More misused phrases - caring less
When you can't be bothered about something, or it's beneath your notice or interest, you say, "I couldn't care less." That n't is really important. It means there is no level of caring below the level you feel for X: your interest in the matter is at absolute zero.
If you say, "I could care less," that's another example of a meaningless adaptation of the original. That phrase means there are things that are less important to you than X, so in the great scale of interest, it isn't at the bottom. So any impact the phrase is supposed to have is gone.
I know language adapts and grows, and I'm all for that, but when the adaptation loses the original meaning, we shouldn't do it.
If you say, "I could care less," that's another example of a meaningless adaptation of the original. That phrase means there are things that are less important to you than X, so in the great scale of interest, it isn't at the bottom. So any impact the phrase is supposed to have is gone.
I know language adapts and grows, and I'm all for that, but when the adaptation loses the original meaning, we shouldn't do it.