I could care less/I could give a damn

[Fran2023]

Trivial I know, but I’m trying to keep my mind off the mess that the world is in.

Does it bother anyone else when you hear or read someone saying ‘I could care less’ when they mean ‘I couldn’t care less’ ?

What this mistake means is the opposite to the what they (appear) to mean. For example: ‘I could give a damn that you need a lift to the station. I’m busy!’

Anyway, just wanted to share and as it’s only me and the cat this morning and she told me that she ‘could care less’ I’m posting here.

@Onthesideofthespiders that's interesting I didn't know that .

@evilharpy It’s a contentious debate!

The original phrase is ‘if you think X, you have another think coming’ - as in, some event is going to occur which will lead you to re-think your position. Over time, due to the phrase being misheard and misspoken, many people have started to use ‘if you think X, you have another thing coming’. Although the second version began as an error it is now almost equally widespread as the original and will likely overtake it.

To me, it’s ‘another thing coming’ which doesn’t make sense. What is the first ‘thing’? Saying ‘Another think’ is a vaguely witty callback to the first think, so the two parts of the phrase are linked. But I appreciate that the version people grow up hearing is the one that will sound correct to them.

Here is a nice article on the subject: https://amp.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think

I'm in my mid forties and have never in my life heard "another think coming". It doesn't make any sense.

It makes sense in the fuller context...

e.g. If you THINK you are going to get away with that, you've got another THINK coming

i.e. you will have to change your mind (thinks) because that's not going to happen.

I'm sure they think they should really smart

🤔😁

I'm in my mid forties and have never in my life heard "another think coming". It doesn't make any sense.

It makes complete sense. "If you think X, you've got another think coming" - it's like saying "if you think X, think again".
Thinking again is having another think. So if you will need to think again, you have another think coming.

I've written think too many times now it doesn't look like a real word!

It does - on the sense of “you had a thought (eg that something was right), but you’re wrong and need to think of it in a different way”. Not very well expressed I know, but that’s the gist - is another mindset is needed. As another bad example:

”He thought he could do whatever he liked but has another think coming”

People who think saying/writing ‘Daphne and I’ is always the correct grammar.

And ‘of’ instead of ‘have’.

It's not correct. I think it may originally have been a sarcastic "as if I could care less!" but it makes no sense without the first bit whichever side of the pond you're on.

Another think coming makes total sense.

I've seen a lot of 'I suffer from mental health' and 'I have mental health'. Everyone has mental health!

Off my own back! It's bat for crying out loud!

Agree. Drives me nuts!

Or worse, things like "if yourself could just pop that in an email to Daphne and I" 😑

Haha. Sorry. Typing without my glasses in which means typing to a fuzzy white screen with black doodles on it.

Was meant to say, “Sound really smart.”

If you listen carefully lots of younger people say “I was taken back” instead of aback

I don’t understand the ‘think’ one. Should it not be “If you think that, you have another thought coming”?

My pet rage is a very modern phrase that DD says - “Don’t deep it, Mum!”. I can’t ‘deep’ anything, it’s not a verb it’s a fucking adjective!

Me too. I can't understand how anyone could be so ignorant.

Mostly American usage, @Fran2023
I wonder if they ever actually listen to the words they use, and consider whether or not they make sense in the context they are used.
Then again, many people use words incorrectly - for example, regime instead of regimen winds me up

‘Between you and I’ is one of my ‘favourites’ - it makes me wince inside, especially since people who say it invariably think they’re being ‘correct’.

Presumably nobody has ever explained to them why it’s wrong. I count myself lucky in that I had a parent who put me straight very early on.

I know someone who says “I’m lending £20,000 from the bank”. You’re not! You are borrowing, they are lending! It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve corrected him, he stills always says lend when he means borrow.

edge wise irritates me also.

Not technically grammar but it really irks me when people use the phrase ‘the customer is always right’ to excuse any behaviour. The actual phrase is ‘the customer is always right in matters of taste’ ie the shop assistant shouldn’t voice judgement of a terrible outfit if the customer likes it. It does not mean the shop assistant has to put up with awful behaviour by the customer or bow to their every whim.

Well if we’re going to bring up niggles I really hate it when people use whom when they have no idea how to use it. If you don’t know just stick to who.

I realised my DSs say 'Can't be ASKED' instead of 'Can't be ARSED' - not that it comes up a lot

That one is easy to understand. They hear the contractions like could’ve or should’ve and think the person is saying could of or should of.
They should realise when reading but I can at least understand how they got there.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/chat/5033124-cant-be-arsed-or-cant-be-asked

This was a fun argument on here! Well, not really argument. It was pretty unanimous. But a good thread anyway.