“Cant be arsed” or “can’t be asked”

[2ApplesShortOfABasket]

I didn’t realise until recently that people use one term or the other. If you say one of these terms, which one is it?

I say one, friend says another, we are both convinced our way is said more than the other.

Its definitely "arsed", but I wonder if the "asked" version originated as a sweariness-avoiding euphemistic.

Then it caught on with others who didn't realise what the original was!

Is it genuinely an abbreviation of 'can't be bothered to get up off my arse' or is that a false interpretation in retrospect - with it in fact just being originally somebody who couldn't be arsed saying "I can't be..." and then just adding a random rude word for hilarity purposes?!

Our DS had a noisy bus-themed toy as a toddler, where you press the buttons for it to 'speak' the letters of the alphabet and a few simple sentences, based on fun days out. When you pressed one of the latter buttons, the voice recording would very unmistakeably say "Hooray! Here we are at... POO!!!" I'm sure it was meant to be something else, but we never did figure out what. Maybe 'zoo', but that would surely have been 'at THE zoo' - and it was definitely a 'p' sound, not a 'z'?!

Being a toddler, our DS found it the funniest thing ever and kept pressing that button repeatedly. Being sensible adults... so did we

It's from here. If you've never watched this before, I think you just may love it!

Arsed

I love Dave Gorman. He makes me feel normal.🤣

Team ARSE! 'Can't be asked' is meaningless.

Nobody reads any more, not printed material from legitimate sources. Everyone is picking up everyone else's text mistakes and perpetrating them, because nobody reads books. Sigh. That's how all these misheard sayings are now entering the lexicon - I actually had a minor set-to with my actual EDITOR about 'another think coming' (correct) over 'another thing coming' (incorrect). Until I actually asked her how could someone have another thing coming when they didn't have any original things coming at all, yet the entirety of the sentence made sense when you replaced 'thing' with 'think', she didn't get it.

I think she knows better now.... Or can't be bothered to argue with me any longer.

Arsed. But I love “right from the gecko” 🦎

It is can't be arsed! I don't think I've ever heard can't be asked but maybe I've not been listening for it as they are similar sounding.
I presume can't be asked came about through a mishearing, a bit like "worse case scenario" which I hear a lot these days.

His 'found poems' are hilarious!

I've been to see him, it was a great night

Its “can’t be arsed”, but I’ve heard two teenagers say “can’t be asked” on separate occasions recently - and they’re convinced that’s the correct expression.

I first came across the expression about 40 years ago and it was being used by a friend from Cheshire. She definitely said what, to me, at the time, sounded like "asked" but later realised was "assed" = arsed.

So, yes, it's arsed. And the people hearing "asked" are possibly hearing "assed" as I was all those years ago, or possibly "assed" has been misunderstood as "asked".

https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2022/07/26/more-on-cant-be-arsed-asked/

Found this on how arsed possibly morphed into asked in some variations of English.

“I can’t be asked” is the original saying and has morphed into “can’t be arsed”

Really? How do you work that out?

I’ve never come across anyone saying “asked.” Have they misheard it somehow?

I definitely can’t be arsed Googling it, though.

Southerners at least pronounce them similarly.

They don't sound at all the same.

ARSED! This is the only version. The other doesn’t make sense.
It means I can’t be bothered to move or get off my arse to do said thing.

Arsed

Arsed. As in bothered. Also seen in ‘I’m not arsed’.
’What colour do you want?’
‘I’m not arsed’.

There was a woman on here a few years ago who swore up and down it was asked and according to her she should know because her husband was in the army and they say asked.

https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1351219344412446722?lang=en

For those who don’t have Twitter.

If Suzie Dent says it then it’s true.

What total garbage. The expression is "can't be arsed" and always has been.

This is a social media/internet phenomenom where people (mostly young people) aren't familiar with or don't know how to spell things and eventually the wrong version becomes accepted. There are loads of examples. I keep seeing "his" instead of "he's" .

Anyway, I can't be arsed to type anymore.

Nah. You're wrong.

Autocorrect too. Perpetuating becomes perpetrating...

There are loads of examples. I keep seeing "his" instead of "he's" .

And conversely "he's" instead of "his".