Could You Care Less?

Everybody has pet peeves. Sometimes they seem legitimate to other people, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they are so minor that to even admit them to others is opening oneself up to ridicule. I will admit that, even to myself, some of my pet peeves make me seem petty and cruel. What I need to explain is that these are just minor annoyances, not really full-blown pet-peeves. My latest annoyance has to do with this well-used phrase:

"I could care less."

Do you see the problem? If not, look a little closer. Yup, just put your nose up to the screen and check out that sentence. What does it imply? What it implies, contrary to the general intent of the user, is that the speaker could care less, which means that the speaker does have some care for the topic at hand. What really should be said is, "I couldn't care less." This implies that the speaker cares so little about the topic that there is no way to care even less. Correctly. And though I know this post may make me appear callous and snobby, remember that it is just a little annoyance. I am sorry if this only passes that annoyance on to you, but perhaps, together, we could make a difference.