“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.

OBVIOUSLY it's arsed! wtaf 🤷🏻‍♀️

Whats mcr?

Macrame??

Leaving tit out of titbit because it's rude 🤣

And yet they call
Bum bags FANNY packs! 🤣🤣🤣

Morons!

Really people don't use one or the other op. It's ARSED. That's all.

Nobody in Scotland or Ireland ever got this wrong because we pronounce the letter r.

With 'another think coming' I suspect it's getting merged with 'and another thing...'

I'm in the south west and definitely hear both. I've always believed both to mean pretty much the same thing that you can't be bothered.

I've always been taught they were two different things, one a bit classier than the other.

‘I can’t be asked to pick up the shopping again.’ - ‘It is unreasonable to ask me to pick up the shopping again.’

‘I can’t be arsed to pick up the shopping again.’ - ‘I cannot be bothered to pick up the shopping again.’

The latter expresses laziness and a bad attitude and was more likely to earn me a slapped backside than the former.

There's a name for it apparently. Eggcorns.

I thought that was Joe Lycett in the video at first!

Agree it's arsed. But tbf arsed doesn't mean anything either

How does can't be arsed make any sense ?
But it is arsed

It doesn't make any sense, really.

But it does follow the established British 'rule' that you can legitimately put a random rude/swear word in any sentence and that instantly makes it acceptable usage, with everybody expected to magically know what you mean!

In the same way that you can use absolutely any noun in the past tense after the word 'absolutely' to convey just how very drunk somebody was, and everybody understands

He was absolutely trousered
She was absolutely car-parked
We were absolutely waffle-ironed
They were absolutely three-bedroom-semi-detached-house-in-Basingstoked

😂😂😂😂😂

ARSED

Team Arsed.

Another one I see often on here is "I decided to put up and shut up".

No. You either put up [your fists, for a fight], or shut up [keep quiet]. "Put up" in this context doesn't mean tolerating or ignoring something.

Another secondary teacher here - I teach in north London, but grew up further north.

I asked a student to do something once in a lesson and they said what I thought was "can't be arsed". I was visibly shocked and said that was inappropriate language for the classroom. Cue much reciprocal shock across the classroom, as every student in the room insisted the kid in question had said "can't be asked".

"What's wrong with that language miss?!", "I wouldn't say arsed to you miss!" etc

Knowing it was perfectly possible that they were all having me on, I asked in the staff room and teachers who had grown up in the same place all said "asked" too - so it seems to be a localised thing that goes back at least 10-15 years.

Possibly it came about as a way to avoid a swear? Like "sugar" / "fudge" etc

Of course, the kid was still rude for telling me they couldn't be bothered to follow the instruction, but all that got a bit lost in the ensuing confusion 😂

Love that. ❤️
There's a term for it when writing, but I can't remember at the moment. Victoria Wood's sketches were probably the most famous recent examples. Substitute a random word into a normal sentence for comedic effect.

People in NI often say 'don't bother your arse then' when someone refuses to do something. Eg ...

My mum: Would any of ye ever give me a hand with this shopping?
Us (lazy bastards): Nah sorry, I'm busy reading Jackie/watching Crossroads/staring into space.
My mum: Don't bother yer arses then. I'll do it myself.

Same sort of thing as 'can't be arsed'😅

There's half-arsed too. You can be not arsed to do anything at all or you can do it in a half-arsed way or half-arse it.

In a very long life I’ve never once heard ‘can’t be asked’.
I dare say it’s a case of mis-hearing/misunderstanding, or maybe just a reluctance to say arse, because your very ‘proper’ old granny would turn in her grave.

Yes, true! I wonder if anyone ever gets this confused too and says they half-asked something.