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Max sez, in another thread, "I thought it almost made even less sense than that other US mutation, 'I could care less'."
He's right, of course. This has to be one of the dumbest and most illogical of expressions. How did this happen? Maybe Fong has a "slide toward stupidity" theory to explain this one.
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Carpal Tunnel
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this has, of course, come up here before, and has been used by some our of very finest US'n posters; and yes, it was Faldo who forgave them all by passing it off as being "irony."
rodward: I could care less
another ukage/usage. In UK we say "I couldn't care less" which seems more logical to me.
Rod
Faldage:
rodward comments: "I couldn't care less" which seems more logical to me.
That's cuz y'all don't understand irony.
edit: this goes waaaaay back to the Isn't it ironic? thread, so perhaps Faldo was just being ironic.
Last edited by tsuwm; 10/23/05 05:36 AM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's just another example of the value of clichés. We know what we mean when we say it and we know what the speaker meant when we hear it. We don' need no steenkin' logic.
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old hand
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old hand
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We don' need no steenkin' logic - In my view, logic is a bit like magic - even if you don't believe in it, it works.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Quote:
We don' need no steenkin' logic - In my view, logic is a bit like magic - even if you don't believe in it, it works.
And the magic of an expression like 'I could care less' is that it isn't logical and it also works. Whether you believe it or not.
(context and speaker are important)
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Carpal Tunnel
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logic
Might be why grammar and rhetoric were taught along with logic in the trivium.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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And my favorite "It fell between the cracks." Meaning of course that something fell Through the cracks ie was missed. I don't think it's irony unless irony can be accidental.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Quote:
And my favorite "It fell between the cracks." Meaning of course that something fell Through the cracks ie was missed. I don't think it's irony unless irony can be accidental.
Could it be poetic hyperbole?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
"It fell between the cracks."
¡¿Hwæt?! Guy A makes a wise crack. Guy B says something sensible and to the point. Guy C makes another wise crack. Guys A and C wonder what Guy B is getting on about. Guy B's comment fell between the cracks. So what's the problem?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Quote:
We don' need no steenkin' logic - In my view, logic is a bit like magic - even if you don't believe in it, it works.
And the magic of an expression like 'I could care less' is that it isn't logical and it also works. Whether you believe it or not.
(context and speaker are important)
To "context and speaker" I would add "hearer" - to my ears it does NOT work, at all. It makes me think of things which matter a great deal, things about which I could indeed care less. I could care less about breathing, eating, or whether my student passes her state registration exams for nursing. I could, but I won't.
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