Brainrot

By sharon - 14/12/2011 21:21 - United States

Today, I was giving a presentation at work, when I said, "But we could care less about that." My boss asked if I meant, "Couldn't care less." Wanting to avoid embarrassment, I tried to think up an excuse, only to end up blurting that it was my phone's auto-correct. FML
I agree, your life sucks 8 584
You deserved it 35 267

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Wow you need to learn the difference between texting and real life

Comments

Maybe you misread it (I did at first too), but OP is actually wrong.

"Could care less" and "couldn't care less" mean the same thing. Seriously. Look up the word "care" on dictionary.com.

Duke is right. Either phrase would be correct.

yeah I almost always use could care less both are correct

Of course, correcting your boss in front of people probably wouldn't have been the right way to go either.

Sure, look up care. But look up could and could not while you're at it. You are saying these mean the same thing. Saying you could eat more and that you couldn't eat more do not mean the same thing. If you could care less, it means you care at least some.

I didn't say it makes sense, but it's a phrase that's come into use in the English language. I wasn't referring people to the definition of "care", I was referring people to the idioms section below it which includes both phrases, with the same definition.

Seriously? If you are trying to convey that you are absolutely unconcerned with something then you "could not care less". If you "could care less" then that means you do care to some degree. If you use the latter, you're part of the dumbing down of the language (and apparently of dictionary.com). I repeat, frequent improper usage does not make it correct.

Could care less was correct before could not. It's not dumbing down... It's an idiom. Stop flaming.

And actually frequent improper usage DOES make proper usage, that's how language evolves. American English is basically all improper English, which is basically all improper Middle English, which is basically all improper Old English, etc.

Actually they are not both correct. Couldn't care less means you don't care at all and you can't possibly care any less. Could care less fools people often. It means you COULD care less meaning you do care even if it is just a little bit so you COULD care less. Hopefully that clears things up. I don't care if it does, "I could care less." :P

Did you check dictionary.com? Because it says right there...

The_Troller 14

Did you check logic.brain? Because if you did you would know that "could" and "couldn't" will never have the same meaning. Language can evolve, but opposites will always be opposite. North will never be equivalent to south, positive will never be equivalent to negative, etc.

Language isn't exact. In this case, opposites do mean the same thing. Take for another example: can and can't are opposites, right? So shouldn't can and can't not mean the same thing? But they don't. Opposites are not exact in language.

'Care' is not the problem but rather the use of 'could.'

I was intending to refer people to the idioms section of the definition of care, which contains both phrases.

Llama_Face89 33

Duke...you're a tool...a shovel to be more specific. Damn good at digging those holes for yourself, eh?

Dictionary.com is not the grand arbiter of the English language. The meanings of the words themselves have not changed no matter how many people wish it were so. What I really don't understand is why people are lobbying for this. Think, realise what you are actually saying, use the phrase properly and eventually the wrong phrase goes away.

And "could care less" certainly didn't come first even in your own reference point. People said it wrong so many times that it's accepted as "we know what they're trying to say but since we can't teach a fool logic, it's probably easier to change the language itself". But being accepted doesn't make it correct.

Being accepted DOES make it correct, that's what language IS.

And by the way, are YOU the grand arbiter of the English language? Because I was using a credible source, you're just calling me stupid and pretending it's an argument. Repetitively.

Duke, when someone says something incorrectly and another realizes the mistake but doesn't correct that doesn't mean it's being accepted, it's just being tolerated. For the record, I don't tolerate such phrases as "Could care less" since it has become generally thought to be correct despite it being illogical. Those who don't understand what is being improperly said are the ones who "accept" others doing the same and that's what troubling.

Fine. If you believe so strongly that it's incorrect, continue to believe it. There isn't really a right answer anyway, that is, as I mentioned, the nature of language.

The moment one calls dictionary.com a credible source is the moment one loses the argument.

A readily available dictionary is not credible? But really I "lost" the moment I started attempting to argue with trolls.

No, OP wasn't right. I couldn't care less = i don't give a f..k I could care less = empty statement* that does not convey the message (don't give a ****) that the previous statement does. *I could care less basically means that the person does care, but doesn't specify how little or how much that person cares, so it gives no information, whether negative or positive about the person's reaction to whatever elicited the statement.

The_Troller 14

Alan cannot be thumbed down by trolls, therefore he is always correct.

The literal meaning of the phrase doesn't matter. It's usage that determine if something is correct in language.

Say that again when the majority uses that "your retarted" abomination. Languages must evolve in order to survive, but "degenerate into contradictory, meaningless drivel" is sort of the wrong kind of evolution.

You know you ****** up when two staff members call you out

MistaBlista 9

Wow, this generation is so technology- packed, people are "auto-correcting" in their own speech pattern.

Haha!!! Poor autocorrect! Never gets a break!!

jpoole 4

So your handicapped and your phone talks for you? Kool

The next time I tell a girl I wanna hook up and she says no I have a new excuse now! Thanks!

It's always better just to say yes and then continue on with what you were talking about than coming up with an excuse, otherwise you will just embarrass yourself even more. But then again, this is FML. That being said, YDI.

Joanlysn 0

... Why didn't you admit your mistake it's not that embarrassing

N3766 20

But isn't it has the same meaning? And Siri voice over you....

It's almost like you're trying to speak to me... But in another language that's been horribly translated to english...