--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Here's a linguistic puzzle that has baffled me for a
> while, and as language
> seems to be a current topic, I throw it into the
> pot:
>
> We have an expression to denote complete
> indifference: "I couldn't care less"
> - in other words, it would not be possible to care
> less than I do now. It
> seems that in American English the phrase is "I
> could care less." [it cropped
> up recently in the context of you-know-what current
> event - Doh! I almost
> mentioned it...] Surely this has the reverse
> meaning to the intended one if
> taken literally, ie it WOULD be possible to be more
> indifferent than I am.
> Am I missing some semantic subtlety here?
>
> Azeem (pedantic, moi?) in London
>
While it's tempting to go for the low blow and say
that it's because Americans don't know what they're
talking about, we won't go there. Instead, let me
offer this as a ?possible? explanation. When you say
"I could care less", there may be an inferred "but not
bloody likely". It works for me, but then I'm one of
those who says "I couldn't care less!!!"
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