• @ratel@mander.xyz
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    172 months ago

    Yes it should. Kind of in the same way that it should be “I couldn’t care less” instead of “I could care less” which I’ve seen a lot more in recent years.

      • @warbond@lemmy.world
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        32 months ago

        Literally just talking about that! I agree that the original intent (and, you know, meanings of words) should make it “couldn’t” but I think the two have linguistically drifted together within the phrase.

        The rules-boy in me rallies against it, but the descriptivist in me celebrates and I couldn’t care less how he said it.

        • Dragon Rider (drag)
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          22 months ago

          Wittgenstein said that language isn’t actually semantic in its natural state. Instead, language serves as a sort of game to accomplish social ends.

          “I could care less” serves the social end of telling everyone you have no critical thinking skills and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

          • Lol.

            On a slightly more serious note, it makes dry humor a bit harder to land since you can’t rely on subtlety as much. Like “I could care less about my SO” in context where it’s the punchline of a misdirection joke.

            Such is life though.