Originally Posted by
hailstorm
Sorry, that response just doesn't cut the mustard with me.
You mean the explanation in the article I linked to? I think it's pretty convincing, but ...
I have another theory, for which I haven't done any research - but I'll share it here for someone else to pick apart if they want to. It's possible that "I could care less" is a contraction of a longer phrase. For example "As if I could care less" ... or "I could care less, but I'd have to try very hard to".
Originally Posted by
hailstorm
But seriously, if people are made aware of what they are saying, I cannot fathom why they would continue saying something so completely nonsensical as "could care less".
Meh. Everyday English is full of cr@p that makes no sense. One British example that used to bother me was when people said "same difference" but meant "the same" or "no different". It's ugly. It saves the speaker no time. It defies logic. But do I make a fuss about it? No. I could care less.