Does "I couldn't care less" and "I could care less" mean the same thing now just because people use both?
Posted by HolidayEntry6823@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 143 comments
Logically they're opposites, but we hear so much "I could care less" in (mostly) American media these days, that everyone understands it anyways.
Are we all just used to it already, or does it bother anyone?
Junior_Ad_3301@reddit
The intended meaning is the same, but i always mention they aren't saying what they mean.
EngineVarious5244@reddit
Don't do that.
Junior_Ad_3301@reddit
Relax, I only do it when i know it will annoy them.
ApproachingTheHill@reddit
Not the same, but both can make sense depending on how they're used. Most people don't use them correctly, though. This doesn't make them the same thing, just means they likely learned it in passing and never actually thought about what it meant.
SilverRaincoat@reddit
"I could care less" is just people misspeaking. It doesn't make sense. "I couldn't care less" is the correct phrase.
raviyoli@reddit
They’re both correct. I could care less came later, but implies that you care so little you could be persuaded to care even less.
EngineVarious5244@reddit
IIRC "couldn't" is only attested from a few years before "could." This is one of the most annoying internet circlejerks. The first time I remember hearing about it was watching "David Mitchell's Soapbox" on YouTube and he was bitching about Americans saying it. It was dumb then and it's dumb now. It's idiomatic.
I used to use them interchangeably but now I exclusively say "I could care less" just to piss off internet pedants.
HempFandang0@reddit
It can also be intentional but sarcastic
ketamineburner@reddit
This is correct! "I could care less" is sarcasm. It is not a mistake.
ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit
Effectively, yes, they mean the same thing.
jawshoeaw@reddit
"literally blows my mind" that they now mean the same thing. words have lost their meaning lol
Dangerous_Midnight91@reddit
“Irregardless” of your opinion on antonyms, for all “intense purposes” this is a “mute” point and “your” simply looking for an “escape goat.”
jawshoeaw@reddit
intense purposes lmao. i do like escape goat as it more or less gets the meaning across. I have a coworker who constantly says or texts "mute point" in chat. i let it slide. Mute point also has a kind of interesting adjacent meaning
sc4s2cg@reddit
Ya, and "Im blue today" no longer means they painted themselves blue either :/
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Unless you're Tobias Funke.
mannisbaratheon97@reddit
Everyone needs anustart
LoudSheepherder5391@reddit
They should see me, I combined being an analyst and a therapist.
I call it analrapist
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Oh good heavens.
LiquidityCrisis69@reddit
“No, I’m afraid I just blue myself”
Ruthrfurd-the-stoned@reddit
This one’s not as bad though because it’s just a non-literal exaggeration. Could care less is the opposite of what they’re trying to say
OnlyFannins@reddit
That’s just how language works and has always worked. Meanings and usage change over time.
I think the only difference is maybe in the modern world of mass media and the internet that things are changing at a more rapid pace than 1000 years ago so it’s more noticeable.
No_Mony_1185@reddit
The way people use "literally" has lost all meaning , too
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
It is correctly, "I couldn't care less."
However, I think you can also say "I could care less" and have it make logical sense.
As in, "I really don't care enough to even care, but if you want me to, I could totally be convinced to care less than I currently do."
No_Parsnip6024@reddit
Those are both different things though.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Yeah? And?
NoCard753@reddit
Do you also call dogs "Buicks"?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
You realize what an absurd comparison this is, right?
NoCard753@reddit
Of course it's absurd. It was meant to be absurd to point out the absurdity of "I could care less" when the writer/soeaker means exactly the opposite
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
With tone you can make it mean something else.
This is not unique to this one saying.
No_Parsnip6024@reddit
You could also say the right thing too. Which seems easier.
LoudSheepherder5391@reddit
No, but sometimes I call small dogs little rats.
I know its not technically correct, but it shows my disdain in a humorous way.
NoCard753@reddit
Do you mean to say use of "I could care less" is to show disdain for the proper and accurate "I couldn't care less"?
jub-jub-bird@reddit
I could care less.
VisionAri_VA@reddit
I usually say, “I could care less, but it’s unlikely.”
HolidayEntry6823@reddit (OP)
That is true, now that yo put it like that it does make logical sense.
albertnormandy@reddit
This is the rhetorical equivalent of George Lucas redoing the scene where Han shot Greedo. No matter how much you try to justify it, it doesn’t make sense.
jub-jub-bird@reddit
I've also heard conceptualized as "I could care less" with the unspoken caveat "but not by much"
LoudSheepherder5391@reddit
I always saw it as having picked up a "as if" at the start that didn't stick, but the change in couldn't->could did. It just happens sometimes. It's just a turn of phrase. Like "head over heels". Isn't that the default state?
Innuendo64_@reddit
"I care so little that I don't even care that I used the wrong expression"
ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit
It's like the black belt of not giving a shit
KieshaK@reddit
Thank you for this because this is how I feel about “I could care less” but could never accurately verbalize it.
webbitor@reddit
"We don't even care
whether or not we care."
-Morla
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Yeah. For me it's a point of active indifference. Almost the idea of, I don't care and if you try to get me to care...I will care even less than I do right now.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
It has always meant the same thing. And yes, the one is "incorrect". No, I don't really care either way.
jawshoeaw@reddit
but could you care less about your position on this matter?
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
I came very close to typing that.
jawshoeaw@reddit
lol great minds
RTGlen@reddit
I could care less
iDrGonzo@reddit
I couldn't care less. Well, I commented so I guess I could care less.
HolidayEntry6823@reddit (OP)
Got it. Yeah, from my understanding one is incorrect, that's why I was curious.
HomemadeBananas@reddit
This is one thing people on Reddit seem to deeply care about that nobody seems to ever really cares about in real life.
Yes it basically means the same thing because that’s how people use it.
I don’t know how people on Reddit have to go into this huge over explanation about how when you use the word “not” it reverses the meaning of things, as if that’s not obvious.
People just take it as a fixed expression, a figure of speech. It really isn’t that deep.
kartoffel_engr@reddit
They do not mean the same thing as they are completely different sentences.
The correct saying is, “I couldn’t care less”.
Same thing with people saying, “irregardless”, it’s just regardless.
AnInfiniteArc@reddit
If anyone tells you anything but that “I could care less” is an accepted, standard American English variant of “I couldn’t care less” then they are misleading you.
It is not “incorrect”. It is a set idiom. It does not have to be grammatical. That’s not how English works.
Curmudgy@reddit
Only because we’ve lowered our standards.
thisolhag@reddit
To be honest I've seen and heard so many different opinions on this I have no clue. I use I couldn't care less and leave it at that.
No_Parsnip6024@reddit
One means you don't care at all, and the other means you care some amount between a little and it's the most important thing in your life.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Surely you are capable of grasping tone and inflection in context....
No_Parsnip6024@reddit
Of course I am. I can also fully understand when someone uses "your" and means "you are".
That doesn't change that it's wrong and we can do better to improve our basic grasp on English.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
I think you are being pedantic for the sake of being pedantic and not for some sort of underlying noble cause.
Using this phrase incorrectly is not the determining factor on someone's basic grasp of English.
Curmudgy@reddit
I don’t think it’s pedantic to care about critical reasoning in writing and speech, and to encourage people to understand the logic behind the traditionally preferred idiom.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
I believe my comment was such that there is a way it could be correct in some circumstances and contexts.
Feels like you are being pedantic for the sake of being pedantic and not because something is objectively incorrect.
Curmudgy@reddit
Nearly everyone will understand both expressions as meaning “I really don’t care”.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother people, even when they understand the intended meaning.
I wouldn’t say it doesn’t bother me, but I might judge people who use the second form (in your title), and even more strongly judge apologists who stretch reality to come up with rationales to justify the second form. Even when such rationales are technically logical, I’m highly skeptical that many users of the second form are basing their usage on such rationales.
DuelJ@reddit
Yeah no, when a phrase gets used enough, it's usual purpose oftentimes overides it's literal meaning.
eugenesnewdream@reddit
Oh it bothers me immensely. I suppose according to the general understanding, yes, they mean the same thing, because people are using one to mean the other, but they obviously don't literally mean the same thing. And frankly I think people sound supremely ignorant when they say it.
blipsman@reddit
"I couldn't care less" is the correct saying, but many people say it incorrectly...
1Negative_Person@reddit
They’re only ever meant the same thing. “I could care less” is nonsense and no one ever intended to express anything besides “I couldn’t care less”.
Sufficient_Cow_7132@reddit
Mean the same thing
Thedeadnite@reddit
I prefer to say “behold, my field of fucks, alas, it is barren.” To really drive the point home.
Devee@reddit
If you hear “I could care less,” it means the person couldn’t care less and that they’re a little dumb.
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
People will understand what you mean if you say "I could care less," but they will also think you are a bit stupid for getting it wrong.
Puzzleheaded-Bee4698@reddit
Both phases are idioms. Their literal meanings are unimportant. Both phases simply mean, "I don't care."
triple-dog-dar3@reddit
It’s not meant to be taken literally, just like any other idiom or common phrase. For example, “I haven’t seen him in a minute” means you haven’t seen him in a long time, not a minute. Or how literally means figuratively now.
HolidayEntry6823@reddit (OP)
Yeah, I said it a few times while speaking with a tutor and I noticed I'm using it interchangeably. I started reading about it and and I guess there technically isn't an incorrect way of using both of these, although I see "I couldn't care less" as the correct way.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
It only means the same thing to stupid people who don't pay attention to language. The same people that replace "loan" with "borrow," as in "Will you borrow me your ladder for the weekend?" It's the intellectual decline of America, the emergence of a post-literate society.
They don't mean the same because they are not the same. (The exception is probably "flammable" and "inflammable," but that's another issue.)
BlazerFS231@reddit
Same with the figurative use of “literally” and “irregardless” being a recognized word.
Chad-Ironrod@reddit
Irregardless may have been made up in error, but I recognize it as a perfectly cromulent word since:
A: People use/speak/write it B: Listeners/readers understand its meaning.
BlazerFS231@reddit
It’s the “made up in error” that irks me, and I think that is what’s meant by “intellectual decline.” These words and usages were borne of ignorance.
brzantium@reddit
The funny thing about "loan" is that we first see it enter the English language in the late 12th century as a noun only, and don't see it's verb form until much later with "lend" being the related verb in the interim. Then around the 1800s, British grammarians declared that loan was only a noun and that lend was the verb. Just like the metric system, that memo was lost on its way to the US where we've been loaning things out for 250 years now.
laserdollars420@reddit
Every example from your comment has been in common use for multiple generations, and anecdotally at least I haven't noticed any of them becoming notably more common than before.
inbigtreble30@reddit
People using words in ways other than their "correct" meanings and spelling or pronouncing them in ways other than the "correct" is basically how all languages have developed. Language change doesn't go top-down; it's a bottom-up phenomenon. It's not really a new thing or indicative of inellectual decline. It's just the nature of human language.
Pitiful_Fox5681@reddit
If you're being pedantic, they replace lend with borrow. Theoretically loan is the nominal (noun) form of lend.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
Of all the stupid grammatical mistakes people commonly make, this one is far at the bottom of the list.
francienyc@reddit
No. It’s dialect and language change and any respectable linguist (see the work of David Crystal and John McWhorter) says the same.
Language is allowed to change and phrases have taken on figurative meanings. All it takes is mutual agreement.
Of further note: English has no Academy that ‘sets the rules’ for language in either the UK or the US the way the Academie Française (sort of) does either French.
Language change does not equal stupidity.
spockspaceman@reddit
Here's another way to think about it.
"I couldn't care less" and "I couldn't care more" seem like they'd be opposites, but that's not really true because neither indicate with the words alone how much you care, only that however much you care is inflexible. You've maxed out how much you care, but that could be a spectrum of not at all to this means everything to me.
Similarly neither "I could care less" and "I could care more" indicate how much you care, only that your ability to care might be flexible.
It's the tone, context, inflection etc that reveal how much you care. That conveys the unspoken part of the message "and/but I don't care" or "and/but I care a whole lot". This is what makes these phrases essentially interchangeable.
If you were really a stickler about precision and saying everything explicitly you'd just say "I don't care" and use neither of these phrases, or complete the thought to include level of care. But you don't because communication is more than just the words spoken/written.
79215185-1feb-44c6@reddit
I would direct you to the 20 year old Youtube video on this subject.
beaushaw@reddit
But you couldn't be bothered to.
Or
You could be bothered to.
79215185-1feb-44c6@reddit
But could you care more?
beaushaw@reddit
No, I couldn't not care any less.
RickySlayer9@reddit
Technically? No. Colloquially? Yes. It means you’re indifferent, often annoyed and therefor indifferent
postitpad@reddit
I could give a shit.
TripleDoubleFart@reddit
Yes.
"I could care less" has implied sarcasm.
ketamineburner@reddit
This is correct.
pgm123@reddit
Yeah. It's the same formula as "I should be so lucky"
ketamineburner@reddit
This is exactly right. It annoys me so much when people miss this.
ketamineburner@reddit
"I could care less" is a sarcastic, Jewish-style humor joke, similar to "I should be so lucky!
I sounds grammatically incorrect because obviously if you could care less, you care. But that is missing the tone, point, and intent of the phrase.
WoodsWalker43@reddit
Sort of. I like to say "language is as language does". If you take the literal meaning, no. But if you say "I could care less" and everyone you meet understands that you mean the opposite, then yeah. Practically speaking, both phrases kinda mean the same thing.
Language exists for the purpose of communicating ideas. If the idea in your head matches the idea that the listener extracted, then that's what matters. Precision and efficiency could improve accuracy, but the mission was accomplished.
WarrenMulaney@reddit
We need to replace both with a simple
"I don't give a shit".
royalhawk345@reddit
Not quite.
"I couldn't care less" means "I couldn't care less."
"I could care less" means "I couldn't care less that I'm an idiot."
kichwas@reddit
Yeah… We’z all speak ‘Merican round these he’ya parks. That ain’t no proper English no more.
shammy_dammy@reddit
No. I could care less means you do care. I couldn't care less means you don't care. And it's a hill I will die on.
SnooPineapples280@reddit
It bugs me just a little when people say “I could care less” because you can tell with context that they often mean to say “I couldn’t care less”. There is a distinction between the two when used correctly, and it is a bit the same feeling I get when people incorrectly use “irregardless”.
lock_robster2022@reddit
I’ve always thought “I could care less” to mean “I could care less and nothing would change”. As if it’s so inconsequential there’s no point in caring.
raviyoli@reddit
I agree with this one as well. I know “couldn’t” is the original phrase, but they both to work. 🤷🏻♀️
On the other hand I also despise “irregardless.”
BreakfastBeerz@reddit
We use words to convey a message. If you used words and the person you directed them to understands exactly what you meant, you successfully conveyed the message and nothing else matters. If I mean for you to understand "I don't care" and I communicate that with nothing more then clicking noises, and you still understand it as "I don't care", then I was successful at speaking to you.
When someone says, "I could care less" and you understand what they meant...then the way you used it was just fine.
JakeBarnes12@reddit
Only "I couldn't care less" makes sense, but both are in use.
I wouldn't use the incorrect version myself, but it doesn't bother me.
N47881@reddit
Theea actually a great pix showing the continum but the sub won't allow attachments
Pernicious_Possum@reddit
No. I could care less is just wrong.
johnnyblaze-DHB@reddit
It’s a clear marker of lack of intelligence or education when people use the incorrect phrase.
MarkNutt25@reddit
Yes, both phrases have come to mean the same thing, because of how people use them.
Yes, saying "I could care less" when they really mean "I don't care at all" makes no logical sense when you stop and think about what they're actually saying.
Yes, it bothers me. But what are you going to do.
ConfidentFuel885@reddit
Oh my gosh it bothers me to no end. Others that bother me are “based off” and “centered around.” I am firmly in the camp of “based on” and “centered on.”
jek39@reddit
“Based off of” implies there’s some disconnection from the original concept or whatever it is. “Based on” feels more coupled.
Everything_Breaks@reddit
I mean I Could care less, I just don't think it's worth the effort.
strongly-worded@reddit
It bothers me when people say “I could care less” when they mean COULDNT, but I’m not douchey enough to correct them
slothbearable@reddit
They mean the same thing. The original phrase was “I could care less but it would be difficult” had been shortened to “I could care less”. Since the original phrase is no longer well known a lot of people get pedantic and insist it’s wrong.
PrimusDCE@reddit
Yes, it's a colloquialism. It's informal language that is commonly accepted and understood.
It doesn't bother me because day to day isn't academia and this is just how language works, as it is ultimately fluid. At one point the basis of French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish was informal, "vulgar" Latin. Speech will always evolve faster than the written word.
AToastedRavioli@reddit
This is one of those instances where so many people said it the incorrect way that it became just as meaningful as the correct way. All of these justifications for using “I could care less” in the comments are pretty flimsy.
As a matter of fact, even typing that previous sentence prompts a correction suggestion for “could” on my phone
Penis-Dance@reddit
We know what they mean even if they are grammatically wrong.
OG-BigMilky@reddit
It bothers me, but I’m one of “those people”. I’ll always say “I couldn’t care less”, because that is correct.
AdamoMeFecit@reddit
Yes. They are used interchangeably.
pdperson@reddit
“I could care less” makes perfect sense. I care so little that I’m unaware of how much or little that I care.
suspiciousmightstall@reddit
It's really only an issue when another person has a problem with what said person claims to not care about. It's called out with a quickness.
HankyPanky80@reddit
I could care less if I put some effort into it. I don't care enough to put that effort in.
I couldn't care less. I tried to and realized I reached the very bottom of my capacity to care.
No_Parsnip6024@reddit
This is like asking if all the rickyisms from trailer park boys are right because he keeps saying them.
No.
AWatson89@reddit
I couldn't care less: the least amount of care possible, or none.
I could care less: doesn't specify whether they care a lot or a little. Only that it's possible to care less
sjedinjenoStanje@reddit
Similar to "head over heels" which is if you think about it carefully "wrong" too
malachite_13@reddit
People will understand either way. You’ll just sound ignorant if you say “I could care less”
TopperMadeline@reddit
They’re different meanings, but many people (sadly) use them interchangeably.
littlewing2733@reddit
It annoys me slightly, but it’s not a big enough deal to be a prick about it. I just judge quietly.
Just_blorpo@reddit
Yes. ‘I couldn’t care less’ is a direct statement. ‘I could care less’ began as a sarcastic comment that ridicules the notion that the person could care less. As in:
‘Yeah right, let’s pretend I could care any less than I already do.’
But the twist of sarcasm got lost along the way. So ‘I could care less’ simply sounds like a mistake now. And It’s unclear now that someone who says ‘I could care less’ has any idea that the phrase has its roots in sarcasm.
JimDemintRecession@reddit
Mostly it's people who misapprehend american phonetics and mishear "couldn't" as "could."
Sometimes it's people deliberately saying the opposite thing (could) ironically, like calling someone a "smart guy" or "honey."
Gymnastkatieg@reddit
Yeah, they’re interchangeable
Thestolenone@reddit
I was told once by an American that 'I could care less' was short for 'I could care less if I tried' which makes sense.
No_Parsnip6024@reddit
That's like saying your and you're mean the same thing because people use both incorrectly.
They don't mean the same thing, one is wrong.
El_Culero_Magnifico@reddit
They mean the same thing, counterintuitive as that may be.
IanDOsmond@reddit
They always have.
Ok_Organization_7350@reddit
They both mean "I don't care."
Historical_Badger321@reddit
It bothers me; I translate inside my head what they really mean.
marylander_@reddit
Effectively yes. I always say "couldn't" but so many people say "could" that I underatand it. And no one nowadays (that i know) ever say "I could care less" to means "I care about this at least somewhat"
houdini31@reddit
They mean the same thing especially for language purposes
Amazing_Divide1214@reddit
Yeah, it's like how figuratively and literally both mean "figuratively" usually.
the_real_JFK_killer@reddit
I could care less is normally a mistake when people mean couldn't
TheEvilOfTwoLessers@reddit
Yes, even though only the former sounds correct to me.
DMmeNiceTitties@reddit
I treat them as separate things because they are. In some situations, I could care less and be more stoic, in other situations, I could just be done with this shit and couldn't care less.