"I could care less" and more goofs

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Redcraze
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Re: "I could care less" and more goofs

Post by Redcraze »

There are several current idioms which mean, as far as I can tell, exactly the opposite of what they say. Thus “I could care less” means “I couldn’t care less” and “double down” replaces the perfectly adequate locution “double up”. “Entitled”apparently means “not entitled, but thinks he should be”.

No expression irritates me more than "It is what it is". What sort of conversation includes such nonsense? How can one respond to it? Perhaps “Oh, really? I thought it was something else.”
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Post by MsMartha »

No expression irritates me more than "It is what it is". What sort of conversation includes such nonsense? How can one respond to it? Perhaps “Oh, really? I thought it was something else.”
You are not alone--this irritates me, too!!
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Post by Redcraze »

Thanks, Martha. I feel vindicated that someone agrees with me. Perhaps we should start the "It Isn't What It Is" Club to at least make people who use this silly expression think about what they're saying. You can be President.
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Post by Gingerbo0ks »

Oh my gosh, when people on social media type "are" when they mean "OUR". It really gets to me.
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Post by Redcraze »

Yes indeed! How do you feel about people who can't distinguish between "there", "their" and "they're"? Surely the death penalty should apply.
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Post by MsMartha »

Redcraze wrote:Thanks, Martha. I feel vindicated that someone agrees with me. Perhaps we should start the "It Isn't What It Is" Club to at least make people who use this silly expression think about what they're saying. You can be President.
Actually I think you should be the President ;-)
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Post by Diah »

English is my second language. So my English is not good too. I didn't know any wrong meaning when heard "I could care less". But after I read "I couldn't care less" I understand that the first quote is not right.
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Post by BoyLazy »

moderntimes wrote:A couple days ago I heard Hillary Clinton talk about Trump: "I could care less" which is of course incorrect, implying that she cares a lot. The proper phrase is "I couldn't care less" but I'm always surprised how many people get it wrong.

Which got me to laughing about things I've seen in print. Not common grammatical errors (or misspellings) such as mistaking "they're" vs "their" vs "there" but some unintentionally funny mistakes. These are some of what I remember:

"He was on tenderhooks." (which should be "tenterhooks") is one I've seen. The author simply didn't know the origin of the word.

I'll add others as I remember them. In the meanti me, funny word goofs you've seen?
Good catch
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Post by Book Bear »

moderntimes wrote: 19 Apr 2016, 17:17 A couple days ago I heard Hillary Clinton talk about Trump: "I could care less" which is of course incorrect, implying that she cares a lot. The proper phrase is "I couldn't care less" but I'm always surprised how many people get it wrong.

Which got me to laughing about things I've seen in print. Not common grammatical errors (or misspellings) such as mistaking "they're" vs "their" vs "there" but some unintentionally funny mistakes. These are some of what I remember:

"He was on tenderhooks." (which should be "tenterhooks") is one I've seen. The author simply didn't know the origin of the word.

I'll add others as I remember them. In the meantime, funny word goofs you've seen?

The "I could care less" phrase has been irritating me for so long. I am so grateful that you have mentioned this. I seriously thought I was going mad. I knew it wasn't right but kept seeing it in so many books that I ended up not trusting myself. THANK YOU!
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Post by Book Bear »

MsMartha wrote: 10 Jun 2017, 07:58
Redcraze wrote:Thanks, Martha. I feel vindicated that someone agrees with me. Perhaps we should start the "It Isn't What It Is" Club to at least make people who use this silly expression think about what they're saying. You can be President.
Actually I think you should be the President ;-)
Redcraze for president. I'm in.
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Post by Aditi Sapate »

I don't know if this fits into the category you're talking about, but here's a funny spelling for the word 'tyre' that I've seen - tayer. I forgot the actual spelling for a minute after reading that. :doh:
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Post by bespectacledpetal »

'Irregardless' instead of 'regardless'
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Post by Nikolas Farmakis »

One that I hear often is 'I don't know nothing', while it should be 'I know nothing' or 'I don't know anything'.
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Post by SallyH55 »

What about "death nail" instead of "death knell"? Maybe we don't hear as many bells as we used to!
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Post by hmorgan90 »

My friend wrote "I won't take jeans for granite ever again." :doh: That hurt me. Physically.
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