To think the British way of saying I couldn’t care less vs the American way of saying I could care less makes much more sense?

[Eaglemom]

the title explains my gripe! When I hear it in films it gets my goat

Also known as a rat's arse!

I’ve always assumed it was said in the way Americans sometimes do, with a shrug and a questioning intonation: “I could care less?” (Rhetorically, no I couldn’t).

Used straight I agree the saying is illogical and wrong.

BTW, I (British) dislike the reflexive anti-American sentiment on MN. And I’ve always found some (not all) American speech and writing wonderfully colourful, pithy or funny. Go Mark Twain!

Shame as pissed in America meaningless pissed off. Totally doff meaning here. I've noticed that America use bastard in a similar way to how we might call someone a sod eg, That poor sod/bastard

Yes, it is not how Brits use the expression. And, per MissConduct, not all Americans use 'could care less' also.

I will say, having lived in the US for nearly 10 years, 'could care less' was used in IL and CA.

Similar languages have their own slang and colloquialisms. [shrug]

I think this sums it up nicely!

But I can confirm that ‘couldn’t care less’ was and is to this day in use in Chicago and in the California coastal cities.

What I’ve been trying not to say, but will, is that perhaps this dichotomy had become something of a class marker. But this is also true in the UK, although to a lesser extent. Like any speech based class marker it’s more about where you’re from than where you are.

Although this thread is not a particular example, MumsNet is so full of basic grammatical errors (not just the kind that result from haste) that I find this type of American bashing on the platform a bit hypocritical. Luckily I have no desire to join the grammar police.