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A close second: People who say "I could care less" when they actually mean "I couldn't care less."
That one irks me as well. Unless, of course, what they really meant was "I could care less, but I don't."
I think the "I could care less" variant became prevalent because as it's usually said, there's a hard emphasis on "care" (and a lesser emphasis on "less") which makes it sound more emphatic. Conversely, "I couldn't care less" has no syllable that naturally has a strong extra emphasis.
So, instead of the correct but comparatively flat-sounding
"I couldn't care less,"
now you hear
"I could careless!"
My writer/editor ear notices these things, and ponders on them
Last edited by Reziac; 11-14-2010 at 05:08 PM..
Reason: details, details
"Big time." Where did this originate? I don't know why it annoys me so much. For example, "She likes to cook big time." "They really got into debt big time."
"Big time." Where did this originate? I don't know why it annoys me so much. For example, "She likes to cook big time." "They really got into debt big time."
At a guess, as a sort of antonym of "small time", as in "He started as a small time crook, but progressed to being a big time crook."
However, it sounds a trifle odd to say "She likes to cook small time," or "They really got into debt small time."
"probly" instead of "pro bah blee"
"cumf ter bul" instead of "comfort a bul"
People who say "basically" too much
And my old english teacher used to say "fustrated" instead of "frustrated" Grr.
When I was a little kid, I hated the word sassy. Doesn't bother me so much now. Not because my mom called me sassy, lol, but I just hated the word.
...it sounds a trifle odd to say "She likes to cook small time," or "They really got into debt small time."
But why is "time" added to it? H/She got into debt. H/She got into a small amount of debt. H/She are in large amount of debt.
I heard this last week, "She put on the pounds big time." I don't know why I wanted to scream. (Similar to the OP and the word "chuckle," I guess.)
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