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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
I have heard three different comedians (George Carlin was one of them) criticize the expression, "I could care." One of them, Steve Allen, sees that expression as evidence that America is getting dumber. I disagree (about this expression).
"I could care," is one of those cliches that mean, "I don't care." It seems to me, that it is an excellent way to say just that. The above comedians object to "I could care," because it has had a rather bizarre ancestry. Here is its family tree:
Now, this sequence may have resulted from sloppy use of the language. But, in my opinion, each of the three statements makes plenty of sense. I don't like the first one, "I couldn't care less," because it is fairly extreme. It is almost certainly an exaggeration, whenever it is used. I think that the second one, "I could care less," is much more interesting. Isn't it interesting that it does have the same meaning as "I couldn't care less," but without being so extreme? I think that there is a little linguistic magic going on here.
The third one, "I could care," is somewhat interesting too, in that it implies the ending, "but I don't."
But all three of these are no longer interesting, when used, because they have become cliches. That is a feature of all cliches. They lose any subtlety, from overuse. But, as it turns out, I could care less.
Another modern expression is "Not!" For example, "I think he is very nice. Not!" It takes the place of lifting the eyebrows or other clues that you were trying to be sarcastic or ironic. It is a humorous way to add clarity to such statements. I think that it came from this kind of situation:
question: "Is this what happened, or not?"
answer: "Not."
Still another newer expression is "Nuh-uh," in place of the negative "Uh-uh," usually accompanied by a shake of the head. I applaud the added clarity of the negative "N."