The ten stupidest things Fat Yanks say...

[RajahBell]

Here's "couldn't care less". Notice that it appeared in 1946 while "could care less" appeared in 1996 in Literature.

(d) Colloq. phr. (I, etc.) couldn't care less : (I am, etc.) completely uninterested, utterly indifferent; freq. as phr. used attrib. Hence couldn't-care-less-ness.

1946 A. Phelps (title) ‘I couldn't care less.’
1947 B. Marshall Red Danube vi. 53 The couldn't-care-less boys, the chaps who imagined that now that the war was over there was no need for further effort.
1947 People 22 June 2/4 If I suggest that it should be good because the book was by a top-line author she simply couldn't care less.
1955 Ess. in Crit. 5 76 Exhibiting a vulgar couldn't-carelessness.
1957 F. King Man on Rock iv. 120 The phrase he most used was ‘I couldn't care less’: which seemed to sum up his character.
1965 Times Lit Suppl. 25 Nov. 1083/1 The couldn't-care-less attitude of people with little to lose.

[msagrain]

... this is just in general, not specifically related to boxing, so we can miss out NSB gems like "If you [have a different opinion to me] you don't know nothin' about boxing" (Note the double negative as well) and "Boxer A beat boxer B so that means he'd freakin' OWN boxer C".


Here we go, here's a run down, I'll give you two for tonight:


1. "I could care less". Always the mark of the really stupid Yank, what makes this one so potent is that the phrase is always said with the tone of indignant insolence. It's the sound of a man laying down that defiant, dismissive smack... in their own minds. In reality, of course, the ACTUAL phrase is "I couldN'T care less" (because you don't care at all, therefore it's impossible to do so) and the 90% of Fat Yanks who say the former are making themselves sound like moronic tools.

Law'd, I bet I could find posts from 4 years ago about you moaning about "I could care less"

[kristin kreuk]

there's only two things in this world i hate.

people who are intolerant of other nationalities.

and the english.

man, you fixed that just in time!

[RajahBell]

Anyways, Samuel Johnson believed that the meaning of words should be defined by how it is commonly used by its users, not a strict and prescriptive definition.

So the grammer police can stop being nit-picky, "could careless" and "period" are all good since a large group of people use it. Although I do find "period" rather annoying, its all good and no one can stop the evolution of language.

[DeadLikeMe]

They revise grammar and usages as common usage changes. They have been misused into being legit no matter how stupid they are.

[Derranged]

Hello sexy.

Don't mind the Yanks who get angry, we know you mean well.

Anyways

3. Anyways.

Not actually a word.

That's a classic Fat Yankism: if you don't like the existing words in the English language, make your own up and then insist that they're the right ones.

(cf. Jim Lampley talks about Joe "Calzacky")

Don't mind the Yanks who get angry, we know you mean well.

Exactly.... I've made this thread out of the goodness of my own heart.

You know me, Derranged, I don't like to upset people. If I'd thought this thread would have annoyed anyone I'd have never have started it.

[squealpiggy]

(e) U.S. colloq. phr.

In this context "phr." is the fart noise the OED did after putting in this entry.

[kristin kreuk]

stupidest?