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pterodactyl commented on the word i could care less
I once read in a college textbook that this phrase is an example of irony. I don't believe it, though.
"Irony" implies that the speaker is consciously saying the opposite of what he/she intends to convey, and is hoping that the listener will hear the discrepancy. But "I could care less", though -- that's not conscious. People who say "I could care less" don't actually understand what they're saying, and you can verify this by asking them about it.
When I'm feeling charitable toward this phrase, I call it an idiom. When I'm not feeling charitable, I call it a mistake. Either way, I don't think it's a case of irony.
April 13, 2008
kewpid commented on the word i could care less
I flinch every time this is (mis)spoken.
April 13, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word i could care less
I found somewhere a blog on the misusage of the word ironic. Can anyone help?
April 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word i could care less
Like the blog devoted to literally that alguien linked to? Or a single blog post?
April 14, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word i could care less
Yes, just like that. But I can't find it anymore...
April 14, 2008
seanahan commented on the word i could care less
As far as I can tell, this word is meant to be sarcastic. Steven Pinker says as much in "The Language Instinct", and it makes perfect sense. The tone with with which this term is spoken almost always makes the sarcasm completely clear.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word i could care less
"The Language Instinct"... that was the name of the book I read! Thank you for jogging my memory, seanahan.
I still respectfully disagree, though, on the basis of my own personal experience. Usually when I hear this phrase used, the user is unaware that there's any discrepancy between their intended meaning and their literal meaning.
Of course, we're talking about a bunch of different cases here; it may just be that you and Stephen Pinker hang out with a more erudite crowd than I do. :-)
April 14, 2008
yarb commented on the word i could care less
See also yeah, right.
I think the sarcasm (not irony) here has been absorbed into the phrase itself, so it no longer has to be spoken in a saracastic tone of voice. At least that's the only explanation I can suggest for its proliferation in the USA - I think it will always sound wrong to me compared with "couldn't care less".
May 14, 2008
alexz commented on the word i could care less
I could care less earliest I could find is http://goo.gl/NfaVA 1875, London - Pretty Miss Bellew
January 9, 2013