Not / n't (grrr.)

[TheMagicMumber]

I keep reading things like "I could be bothered" and "I could care less". Is this just people forgetting to type the 'n't', or do they actually think it's not needed?

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

If I saw "I could be bothered" I would assume that person COULD actually be bothered. If I saw "I could care less" I would read it as, "I'm not totally unaffected by it, but I'm not really that bothered". If people want me to understand them fully, it's important that they don't miss key words out of sentences.

[EmmaNess]

"I could care less" is American for "I couldn't care less."

But I think most likely it's just typos. I don't think perfect grammar etc is necessary on interweb forums.

[TheMagicMumber]

No perfect grammar?!

[cumfy]

Aren't these phrases used by twats people who uptalk, thus subtly inverting the meaning by turning it into a question at the phrase end:

I could care less ?