<p>“Attempts to be logical about I could care less also fail. Taken literally, if one could care less, then one must care at least a little, which is obviously the opposite of what is meant. It is so clearly logical nonsense that to condemn it for being so (as some commentators have done) misses the point. The intent is obviously sarcastic — the speaker is really saying, “As if there was something in the world that I care less about”.”</p>
<p>Okay, so half of the people using it aren’t being sarcastic, but I use it in this way.</p>
<p>Try joining some school organizations–you’ll find others like you. There are plenty listed on ISU’s website. I tried to link it, but it didn’t work. </p>
<p>You have lots of company, you just need to find some new friends. Good luck!</p>
<p>multicultural just has a vendetta against me because I find him annoying and full of himself. He also tries to make himself seem superior by acting like he’s some chemist when he’s a college student. See his posts in his thread about “screw alcohol.” He goes on and on about chemical compounds when nobody. really. cares.</p>
<p>In fact, you could say that they couldn’t care less ;)</p>
<p>There aren’t people who “like to drink” and “people who don’t”, or there shouldn’t be. People are more complicated than that.</p>
<p>I love drinking and am usually not the first to stop drinking at a party. If you’re in college, nobody is going to shun you because you don’t drink, and if they do, they’re not worth keeping as friends. Just go to the parties and hang out and don’t drink. You might get a little chiding if you’re a dude, but just stick to your guns.</p>
<p>Also, I take issue with the idea that cheap beer is somehow not “beer”. It’s actually alright once you get used to it. It’s not for drinking with a nice meal or for relaxing at a nice bar, but it’s much more appropriate for private parties with tons of people who will be drinking heavily. It actually tastes alright, even the light beers, and I’ll be the first to admit it has taken some time for them to grow on me.</p>
<p>Wine is an excellent choice for people who like to party, like taste, and don’t mind getting a good strong buzz going in little time.</p>
<p>Liquor can be alright but I’d invest in some soda, juice, or mixers to go with it. Doing shots of something like vodka is no way to get drunk.</p>
<p>get your pedantic ass out of here, a bunch of renowned linguists around the world just owned you "</p>
<p>I really don’t give a hoot about some linguistics crap, I know what words come out of my mouth and what they mean. </p>
<p>I said I couldn’t care less whether people drink or not. What does that mean? It means I COULD NOT CARE LESS, or in less confusing and more blatant terms, it’s not possible for me to care less about whether you drink or not because I already don’t give a flying ****.</p>
<p>I’m clearly not a pompous *******, so quit trying to insult me for going to a good school.</p>
<p>It’s pompous to think that the language community doesn’t set the standard. </p>
<p>Quit trying to analyse the etymology of it. Words and phrases can take on ironic meanings because of the way people use them. Deal with it. Take a look at the evolution of the meaning of the word “nice”.</p>
<p>Dude Mark Lieberman goes to Penn and Language Log has a bunch of writers from Oxbridge so no I was saying that the Ivy League just owned you in terms of linguistics even though you go to an Ivy but still.</p>
<p>“Dude Mark Lieberman goes to Penn and Language Log has a bunch of writers from Oxbridge so no I was saying that the Ivy League just owned you in terms of linguistics even though you go to an Ivy but still.”</p>
<p>No one “owned” me. Not you, not this Liberman guy, not some lame ass language log. I stated a perfectly and grammatically correct sentence. If anything my way is “more correct” since it’s not a “colloquialism.”</p>
<p>Thanks guys – enjoyed the pilpul of ‘could care less’ vs ‘couldn’t care less’ with my morning tea.</p>
<p>Truth be told though, I am quite willing to care even less that I already do whether one or the other useage is spoken. As such, I <em>could</em> care less. For those that find this topic a matter of import, caring less that they do is not an option; they will not and cannot care less.</p>
<p>Given a lack of relativity to give perspective, the phrase either way is ambiguous, and can <em>only</em> be interpreted colloquially.</p>
<p>You’re not the one with a PhD and hundreds of publications in the language of science are you? Do you even know Grimm’s law? Do you know the PIE root for ‘wheel’? Or what was the Great Vowel Shift?</p>
<p>If not, **** off</p>
<p>Otherwise, you’re speaking ungrammatically whenever you use unstressed vowels since in “perfect” Elizabethan speech this wouldn’t occur.</p>
<p>Some people don’t drink because they’ve seen the effects. My mother and grandmother were both abused in an alcoholic home. Therefore, I choose not to drink.</p>
<p>Wow, a lot of these comments have nothing to do with the topic at hand… I love parties but definitely not the kind where everyone is just getting drunk and I don’t like people that actually go to a party with the motive of getting drunk.</p>
<p>I have a lot of friends who feel the same way and we have tons of fun without drinking. We all have drank before with our family, but never drunk because we know when to say “No, I’ve had enough.”</p>
<p>There are a lot of people who don’t drink, don’t like to, don’t like the idea of drinking, etc. Go to clubs, organizations, etc. and meet some new people. Although some schools, the majority of people like to drink a lot, it’s impossible for 100% to like that. There are many different people. Talk to people in your classes! Meet new people on and off campus. You’ll find the type of people you WANT to be around with and I’m sure they will to when they meet you =)</p>
<p>“You’re not the one with a PhD and hundreds of publications in the language of science are you? Do you even know Grimm’s law? Do you know the PIE root for ‘wheel’? Or what was the Great Vowel Shift?”</p>