyCognizant 3mo agoI always assumed the American version was using "could" ironically. Now I'm wonder if is an unintentional neologism.
- gnubison 3mo agoI think everyone says “couldn’t care less”. But Wiktionary does say “could care less” is “American, nonstandard, proscribed”, so I guess only Americans have that (defective) alternative phrase.
- petepete 3mo agoThere are a few things like that which stand out when I'm watching/listening to American media. Another is 'on accident'.