June 10, 1996

could care less

How did "I could not care less" come to be replaced by "I could care less"--a virtually meaningless statement?

The phrase I could care less has been repeatedly condemned in recent years for its illogic: if you could care less, surely that means that you do care to an extent. But it's not meant to be taken literally. I could care less is sarcastic. When it is spoken, the stress is "I could CARE LESS," not the way one would stress a serious declaration. It's the same as saying "I really give a damn," when you don't, or "Nice move!" when someone makes a clumsy mistake--yes, they mean the opposite of what they say, but they're deliberate. The sarcasm allows you to express more disdain than simply saying "I couldn't care less." In addition, the phrase, with "couldn't" or with "could," is expressing indifference, so a strict interpretation is even less justified.

The expression I couldn't care less became common in England in World War Two and was apparently based on an earlier catchphrase "I couldn't agree with you more." The "could" variant is first found in the mid-1960s and was being objected to by the 1970s.